College Football Playoff revamps with much needed changes
College Football's postseason announces changes that should be a wins for teams and fans simply because of common sense
The College Football Playoff is undergoing changes again as the committee continues to navigate the best practices to guide the postseason of college athletics’ most prestigious sport.
Yes, these changes are coming after just one year of the current 12-team format, but they are alterations that make sense and needed to happen.
Seeding changes
One of the biggest changes will happen in the seeding process. Whereas the 2024-25 College Football Playoff gave conference champions the priority in regards to the top four seeds and first-round byes, the new formula will base those on overall merit and ranking.
If a conference champion has a worse ranking than a non-conference champion at-large team, the at-large team will receive a better seed. This would’ve given Oregon, Penn State, Texas, and Georgia all first-round byes last season despite the fact that two of those teams lost conference title games.
This is a fantastic change because it fairly ensures that the best teams in the country get rewarded, even if they do not win their conferences, which can consist of multiple teams that deserve that reward in some cases. It also forces unlikely conference champions and Cinderellas to prove themselves with potentially hostile first-round road games instead of starting the postseason at a neutral site.
The change also means that independent teams that don’t have conference championship games, like last year’s national runner-up, Notre Dame, can qualify for a first-round bye. Under the original 12-team rules, they couldn’t.
Looking at the changes this would’ve made to last year’s games. I think it’s safe to say Indiana-Boise State, Ohio State-Arizona State, Notre Dame-Clemson, and SMU-Tennessee would’ve created a much more competitive and entertaining first round.
More expansion
Just when you think you’ve got it figured out, there’s another move being made. According to reports, this upcoming college football season will be the final year of the 12-team playoff, lasting even less time than its predecessor.
The College Football Playoff is expected to expand (again) to 14 or 16 teams. Honestly, this step was only a natural evolution after the change to the 12-team format and the product we saw on the field. There’s much more difference between the No. 8, 9, and 10 teams and the No. 11 and 12 teams than between 11 and 12 and Nos. 13 through 16, so why not add them in?
It just adds more fun to a sport that already has most eyes glued to their TVs all January (and well before that). Plus, it’s more revenue for everybody (depending on how it continues to be structured financially).
But this is as far as it needs to go. There have been some calling for even further expansion after the next model is implemented, but I’m begging those involved in those decisions to “Just say no.”
Other divisions of college football have bigger playoff fields, and even other Division I sports have more expansive participation, but the parity and competition in those sports and events are much more prevalent.
The overall point should be to create a product that brings audiences back. In the FBS, that line is much thinner. Anyone seeded outside the top six to eight already struggles to compete. It’s going to be harder the more you expand, and the last thing college football needs is for its postseason to turn into a blowout-infested sham.