A big change is coming to the College Football Playoff in 2025.
The College Football Playoff announced on Thursday that the way the teams are seeded will be changed in 2025 and beyond. The College Football Playoff is moving to a straight seeding model for 2025-26. That means that teams will be placed in the College Football Playoff based on their rankings, rather than their conference championships.
This past year, the four major conference champions were given the top seeds, No. 1 to No. 4. That will not be the case in 2025-26.
“The Management Committee, the 10 FBS conference commissioners and Notre Dame’s athletic director, approved the move during a call Thursday. They gained the necessary unanimity for the change despite it potentially adversely impacting the Big 12, ACC and Group of Six leagues,” Yahoo! Sports reported on Thursday.
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College football fans are in agreement on the change: it’s a good one.
“Great move … now take that one extra step and reseed the second round (there’s no logistical reason not to). In a 12-team playoff, the 1 getting the 8-9 when the 3 could get the 11 doesn’t make sense,” one fan wrote.
“This is 100% the right move and something that absolutely needed to happen,” one fan added.
“Top 4 CFP ranking/seeds open in Quarterfinals, seeds 5-12 duke it out in opening round (5 v 12, 6 v 11 … etc),” one fan added.
Straight seeding coming for college football playoff this year. No brainer. Here’s what it should have looked like last year. A ton different. Oregon probably makes title game instead of being knocked out in quarters. Vols would have handled SMU in Knoxville. Others? pic.twitter.com/FBi2iFfzuv
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) May 22, 2025
The College Football Playoff released full details:
The College Football Playoff (CFP) Management Committee, comprised of the 10 FBS conference commissioners and the Director of Athletics at the University of Notre Dame, today voted unanimously to modify the seeding and bye policies of the 12-team Playoff for the 2025-26 season.
The new policy will guarantee the five highest-ranked conference champions a place in the Playoff, but will no longer include a bye for the four highest-ranked champions. The 12-team bracket will now be seeded directly based on the final ranking of the CFP Selection Committee, with the four highest-ranked teams receiving a first-round bye. If one or more of the five highest-ranked conference champions are ranked outside the top 12, that team or teams would move up to the 12th seed, 11th seed, etc., based on the number of conference champions outside the top 12.
OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: The College Football Playoff Management Committee today voted unanimously to modify the seeding and bye policies of the 12-team Playoff for the 2025-26 season.Full details » https://t.co/OPmMjLsjvs#CFBPlayoff 🏈🏆 pic.twitter.com/aPvnrUBgq4
— College Football Playoff (@CFBPlayoff) May 22, 2025
It’s the right move.
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