The College Football Playoff (CFP) is set to implement a straight seeding model for the upcoming 2025–26 season, eliminating automatic byes for the top conference champions.
Under the new format, the top four teams in the CFP rankings will receive first-round byes regardless of their conference affiliation.
The four top-ranked conference champions will still receive automatic qualification in the college football playoffs, but their seeding will now be based on their overall ranking.
The change comes after a review of the inaugural 12-team playoff during the 2024-25 season.
The CFP’s management committee, comprising the 10 FBS commissioners and Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua, unanimously approved the new model during a call Thursday afternoon, according to the Associated Press.
This adjustment comes one year after Boise State won the Mountain West Conference and was granted the third overall seed in the playoffs despite being ranked as the No. 9 team in the country.
Similarly, Arizona State University, the winner of the Big 12 Conference, was ranked as the No. 12 team in the country but was granted the fourth overall seed in the playoffs.
Had the new format been implemented last season, Oregon, Georgia, Texas, and Penn State would have been the top four seeds in the CFP.
ACC commissioner Jim Phillips said this change comes due to a “responsibility to serve our constituents while also being mindful as to what’s best for college football,” adding that each committee member believes this will benefit college football as a whole.
“Today’s decision was done in the best interest of the sport. It may not always benefit the ACC, but it was the right decision and that’s a responsibility I take very seriously,” he said, per ESPN.
Although the new format will adjust the CFP’s overall seeding, the payment to the top conference winners will remain the same.
Rich Clark, executive director of the CFP, confirmed that the four top-ranked conference champions will still receive $8 million for their conference, representing $4 million for making the CFP and an additional $4 million for advancing to the quarterfinal.
“That was the commissioners’ way of — at least for this year — holding to the commitment that they have made financially to those teams, those conference champions in particular, that would have been paid those amounts under the former system that we used last year,” Clark told ESPN.