College Football Playoff approves major change to seeding for 2025

One of the biggest complaints about the first 12-team College Football Playoff last season was the way seeding was determined, and that is already set to change in 2025.

The College Football Playoff’s management committee reached a unanimous decision on Thursday to move to a straight seeding model, according to ESPN’s Heather Dinich. What that means is that the four highest-ranked teams in the final College Football Playoff Rankings of the season will be the top four seeds in the playoff field and all receive byes.

The four highest-ranked conference champions each received a first-round bye in last year’s College Football Playoff. Oregon, Georgia, Boise State and Arizona State were the top four seeds and received an automatic bid into the quarterfinals. Oregon and Georgia were ranked Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, in the final CFP Rankings of the season. Boise State was ranked No. 9 and Arizona State was ranked No. 12.

Under the new seeding model, Oregon and Georgia still would have received byes. Texas and Penn State, who finished third and fourth, respectively, in the final CFP Rankings, would have gotten the other two byes.

The biggest argument in favor of the previous model was that the four highest-ranked conference champions would have had to play in their respective conference championship games. Some view the automatic bye as a reward for playing an additional game, but it was determined that a change was needed.

Notre Dame will also benefit from the new model, as they now have an opportunity to earn a first-round bye in the College Football Playoff despite not being affiliated with a conference.

We could see some other major tweaks to the College Football Playoff in the coming years, but the new seeding model is the only one that will go into effect immediately.