College Football Playoff Moves to Straight Seeding: Why It's the Right Change and What It Means

Had the straight-seed model been in place last year, the CFP first round would’ve looked like this …

12 Clemson at 5 Notre Dame

11 SMU at 6 Ohio State

10 Arizona State at 7 Tennessee

9 Boise State at 8 Indiana

And the top four seeds would’ve been 1 Oregon, 2 Georgia, 3 Texas (was the 5), 4 Penn State (was the 6), and the results would’ve almost certainly turned out the same with the Buckeyes winning the national championship.

Now, this new system should make the second round even stronger.

Last year, the second round would’ve almost certainly have been 8 Indiana vs 1 Oregon, 7 Tennessee (MAYBE) vs 2 Georgia, 6 Ohio State vs 3 Texas, and 5 Notre Dame vs 4 Penn State.

This puts even more pressure now on the College Football Playoff committee to get this right. Now, getting the top four seeds correct matters far more - you want that 8-9 seed over the 5.

The CFP should go one step further and reseed for the second round - the lowest-remaining seed plays the 1 - but for now, this was a logical next move as the CFP gets closer and closer to a 16-team field format.