Ohio State Buckeyes safety Caleb Downs (2) returns an interception during the second half of the Cotton Bowl Classic College Football Playoff semifinal game against the Texas Longhorns at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas on Jan. 10, 2025. Ohio State won 28-14. Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

UCLA, Big Ten Affected by College Football Playoff Seeding Change

Originally posted on UCLA Bruins on SI | By Brock Vierra | Last updated May 23, 2025 11:32 AM ET

It has officially happened. The Big Ten and the SEC have made their move to establish dominance over college football. The seeding process for the College Football Playoff has been modified to a straight seeding system.

Per a College Football Playoff press release, "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 [Thursday] 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."

In the 2025 playoff, Boise State and Arizona State received automatic BYEs due to the old system guaranteeing the top four seeds to conference champions. If the current system had been used last season, Texas and Penn State would have received BYEs instead.

Thus, in theory, UCLA could receive a BYE without actually winning the Big Ten.

"After evaluating the first year of the 12-team Playoff, the CFP Management Committee felt it was in the best interest of the game to make this adjustment," said executive director of the College Football Playoff Rich Clark.

"This change will continue to allow guaranteed access to the Playoff by rewarding teams for winning their conference championship, but it will also allow us to construct a postseason bracket that recognizes the best performance on the field during the entire regular season."

Make no mistake about what we are witnessing: The Big Ten and SEC just made a power play. Unless another team goes undefeated, the SEC and Big Ten will own at least three of the top four seeds every season.

Their athletic directors are on the selection committee.

Notre Dame can also become a top-four seed now. I'm curious to know if that will affect scheduling future USC-Notre Dame games.