A pylon features College Football Playoff logos during the second half of the first round game between the Ohio State Buckeyes and the Tennessee Volunteers at Ohio Stadium in Columbus on Dec. 22, 2024. Ohio State won 42-17. Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

College Football Playoff considering significant change for 2025

Originally posted on Larry Brown Sports
By Steve DelVecchio | Last updated Dec 30, 2024 5:39 PM ET

One of the biggest complaints about the 12-team College Football Playoff has been the way seeding was determined, and there is a chance that process could change in 2025.

The four highest-ranked conference champions received a first-round bye in this year’s College Football Playoff, which is the first tournament to feature 12 teams. That format has been widely criticized, as many people feel the four highest-ranked teams in the final College Football Playoff Rankings should be the top-four seeds and receive a bye.

Oregon, Georgia, Boise State and Arizona State are the top-four seeds this year and received an automatic bid into the quarterfinals. Oregon and Georgia were ranked No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, in the final CFP Rankings of the season. Boise State was ranked No. 9 and Arizona State was ranked No. 12.

According to Brett McMurphy of Action Network, there will be “in-depth discussions” this offseason about doing away with automatic byes for the four highest-ranked conference champions. The change would require unanimous approval in order to be implemented for 2025.

There will be “in-depth discussions” about not guaranteeing conference champs the top 4 @CFBPlayoff seeds in 2025, sources said. Top 5 conference champs still would get in playoff but rankings would determine seeds, sources said. This would require unanimous approval by all stake…

— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) December 30, 2024

The biggest argument in favor of giving the four highest-ranked conference champions a bye is that those teams would have had to play in their respective conference championship games. Some view the automatic bye as a reward for playing an additional game.

Others believe there is no reason a team like Arizona State should receive a bye while Texas, which finished No. 3 in the final College Football Playoff ranking, had to play in the opening round.

It is clear that the College Football Playoff is not done making significant changes. A tweak to the seeding process is one that seems inevitable.

This article first appeared on Larry Brown Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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