The 12-team College Football Playoff is getting a format change in its second year of existence.
Commissioners voted unanimously Thursday to go to a straight seeding format for the 2025-26 Playoff, a source told The Sporting News.
In the previous format, first-round byes were guaranteed to the four highest-ranked conference champions. That meant Mountain West Conference champion Boise State, which finished at No. 9 in the final CFP selection committee poll, and Big 12 champion Arizona State, which finished at No. 12, both received first-round byes despite their rankings.
No. 3 Texas and No. 4 Penn State, meanwhile, were forced to play first-round games at home.
If last year’s field had the new format, the first-round games would have been as follow:
- 9 seed Boise State at 8 seed Indiana
- 12 seed Clemson at 5 seed Notre Dame
- 10 seed SMU at 7 seed Tennessee
- 11 seed Arizona State at 6 seed Ohio State
Oregon, Georgia, Texas and Penn State would have had byes.
Notre Dame, which was previously ineligible for a bye since the independent Irish could not be a conference champion, is now eligible for a bye.
The changed format is expected to include some financial concessions for the conference champions who will no longer get byes. The current model distributes $8 million to the four highest-ranked conference champions: $4 million for qualifying for the CFP, plus another $4 million for making the quarterfinals.
The four-highest ranked conference champions will still be paid $8 million for this season, regardless of their final seeding.
Yahoo! Sports first reported the news.