CFP approves new seeding model next season

The 12-team College Football Playoff will move to a straight seeding model this fall, rewarding the selection committee's top four teams with the top four seeds and a first-round bye, the CFP announced Thursday.

The 10 FBS commissioners and Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua, who constitute the CFP's management committee, reached the unanimous agreement necessary to make the change during a call Thursday afternoon.

"We all have a responsibility to serve our constituents while also being mindful as to what's best for college football," ACC commissioner Jim Phillips told ESPN. "Today's decision was done in the best interest of the sport. It may not always benefit the ACC, but it was the right decision and that's a responsibility I take very seriously."

This past season, the four highest-ranked conference champions earned the top four seeds -- regardless of where they were ranked. Now, independent Notre Dame is eligible to earn a first-round bye if the Irish are ranked in the top four. All four teams that earned a first-round bye in the inaugural 12-team CFP lost their first game.

The five highest-ranked conference champions will still be guaranteed spots in the 12-team field.

"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," Rich Clark, executive director of the College Football Playoff, said in a statement. "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."

The group agreed to maintain the $8 million financial commitment to the four highest-ranked conference champions -- $4 million for reaching the playoff and a $4 million for reaching the quarterfinals.

"That was the commissioners' way of -- at least for this year -- holding to the commitment that they have made financially to those teams, those conference champions in particular, that would have been paid those amounts under the former system that we used last year," Clark told ESPN.

Last year, Mountain West Conference champion Boise State and Big 12 champion Arizona State earned top-four seeds and first-round byes as two of the four highest-ranked conference champions. The Broncos were ranked No. 9 and seeded No. 3, and No. 12-ranked Arizona State earned the fourth seed and final bye. Had a straight seeding model been in place last year, No. 1 Oregon, No. 2 Georgia, No. 3 Texas and No. 4 Penn State would have been the top four seeds.

The CFP's management committee has been contemplating changing the seeding for this fall for months. While there was overwhelming support in the room to move to a straight seeding format, some commissioners were hoping to tie the discussion into the bigger consideration of format for 2026 and beyond. No decisions were made on the CFP's future format.

"There's still lots of discussion," Clark added. "The commissioners are really putting everything on the table so that everybody knows where each other is coming from, but they're still in discussions."