College Football Playoff format talks go back to drawing board as SEC gains momentum to keep 8-game schedule
ASHEVILLE, N.C. -- It's back to the starting line for the College Football Playoff after a proposal introducing new tweaks to metrics utilized by the selection committee effectively reset discussions amongst executives over the postseason format for 2026 and beyond.
What struck a chord this week after two days of closed-door meetings at the historic Biltmore Estate in North Carolina is the CFP staff's proposed changes to strength-of-schedule metrics utilized by the selection committee. The new metrics would place more emphasis on nonconference scheduling, effectively making the difference between eight and nine conference games negligible, a touchstone for the SEC's criticism of the selection process, sources told CBS Sports. WIth new data to ponder, the conferences have hit the reset button on their preconceived notions.
If instituted, the new metrics could strengthen the SEC's resolve to stick with eight conference games, fueling momentum for a CFP that includes less automatic qualifiers and more at-large berths -- an option the Big Ten has been reluctant to consider. Big Ten officials have long desired the SEC and others play nine conference games.
SEC administrators have debated over the last three years whether to move to nine conference games, but decisions were delayed after several rounds of conference realignment across the country and the expansion of the CFP in 2024. The SEC believes its scheduling philosophy is contingent on the playoff format and the selection process.
The developments over the last several weeks essentially place the Big Ten on an island as its ally, the SEC, reconsiders its options. Big Ten officials pushed for a 16-team format with four automatic qualifiers for the Big Ten and the SEC for several months, and SEC athletic directors were on board, but the group began deviating from that plan in May as their coaches and other conferences supported a more wide-open format with 11 at-large spots.
Crucial in this development is that the Big Ten and SEC hold the power to change the CFP's format, effectively neutering the other FBS conferences and Notre Dame if negotiations hit a stalemate later this fall. The two conferences have voting control for the format and will split 58% of the CFP's revenue starting in 2026, according to a memorandum of understanding signed last year.
A new format cannot be adopted if the Big Ten and SEC support separate formats, CFP executive director Rich Clark said.
"They're obligated to come to an agreement on what the format is. So they'll determine that between the parties and then go forward from there."
The deadline for a decision is Dec. 1. A temporary, one-year format for 2026 is not on the table right now.
"I don't think that they're going to kick the can a second year," Clark said. "They're going to make a decision on what that whole period (2026-31) should look like."
That means 12-, 14- and 16-team formats are all back in play.
"There's a lot of options. You've heard all the options. I don't think anything's completely off the table," Clark said. "Pretty much everything's on the table, and they're taking a good look at all of it. I wouldn't say there's a leading contender right now for them and they're taking a good look and a fresh look at it."
In the interim, the 2025 season will move forward with a 12-team field with a straight-seeding format: the five highest-ranked conference champions receive automatic bids, but champions are not assured first-round byes as they were previously in 2024.
"The format could be a lot different in '26 or maybe the same," Clark said.
Most conferences and Notre Dame were receptive to the proposed tweaks to SOS metrics, but the Big Ten remains on the fence, sources told CBS Sports. Commissioners were urged to socialize the new metrics with their' athletic directors, and the conferences are expected to provide feedback to the CFP. Momentum, however, is building for a playoff with more at-large spots rather than the Big Ten's preferred 4-4-2-2-1-3 format with four AQs for the Big Ten and SEC, two apiece for the ACC and Big 12, one spot for the highest-ranked Group of 6 champion and three at-large selections.
"Most of us want to earn it on the field," one administrator in a power conference familiar with the discussions told CBS Sports.
SportSource, CFP's analytics partner, outsourced development of new SOS metrics three months ago. Among the mathematicians brought on board was a representtaitve from Google.
The proposed changes are not dramatic "but it's a refresh," Clark said.
The four commissioners from the power conferences declined multiple requests for comment Wednesday and departed meetings without speaking to reporters.
In late May, the SEC publicly pushed for a reevaluation of strength-of-schedule metrics that favor the conference after its coaches surprisingly voiced dissent from their conference administrators, who had for months supported a 16-team field with four automatic qualifiers for both the Big Ten and SEC. SEC coaches instead supported a proposed 5+11 format, as proposed by the ACC and Big 12, which includes five automatic bids for the highest-ranked conference champions and 11 at-large spots. The thinking among SEC coaches was they could land more teams in the playoff with more at-large selections -- and also remain at eight conference games instead of moving to a more difficult nine-game schedule.
The Big Ten and Big 12 play nine conference games; ACC and Big 12 teams play eight.
The Big Ten and SEC's administrators have mostly been in lockstep on major issues since teaming up eight months ago to conduct first-of-their-kind joint meetings in Nashville and New Orleans. SEC commissioner Greg Sankey and Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti developed a strong working relationship -- one Sankey never had with Petitti's predecessor, Kevin Warren -- and brought the two conferences closer together in preparation for college athletics' new era after the House v. NCAA settlement, which requires revenue sharing with players and a more streamlined governance model starting July 1.
Now, the partnership between the Big Ten and SEC is being tested.
The SEC has been outspoken about the need to revamp a process it believes did not properly account for its prowess last season when the selection committee left out Alabama, Ole Miss and South Carolina from the 12-team field. The conference even distributed a seven-page memo entitled "A Regular Season Gauntlet" to assembled media members after its spring meetings last month in Florida.
In the memo, the SEC ranks No. 1 over the last decade in a number of metrics, including SOS and strength of record (SOR). SEC teams comprise the entire top 10 of the toughest schedules for 2025 in ESPN's Football Power Index this summer. The FPI was one of the several metrics the SEC used in its public push for changes within the Selection Committee's tools.
At the heart of the Big Ten's argument, they say, is the belief that more automatic qualifiers (and a potential play-in championship weekend) would keep more program fanbases invested later into the season, which ultimately leads to better fan attendance and television ratings.
"In a model where it's 5-11, there's no amount of data you can pour through to figure out who's better between the fourth-place Big Ten team, the fourth-place SEC team and the second-place Big 12 team," a Big Ten source told CBS Sports last week. "I recognize people think there are solutions. We've studied it a whole lot and there's not a whole lot that you can do to tweak it."
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