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NEW ORLEANS — On the 23rd floor of the luxurious Windsor Court hotel, guests can view a near 360-degree panorama of this fine city — the chocolate river that winds through it, the century-old buildings of the French Quarter and the towering oaks that line the famous St. Charles Avenue.
Inside a room there Wednesday, atop this city and, perhaps, atop college athletics, leaders of the SEC and Big Ten gathered to explore some of the most significant issues in the industry.
They emerged with little decisions made except for one: They want to see a seeding change in the 2025 College Football Playoff.
The two leagues will push playoff executives to alter the seeding of the upcoming postseason, aligning the seeds based directly on the selection committee’s rankings. Such a move would eliminate the rule that grants first-round byes and the top four seeds to the four highest-ranked conference champions.
They’ll have a fight on their hands to make the change.
Any change to the 2025 playoff requires unanimity from the 10 FBS leagues and Notre Dame as it is the last year of the original television contract with ESPN.
Why would the Big 12, ACC and many of the Group of Five commissioners — the main benefactors of the rule — vote for such a move? They wouldn’t. Some of them have hinted as much in comments to Yahoo Sports last month.
“I do not have the appetite to give up any financial reward that comes with a bye,” Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark said last month, alluding to the $8 million reward earned by a team that automatically advances into the quarterfinals.
ACC commissioner Jim Phillips referred to similar professional playoff formats that use an automatic bye structure for teams that win divisions or conferences, such as the NFL.
“It’s not as if this system is so foreign,” he said. “This shouldn’t be…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/college-football/article/sec-big-ten-to-push-for-seeding-changes-to-2025-college-football-playoff-224311783.html
Author : Yahoo Sports
Publish date : 2025-02-19 22:43:00
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