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AMELIA ISLAND, Fla. — The College Football Playoff’s power players are nearing consensus to change the seeding process next season to eliminate first-round byes for conference champions, sources tell CBS Sports.
The “straight seeding” proposal has gained support from the ACC and Big 12 in recent weeks, sources said. On Wednesday, ACC commissioner Jim Phillips said for the first time that format “may be the right thing for us to consider.” CFP administrators must approve the proposal, but that could happen within the next month, sources said. The proposal needs unanimous approval from the 10 FBS conferences and Notre Dame to be enacted for the upcoming 2025-26 season.
The Big Ten and SEC openly supported a shift to “straight seeding” during a meeting between the conferences’ athletic directors and administrators in March.
The CFP expanded to 12 teams for the 2024 season, with the top four conference champions receiving first-round byes. Starting in 2025, “straight seeding” would eliminate those first-round reservations and would instead reward the byes to the top four teams ranked in the CFP Selection Committee’s final rankings.
The 12-team format’s contract expires at the end of the upcoming season. Discussions have been ongoing about potentially expanding the field to 14 or 16 teams, with multiple automatic qualifiers reserved for the four power conferences, for months. Administrators are hopeful a format will be approved by the time the CFP’s administrators meet June 18.
CBS Sports will update this developing story.
Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/college-football-playoff-nearing-consensus-to-alter-seeding-process-with-changes-to-first-round-byes/
Author : Brandon Marcello
Publish date : 2025-05-14 16:18:00
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