College Football Playoff to move to straight seeding for upcoming season | Who benefits the most?
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00:00We've got breaking news into CBS Sports HQ, where the College Football Playoff Committee has approved a major change for the 2025 season.
00:08And this has been confirmed by our very own Brandon Marcello.
00:10So this year's playoffs will feature straight seeding, eliminating first-round buys for the four highest-ranked conference champions.
00:18So instead, the top four seeds, as determined by the committee, will receive first-round buys, regardless of their affiliation with leagues and conferences.
00:27So the change was unanimously approved by the 10 FBS conferences, along with Notre Dame.
00:33So for more on this seeding shift, let's bring in the one and only Brandon Marcello.
00:38And Brandon, I know you are a very busy guy right now, and there's a lot of different changing things in college football, as there always is with the landscape.
00:46But ultimately, Brandon, in terms of this seeding, what ultimately led to this change being made?
00:52Well, they kind of just want to test it out, right?
00:54I mean, it just seems like they want to test things out year to year.
00:57This is a one-year stopgap, right?
00:59Because in 2026, they're going to be looking to expand the playoff to 14 teams or 16 teams.
01:06Most likely 16 teams will be the answer with quite a few automatic qualifiers.
01:12But the way it stands now, as we saw from last year, we had 12 teams.
01:16The four highest-ranked conference champions were assured buys.
01:20Well, that's no more.
01:21Only thing assured in this new seeding for 2025 is the five highest-ranked conference champions will be in the playoff, but you'll go in based off of where you're ranked, 1 through 12.
01:33So this past year, you would have seen two different teams there getting first-round buys than you would have in the usual year.
01:41So we're getting a look at what things could be in 2026 and beyond.
01:46But again, 26 and beyond are going to look a lot more different, where we're going to see as many as four automatic qualifiers apiece from the Big Ten and SEC, and maybe two apiece from the ACC and Big 12 as well.
01:58Yeah, so to piggyback off of that, Brandon, if we're looking ahead to 2026, we're talking about expansion, potentially 16 teams that are in the college football playoff.
02:06I know you said this is just kind of a stopgap, but right now, is it going to have any impact down the line on 2026, or are you viewing this as kind of two separate things, where this seeding is what it's going to look like for now, and then we'll get to 2026 when we get there?
02:22Everything in these boardrooms and negotiations have purpose.
02:25And for my discussions over the last couple weeks, when we first broke this story that approval was coming last week, we expected that the ACC and Big 12 were kind of maneuvering here to maybe get some better things down the road for 26 and beyond.
02:39Because as I said, the ACC and Big 12 are only going to get two automatic qualifiers in the current proposal for 26 and beyond, whereas the Big Ten and SEC are going to get twice as that with four apiece.
02:50So there's some discussion happening here. Also, some financial considerations going forward as well.
02:56If the Big 12 and ACC kind of give something up, they want something back in return, and that could happen as soon as we see this year with some financial help, but also in 26 and beyond.
03:08Another thing to look at here is not necessarily just the format, but in 2028, Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark has been stressing to everybody that there's a look-in with the CFP, and then they could change the payout structure.
03:24So let's say the ACC or the Big 12 have more people in the playoff than they were expecting, well, then that would demand more money for them in the future, starting in 2028.
03:35So the ACC and Big 12 know the SEC and Big Ten have the controlling voting power, but they're giving some things up right now to set themselves up, hopefully for them, to have more strength and power in the boardrooms in the next coming years.
03:49That's what it all comes down to, right? Strength, power, and, of course, money. We can't forget that.
03:54So we know this was unanimously decided by, or approved, excuse me, by the 10 FBS conferences, plus Notre Dame.
04:01So when you're looking at that, who is ultimately benefiting from this new seeding shift the most, Brandon?
04:07You know, to be quite honest, the SEC and the Big Ten, right, because they would have more teams getting first-round buys there in the top four, because every year, practically, at least one of those conferences is going to have two in the top four.
04:20And this past year, you would have had quite a few in there. In fact, you would have had two from each conference, as you're seeing on the screen right now.
04:26That would mean more money, right? Well, that's where the financial compromise comes in.
04:31They're not going to change the payout structure necessarily for the conference champions.
04:35So if you're a conference champion and you're in the playoff, you're still going to get a higher payout than everybody else.
04:39So that's going to remain. It's just that this is going to help with these teams getting some more rest in the SEC and Big Ten competitively.
04:48They get an advantage rather than maybe financially.
04:51But sometimes, you know, rest isn't always a good thing. We saw that with Oregon and the CFP, so we'll have to see.
04:56Brandon, we certainly appreciate it joining us here on CBS Sports HQ as we were talking about yet some more breaking news as it pertains to college football.
05:05Some changes coming to the seeding format where the top four seeds are going to get those first-round buys regardless of their conference affiliation.
05:13As we push things ahead to the 25-26 season, getting a look at the odds to win it all, Texas and Ohio State at 6-1, Georgia 7-1, and then we have Oregon and Penn State rounding out those top five odds.
05:43We'll see you next time.