College Football Playoff seeding to change for 2025 season

The top four seeds still will get first-round byes. The five highest-ranked conference champions still will gain entry into the playoff.

The current CFP contract is set to expire following the 2025 season. Further changes to the future format have been discussed, though not approved. Two of the potential changes include expanding to 16 teams and giving four automatic byes for the SEC and Big Ten. The seeding change to this point applies only to the coming season.

That previous format drew plenty of criticism in the first year of the 12-team CFP. The Bulldogs, who won the SEC, finished as the No. 2 ranked team and were seeded as such. The Oregon Ducks, champions of the Big Ten, were the No. 1 seed.

But Boise State and Arizona State were the next two highest-rated conference champions. That bumped them up to the No. 3 and No. 4 seeds and granted them byes. In the final CFP rankings, those teams were ranked No. 9 and No. 12.

Their ascension came at the expense of Texas, Penn State, Notre Dame and Ohio State who dropped down to be the No. 5, No. 6, No. 7 and No. 8 seeds, respectively. Those four teams won their way into the semifinals.

The four conference champions meanwhile all lost the first game they played in the playoff. For Georgia, the Bulldogs lost 23-10 to Notre Dame, which eventually played for the national championship.

“I mean, we both came kind of walking wounded into that, and talking to (Texas coach Steve Sarkisian) about it, it took a lot out of both our teams to play in that game,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said in a recent interview with Paul Finebaum about the SEC Championship game. “And then we go all day, (they) have a good run in the playoffs. We don’t. Notre Dame beats us, and Notre Dame had a great team, and they’ve done a great job there. I’m very pleased with where we were.”

Despite beating Texas, and winning the SEC, Georgia’s lone playoff opponent, Notre Dame, was ranked higher than all three of Texas’ CFP opponents. On its run to the semifinals, Texas beat 12th-seed Clemson and then Arizona State before finally losing to eighth-seed Ohio State.

Penn State, who lost to Oregon in the Big Ten Championship game, won games against 10th-seed SMU and ninth-seed Boise State before losing to Notre Dame. SMU was the 11th seed.

Under the new format, Georgia still would’ve been the No. 2 seed. But it would have faced the winner of the game between No. 7 Tennessee and No. 10 SMU. Notre Dame would’ve been the No. 5 seed and faced Clemson in the first round before next facing No. 4 Penn State.

“Ultimately, I’m going to be selfish, and I want what’s best for Georgia,” Georgia Athletic Director Josh Brooks told reporters on Thursday following an athletic board meeting. “Beyond that, I want what’s best for the Southeastern Conference, and I will not be shy about it. Whether we’re talking about baseball, basketball, tennis, I want decisions made that’s going to help our conference and give us the best opportunity to get as many teams in the postseason as possible.”

Georgia beat Tennessee 31-17 last season in Athens. SMU lost to 38-10 to Penn State.

First-round games in December still are set to be played on campuses, while quarterfinals games will be at bowl sites. Next season, the four quarterfinals games will be played in New Orleans (Sugar Bowl), Pasadena, California (Rose Bowl), Miami Gardens, Florida (Orange Bowl) and Arlington, Texas (Cotton Bowl). The semifinals sites will be Atlanta and Glendale, Arizona. The national championship game will be played in Miami Gardens, Florida.