NEW ORLEANS According to commissioners for both conferences, the Big Ten and Southeastern Conference will work to adjust how College Football Playoff teams are seeded for the upcoming season so that it more closely aligns with how teams are ranked by the CFP selection committee.
Greg Sankey, the SEC Commissioner, stated that he was ready to vote in favor of the seeding modification. However, it must be unanimous.
The 12-team CFP structure was used for the first time during the previous college football season.
A clause that granted byes to the top four major conference champions was criticized after Arizona State, Boise State, Georgia, and Oregon all lost their CFP openers in the quarterfinals, despite the fact that it was generally seen as a success that might even be extended to additional teams.
Before the Buckeyes defeated the Fighting Irish in the championship game, Ohio State and Notre Dame had won three postseason games.
According to Big Ten Commissioner Tony Petitti, both leagues support the move to straight seeding, which would eliminate the distinction between rankings and seedings.
According to Petitti, the committee simply selects the 12 teams for the following season and states, “These are the 12 teams in the order that they fall, based on their judgment and the criteria they are given in the selection room.” The committee would have more freedom to carry out its duties in a way that is likely to be more understandable for spectators.
On Wednesday, Sankey and Petitti traveled to New Orleans to hold joint meetings with the athletic directors of each of their leagues.
They chose not to discuss other possible modifications, including broadening the field, that they might suggest for the 2026 playoff format, when such adjustments might be taken into account.
After refusing to openly consider any such proposals, Sankey stated that we owe it to our peers (at other conferences) first.
But after the discussions, Mississippi athletic director Keith Carter said he anticipates seeing the field grow in the future as he walked out of a downtown hotel.
Petitti and Sankey emphasized that the majority of their week was devoted to examining the experiences of respective conferences’ teams that competed in the 12-team playoffs last season. This information could help guide future recommendations.
“That’s what we need to do first,” Petitti stated. It will do what it informs moving forward.
— AP Sports Writer Brett Martel
