There’s a subtle and important battle that begins on Tuesday, and there’s the college’s other football final position against the overwhelming power of the SEC and the Big Ten.
A final chance to show some negotiation chops.
The Big Ten and the SEC want straight seeds for the 2025 College Football Playoffs. The ACC, Big 12 and six other FBS meetings are not.
The question is how badly the Big Ten and the SEC want it.
Is it bad enough to make other meetings financially whole, regardless of format? Is it bad enough for guarantees in future college football playoff formats starting in 2026, where the Big Ten and the SEC do not need unanimous agreement to change rules?
Simply put, everyone will vote for the 2025 format. It must be unanimous. Moving forward from 2026, the Big Ten and the SEC can do anything they can.
That’s why it’s so critical of Tuesday’s CFP meeting in Dallas. Despite the offseason full of future format changes that begin in 2026, there are still 2025 to address in 2025.
Starting in 2026, the SEC and Big Ten will set up formats and set ways that more than $1 billion a year will be paid just for CFP. They were given this authority last year. When a new media rights agreement was negotiated, the rest of the bowl was because the two superconferences didn’t want to separate and form their own association.
And then they play college football playoffs.
“If there’s a system that rewards the regular season and it takes road teams to get there, that’s great for our sport,” Georgia Kobe coach Kirby Smart ended last season. “We can’t imagine a path that is more difficult than passing through our meeting.”
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So here we are on the forks on the road. Obvious flaws in the 2025 format need to be addressed. However, in the current format that rewards the conference champions with first round of Byes, the third seed Boise state was 9th in the 1-12 seed format, while the fourth Arizona state was 11th – the final Every CFP vote.
More importantly, the reward for winning the entire Oregon seed is no, instead of the Rose Bowl with the final National Champion Ohio. It was the second match against the winner of Boise State, 8th Indiana vs. 9th.
The reward for winning Georgia’s second seed was the Sugar Bowl against the winner of No. 7, instead of a match against the final National Runner-up Notre Dame.
Do you understand the problem?
The Big Ten and SEC say the straight seed format is best for everyone involved and focuses on successful regular seasons. However, a rare season will be needed from the Big 12 or ACC (or a group of five champions) champions, replacing the top two spots with straight seed votes for SEC and Big Ten champions.
Since the playoff system was launched in 2014, only ACC School Clemson (four times) and Florida State have ranked in the top two. Oregon (2014), Oklahoma (2017) and Washington (2023) also ranked in the top two of the Pac-12 and Big 12, but are now part of the SEC or Big Ten.
The ACC, Big 12, and five meeting groups see this through the financial lens. Goodbye to the first round guarantees a move to the quarterfinals. Teams are paid more to reach this level. CFP qualifications were $4 million, $4 million to reach the quarterfinals, $6 million to reach the semifinals, $6 million to reach the semifinals, $6 million to reach the $6 million final.
By moving to straight seeds for the 2025 season, the Big 12, ACC and five-person group could give up $4 million by moving directly into the quarter-final round without a goodbye.
The Big Ten and SEC say they want the same straight seed bracket system used to determine almost any NCAA sport. The same system that is easy to follow and understand, and sells to media rights partners.
Through the systems that have grown NCAA sports using tournaments and brackets, media rights trading, advertising and yes, gambling. Men’s basketball has essentially become a five-week sport as tournaments that were largely fueled by gambling were a huge success.
Don’t you think CBS and Turner Sports have paid $8.8 billion for a regular season basketball game?
The Straight Seed Tournament also eliminates the confusion of the CFP Select Committee. The CFP Select Committee was hit by a quirky system in its first year of the 12-team format.
“These people are doing very difficult jobs,” Pennsylvania coach James Franklin said last month. “We should all be for something that makes it easier for everyone involved.”
But at the price of Big Ten and seconds?
Matt Hayes is a senior national college football writer for the USA Today Sports Network. Follow him with X at @matthayescfb.