Report: College Football Playoff 'nearing consensus' to change seeding process

The College Football Playoff committee is “nearing consensus” to change the seeding process. It would eliminate first round byes for conference champions, according to CBS Sports. In order for this pass, the CFP committee must vote unanimously in favor.

A straight seeding proposal gained support from the ACC and Big 12, per the report. That comes on the heels of ESPN’s Pete Thamel claiming those two conferences have significantly less say in the CFP compared to the Big Ten and SEC.

CFP administrators have to approve the proposal, but that could come down within the next month, per the report. If that’s the case, this past year’s 12-team format of the four highest-ranked conference champions getting a bye will go by the wayside.

Instead, the four byes in a 12-team format would go to the four highest playoff teams. The 12-team College Football Playoff could go away at the end of this upcoming season, with a potential 16-team bracket coming. Now, it could end up being 14, but 16 would make logical sense.

The 16-team bracket would include four automatic bids for each of the SEC and Big Ten, according to Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger. The ACC and Big 12 would get two spots each, while the Group of 6 would get one. There would also be three at-large spots.

In addition, as Dellenger previously reported, “inner-league play-in games” could also be in the cards at the end of the year. That would put the third-place team in a conference against the sixth-place team, as well as the fourth-place team against the fifth-place.

Based on reports around college football, the 16-team format is preferred compared to 14. In a 16-team bracket for the College Football Playoff, there would be no byes, but more automatic bids, similar to how the NFL operates.

In March, Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark expressed his support for the current 12-team CFP. But when it comes to automatic qualifiers, he warned of a potential “artificial championship.”

“I like the 12-team format. I love it,” Yormark said. “Whether we go to 14 or expand the field, I don’t know, and obviously it’ll be a decision amongst the management committee. As it relates to the AQs, and I’ve been on the record saying this, I don’t want an artificial championship. I want people to earn their way in. I don’t want it being predetermined.

“That being said, I’m open to discussion. I want to weigh the pros and cons of lots of different scenarios. Then, as a collective group, make a decision on what’s right for college football.”

Nick Schultz contributed to this report