What's Next for College Football? Playoff Changes, Seeding, and More

The 2024 college football season is over, but there's already buzz about what's next. Conference commissioners, athletic directors, and coaches are discussing playoff changes, seeding, and more.

Playoff play-in games?

ACC commissioner Jim Phillips said his league would discuss giving its regular-season champion a bye, and then the teams that finished second or third in the league standings would play in the ACC title game. He said another possibility is having the top four teams play on the final weekend of the regular season: No. 1 vs. No. 4 and No. 2 vs. No. 3, with the winners playing the following Saturday for the ACC title.

Seeding change?

If there's one thing the 10 FBS commissioners and Bevacqua might be able to unanimously agree on for 2025, it could be changing how the 12 playoff teams are seeded on Selection Day. The most feedback surrounding the 12-team format was about the seeding, which gave the Big Ten and SEC champs a more difficult path through the bracket than their runners-up. It also allowed for a lower-ranked team such as No. 12 Arizona State, the Big 12 champion, to earn a first-round bye over higher-ranked playoff participants.

Big Ten, SEC to meet

Sources said leaders from the SEC and Big Ten will meet for a day in New Orleans to discuss the future CFP format and overall NCAA governance.

Buckeyes O-line loaded for '25

National champion Ohio State will replace quarterback Will Howard next season, and while backup Julian Sayin might have already won the job in the court of public opinion, those within the program are more reserved in their proclamations.

Transfer window causing angst

Earlier this month, the FBS coaches unanimously voted in favor of a proposal that would reduce college football's transfer window to a single, 10-day period in January. It would go into effect for the 2025-26 academic year.

Bettis legacy at Notre Dame

Before the national title game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, NFL Hall of Famer and Notre Dame alum Jerome Bettis roamed the sidelines taking pictures and shaking hands -- with his son, Notre Dame commit Jerome Bettis Jr., watching from the first row of stands right above him.

Private equity

On the day of the national championship game, there was a closed-door, private equity event hosted by JohnWallStreet at the W Atlanta Hotel from 8 a.m. until 1 p.m. There were presentations from RedBird Capital chief operating partner Mark Dowley, multiple panels featuring conference commissioners, and, according to the company's website, the audience included senior officials from the NCAA, Big 12, Mountain West Conference, American Athletic Conference, ACC, SEC, Bowl Season and the Big Ten.

What's next for Indiana?

After the best season in school history and the school's first CFP appearance, Indiana's coach said he's right back to work with the same expectations he had entering his first season: keep winning.

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