Changes revealed by the CFP selection committee do Syracuse football a huge favor

Syracuse football's brutal schedule in the 2025 campaign can help the Orange make a push toward potential inclusion in this season's 12-team College Football Playoff ("CFP").

The catch, of course, is that the 'Cuse has to win a lot of games. My thinking is nine triumphs in the team's 12-game regular season could prove sufficient to warrant being in the conversation for an at-large bid. That's assuming Syracuse football doesn't win the Atlantic Coast Conference title.

Still, the CFP's selection committee announced various changes on Wednesday that I believe do Syracuse football a big-time favor, again assuming that the Orange prevails in some of its contests against highly-ranked foes.

The selection committee says that for the 2025 season, there will be "enhancements" to the tools used by the committee to determine teams' schedule strength. In a nutshell, the committee's "schedule strength metric" will now apply greater weight to games played versus stronger opponents.

Syracuse football has a tall task to make this year's CFP.

But wait. There's more. The committee is also adding in another metric called "record strength." From Wednesday's press release: "This metric rewards teams defeating high-quality opponents while minimizing the penalty for losing to such a team. Conversely, these changes will provide minimal reward for defeating a lower-quality opponent while imposing a greater penalty for losing to such a team."

My main question here is as follows. Why wasn't the CFP selection committee already using this additional metric? Teams should be rewarded for playing - and beating - high-quality foes. Beating up on cupcakes shouldn't result in sizable rewards, so to speak.

This may also help incentivize schools in the power-four leagues, including Syracuse football, to schedule more challenging non-conference encounters. If you win these sorts of games, you get rewarded. If you lose these kinds of games, you don't get penalized a ton.

Now, as a point of emphasis, even though the Orange's 2025 schedule is, on paper, ridiculously tough, that doesn't mean the 'Cuse can go 6-6 in the regular season and merit being in the discussion for an at-large CFP invite.

Two other points to mention. As CBS Sports national reporter Brandon Marcello noted on X, "The CFP does not make its data/metrics publicly available. I've asked why in the past, and if they would consider. They just ... don't want to."

That, my friends, is lame. Put everything out in the open. Be transparent. Also, check out what Michael DeCourcy of The Sporting News said via his X account. "There is no legitimate metric of college football schedule strength until there is more intersection among the major conferences. And the sport is moving away from that, rather than toward it."

Syracuse football opens its 2025 season in Atlanta on Saturday, Aug. 30, against No. 24 Tennessee. The Orange travels to Clemson, SMU, Georgia Tech and Miami in ACC play. Those could end up as the top-four teams in the conference standings. Syracuse football also heads to Notre Dame, which was the national runner-up a season ago.

Upon latest glance, the 'Cuse 2025 docket is No. 15 nationally, per ESPN's Football Power Index. Many pundits have stated that Syracuse football's schedule this season is the toughest in the ACC and in the top 10 nationally.

To reiterate, I think the Orange needs nine regular-season victories to have a shot at the CFP. The selection committee's new changes can only help the 'Cuse, assuming our boys pick up some quality conquests in 2025.

As I wrote about in May, the CFP has also adjusted its seeding protocol for this season's 12-team field. The five highest-ranked conference champions will be included in the CFP, although the seeding for this event will be directly based on the selection committee's final rankings. Also, the four highest-rated squads will receive a first-round bye.

What do you think, Syracuse football fans? Can the Orange make a run at this season's CFP?