Whether or not Syracuse football contends for the 12-team College Football Playoff in the upcoming season remains to be seen, particularly given the Orange's daunting 2025 docket, but the event is undergoing some sizable seeding changes in its second year of existence.
The CFP's management committee announced on Thursday afternoon that the 12-team bracket will now be seeded directly based on the final rankings of the CFP selection committee, with the four highest-rated squads landing a first-round bye.
This past term, the four highest-ranked conference champions received a bye, leading Arizona State to earn the No. 4 seed and Boise State to pick up the No. 3 seed, for example. At the same time, the eventual national champion, Ohio State, was the No. 8 seed. In the CFP title game, the Buckeyes beat the No. 7 seed, Notre Dame.
No one can reasonably say that either Arizona State or Boise State was a better team this past stanza than Ohio State prior to the CFP getting underway. Does this new seeding take away a potential advantage for leagues that fall way behind the Southeastern Conference and the Big Ten Conference, such as Syracuse football's Atlantic Coast Conference and the Big 12 Conference?
Perhaps. But to me, straight-up seeding is the way to go. Reward the best teams with the best seeds. The new format will guarantee the five highest-ranked conference champions a spot in the CFP.
Syracuse football, in 2025, will play several CFP participants from this past season.
If one of the five highest-ranked conference champs is outside the top 12 of CFP ratings, that squad would move up to the No. 12 seed. Now, some fans might say that if this conference champion isn't ranked all that high, should it get to jump over a squad in the top 12 that didn't win its conference crown?
It's a fair point to consider, although I have no issue with the five top conference champs getting a bid to the CFP. What I thought was lame was having the four highest-ranked conference champions receive a first-round bye, rather than the four highest-rated groups in the CFP rankings.
"After evaluating the first year of the 12-team Playoff, the CFP Management Committee felt it was in the best interest of the game to make this adjustment," said Rich Clark, the CFP's executive director, in a statement. "This change will continue to allow guaranteed access to the Playoff by rewarding teams for winning their conference championship, but it will also allow us to construct a postseason bracket that recognizes the best performance on the field during the entire regular season."
Just like a season ago, the teams seeded No. 5 through No. 12 will play in the CFP's first round, with the higher-seeded squads hosting the lower-seeded teams either on their campus or at other sites determined by the higher-seeded unit.
After the first round, the quarterfinals will be on December 31 and January 1. The semifinals will take place on January 8 and January 9. Finally, the 2026 CFP national championship affair will happen on January 19 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla.
By the way, as I've noted before, in the 2025 campaign, Syracuse football will face four foes that were in the most recent 12-team CFP: national runner-up Notre Dame, Tennessee in the season opener, SMU and Clemson.