CFP leaders waiting on changes to seeding format
DALLAS — Leaders of the College Football Playoff are asking for more information before they decide whether to change the way teams are seeded in the 12-team playoff this fall, CFP executive director Rich Clark said Tuesday following a day of meetings at the DFW Grand Hyatt.
The 10 FBS commissioners and Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua — an 11-person group called the CFP management committee — are considering a “straight seeding” format this year, which would reward the selection committee’s top four teams with a first-round bye instead of the four highest-ranked conference champions as was the case this past season.
“We laid the groundwork,” Clark said, following a roughly seven-hour meeting. “There’s still some things the [management] committee wants from us, some research we need to do for them on their behalf so they can make good, informed decisions. They do want to make not just data-informed, but informed — they don’t want to go into this on a whim. They want to make these decisions really strong.”
The management committee has to unanimously agree to any format changes in 2025. Last week, at a meeting in New Orleans involving the SEC and Big Ten conferences, both SEC commissioner Greg Sankey and Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti said they would vote in favor of a straight seeding model. In that format, No. 3 seed and Mountain West Conference champion Boise State and No. 4 seed and Big 12 champion Arizona State would not have earned first-round byes because they weren’t ranked in the committee’s top four.
This was the first time, though, that the full management committee discussed it in person. Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark said “it’s too early” to determine if he would vote in favor of changing the seeding.
“We had a really good discussion,” Yormark said. “The CFP is going to run some models and then come back to us next month. Good, heartfelt conversations — everyone gave their point of view — we’ll vet it out and see what happens.”
There’s a $4 million payout that comes with advancing to a quarterfinal — that’s in addition to $4 million for reaching the playoff for a total of $8 million earned by a team’s respective conference.
“That’ll certainly be a part of the decision,” Clark said, “because whatever changes happen — if changes happen — that would be a part of it. I don’t know how to quantify how much of it is about that, but whatever we use, there’s going to be a financial model that goes with it.”
After the meeting, both Sankey and Petitti left without speaking to reporters, and multiple commissioners declined to comment and were scrambling to catch flights. American Athletic Conference commissioner Tim Pernetti said the group looked at a model as to how the CFP would have played out this past season with straight seeding.
“And then everybody had questions and asked for more information,” Pernetti said, “so the CFP is going to come back to us with some analysis, a couple things that were asked for, but I can’t get specific beyond that.”
ACC commissioner Jim Phillips said any decisions for 2025 have to be made with the new six-year contract, which begins in 2026, in mind.
“You’ve got to look at it in totality,” Phillips said. “It’s one contract coming to an end and a new six-year cycle, but those things have some linkage to them as well.”
Though the possibility of automatic qualifiers has generated conversations both publicly and privately, Clark said the idea was discussed, but not at length, and the Big Ten and SEC did not present any specific model for consideration. Phillips said the CFP was still considering multiple options for 2026 and beyond, including fields of 12, 14 and 16 teams.
“All of it is open for us,” Phillips said. “What you do is you believe in your coaches, you believe in your program, and you want the best format that you possibly can for college football. We all have our own constituents, but that can’t be the only thing that drives what you do with the CFP now and in the future. It’s really important to get this thing right. Access is why we expanded from four to 12, and if we go to 14 or 16 or stay at 12 — and I would just say that — none of those models were taken off. … We just haven’t dug in exactly on which of those we prefer.”
The CFP’s management committee will meet again in March, but it could be a virtual conference because of the hectic scheduling nature of basketball season. Clark said that any decisions about the seeding for this fall could happen next month or at the annual CFP spring meeting in April.
“It’s important we make these decisions for ’25 now,” he said, “because they’re going to impact what happens in ’26 and beyond.”
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Jorge Castillo
NEW YORK — Juan Soto‘s second Subway Series experience in a Mets uniform was a far cry from his first.
In mid-May, Soto received a three-day onslaught of boos from scorned crowds in his return to Yankee Stadium and looked increasingly uncomfortable as the weekend progressed. On Friday, he felt right at home in the teams’ series opener at Citi Field, receiving a standing ovation from his home crowd before his first at-bat and reciprocating the love with a signature performance against his former team.
The soon-to-be five-time All-Star went 3-for-4 with a home run, double and single, falling just a triple shy of the cycle in the Mets’ 6-5 comeback win over the Yankees to continue his scalding stretch over the past month as the Mets won their third consecutive game and the Yankees lost their fifth straight.
“That was awesome,” said second baseman Jeff McNeil, who slashed a go-ahead two-run home run in the seventh inning. “He had a great day. Huge home run. That’s just who he is. It’s fun to watch and I feel like every time he comes to the plate, he’s going to do something cool.”
The day began with the Mets needing a quick counter after the Yankees took a two-run lead on back-to-back home runs from Jasson Dominguez and Aaron Judge to open the game and put rookie Justin Hagenman on his heels in his first career major league start. Soto, moments after absorbing the warm reception, delivered one, lifting a two-run home run to left-center field for his 21st of the season to tie the score and put Hagenman at ease.
“Juan responded right away, just getting the momentum right back,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. “That was the setting-the-tone moment. ‘OK, they punch, we’re going to punch back. Here we are.'”
The 26-year-old Soto followed the two-run blast with a 108.6-mph rope of a double to center field in the third inning and a single in the fifth before cracking a 106.8-mph flyout in his final at-bat in the seventh. Two batters later, McNeil, after Pete Alonso walked to extend the inning, drove a changeup from Luke Weaver down the right-field line to give the Mets the lead.
“I just feel good right now,” Soto said. “I’m seeing the ball really well. I feel like I’m trying to take my chances when I swing the bat. I’m trying to do damage every time and try to help the team win some games.”
Much is different from the first time the Mets and Yankees met this season. Both teams have fallen from first place following dreadful stretches stemming from June 12. Both teams are dealing with various injuries to pitchers, the Mets to a greater extent. And Soto, a Yankee last season, has returned to his usual form for his new club.
Soto emerged from that three-game set in the Bronx earlier in the season with a .246 batting average and .822 OPS on the season. The relative struggles continued over the next two weeks, sinking his batting average to .229 and his OPS to .797 through June 5. The relative struggles drew the ire of fans and New York talk radio. The early return on the Mets’ $765 million investment was one of the few blips in the team’s splendid start.
The storyline has since flipped. Since June 6, Soto is hitting .348 with 10 home runs and a 1.185 OPS in 27 games, earning National League Player of the Month honors for June. On the season, his 21 home runs are tied for ninth in the majors and his .916 OPS is seventh. It’s production the Mets expected — and the production the Yankees know all about.
“It’s pretty special,” Mendoza said. “Every time he’s at the plate, you feel good about your chances. And when we got guys that are getting on base and we’re turning the lineup over and getting him at the plate as many times [as possible] when he’s going like that, it’s a pretty special feeling.”
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