College football has seen so many changes over the past few years. From the transfer portal, conference realignment and NIL, the sport is vastly different now than it was even just 10 years ago.
The sport however is not done changing as the postseason in college football is likely to see a lot of major adjustments. From changing the entire SEC Championship weekend to expanding the College Football Playoff once again, it likely is just a matter of time until the sport sees a massive change once again.
However, all of these changes wouldn't come until the 2026 season. There is however a huge change that the SEC and Big Ten are pushing for beginning this next season.
The SEC and Big Ten plan to introduce a change to the seeding for the 2025 playoff next week, eliminating auto-byes for conference champs.
— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) February 19, 2025
In a move that requires unanimity, they’ll have a fight on their hands from the Big 12 & ACC.https://t.co/F9jpciVAn0
Why this change makes sense
According to Ross Dellenger with Yahoo Sports, the SEC and Big Ten would like to do away with the automatic byes in the College Football Playoff. As it stands today, the four highest ranked conference champions automatically earn a bye regardless of how they are ranked by the CFP committee. This created a lot of issues this past season because Oregon and Georgia clearly deserved a top four seed, but Arizona State and Boise State were not a top four team.
It's important to note that the SEC and Big Ten are not wanting to get rid of the five highest ranked conference champions from automatically making it into the CFP, they just don't want teams automatically earning a top four seed.
As Dellenger points out, this change would need a unanimous sign off from the rest of the conferences, and it's unlikely that the Big 12 and ACC will agree to this. However, all of the other proposed changeds beginning in 2026 do not need the approval of the other conferences. So the Big Ten and SEC will be able to do whatever they want with the playoff beginning with the 2026 season.