The College Football Playoff will investigate the leak that led to Brett McMurphy reporting that SMU had been selected to the College Football Playoff over Alabama. Credit: ESPN

This year’s College Football Playoff has fizzled with some coaches, fans, and media.

The bickering began the minute the expanded 12-team field was announced. People complained about who didn’t get in (Alabama), who did get in (Indiana), who got robbed by a bad seeding system (No. 1 Oregon), who should have/shouldn’t have hosted a home game, etc.

The chorus of complaints has been so loud and consistent that everyone expects the CFP committee to take action. ESPN college football insider Heather Dinich said the CFP committee will meet on Sunday to discuss possible changes.

What’s up for discussion? Almost everything, apparently.

“Everything fans are talking about, they’re going to talk about,” Dinich said Thursday on College Football Live. “The seeding, strength of schedule, the selection committee itself. I’ve had multiple commissioners say to me that they would simply like a better understanding of what matters most to the selection committee.

“ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips told me he would like some more clarity on how the selection committee treats conference championship game participants. And so there are a lot of questions in terms of first-round home games, seedings, byes, you name it, they’re going to talk about it.”

Dinich said Sunday’s 90-minute meeting will only start the conversation, with more talks sure to follow next month and at the annual CFP spring meetings in April.

However, anyone expecting a change in time for next season’s playoff will be disappointed.

“My sources are very skeptical that anything will change for 2025,” Dinich said. “And that is because in order for anything to change for 2025, it has to be unanimously agreed upon by the FBS commissioners, and the presidents and chancellors in charge of the College Football Playoff. I don’t know what your house is like, but they can’t unanimously agree on what to have for dinner tonight.


“This has been a problem over the past decade, getting everyone on the same page,” Dinich continued, “so the more likely scenario … is that they take a deep dive on all of these issues, including the format, 12 or 14 teams, or maybe even 16 teams, for 2026, is when college football fans can probably expect significant changes if they do make them to the College Football Playoff postseason.”

About Arthur Weinstein

Arthur spends his free time traveling around the U.S. to sporting events, state and national parks, and in search of great restaurants off the beaten path.