It seems every fan had something bad to say about the College Football Playoff last season, whether criticizing who got in (Indiana, SMU), who didn’t get in (Alabama), or the selection committee’s criteria.
While college football leaders have talked about a possible solution, no decisions have been made. The most talked-about format change would add two teams, for a 14-school playoff, and award automatic bids to teams based on conferences.
Fox Sports analyst Urban Meyer voiced strong support for that format Tuesday on The Herd with Colin Cowherd.
“What are you hearing on the proposals for the College Football Playoff?” Cowherd asked.
“Well, I’ve actually done a little research on this,” Meyer said.
“It’s a 4-4-2-2-1-1 format. I know it’s out there a little bit, but I did a little diving into it, and of all the ones I’ve heard, it makes the most sense. It’s a 14-team playoff. Now, there’s going to be a big caveat in that, the Big 12 and ACC are going to be pissed.”
Under that proposal, the SEC and Big Ten would each get four automatic bids, the ACC and Big 12 would get two bids and the highest rated Group of Five team and at-large team would get in.
“Here’s the best thing — it takes it out of selection and more into access,” Meyer said. “So the selection committee’s going to be wrong, it’s an imperfect system, it’s been that way since the BCS. I like the idea you play into it. … It does not penalize you. If I’m a coach in the current model, I am not playing a tough team in the early part of the season. That’s going to hurt my team.
“If you go on the conferences handle the access, the Big Ten gets four (teams), you’re darn right I’m going to play Texas because I want to challenge my team, it’s great for recruiting, it’s great for our fans, it’s great for the game of football, and it will not penalize me. If I still win the Big Ten, I’m the No. 1 seed.”
“It does not penalize you if you play a tough team”@colincowherd & @CoachUrbanMeyer discuss the latest proposals for the College Football Playoff pic.twitter.com/yqrYvk1rsd
— Herd w/Colin Cowherd (@TheHerd) March 12, 2025
Not everyone supports the proposal.
“I believe they are completely wrong about guaranteeing bids,” SEC Network analyst Paul Finebaum said recently on Get Up. “Doing our show yesterday, even SEC fans were calling in…saying they don’t like it. There’s something inherently wrong about stacking the deck before the season. …I think it’s a bad move right now.”
https://youtu.be/lyqW6M8J5RI?si=9km1raYPdwn6n9Rq&t=115
Meyer also said he likes the drama this format would create with play-in games. For example, in the SEC and Big Ten, the No. 3 team would play the No. 6 team and No. 4 would meet No. 5 in play-in games for automatic CFP bids.
“I just think it’s great for the game,” Meyer said.
