College football Playoff seeding desperately needs a shakeup before next season

College football has always been big, and with the expanded playoffs it has given the opportunity for the sport to grow further with more meaningful games not only during the regular season but expanding into the playoffs as well.

Year 1 with the expanded College Football Playoff had its moments of success, however, one glaring error with the planning came down to how the teams were seeded. In fact, the top four teams all lost before the semifinals during the 2024 edition.

The 12 team playoff is an improvement. But the seeding is garbage and needs to be fixed. Oregon, the number one seed, has a path to the title of the Ohio State-Tennessee winner in the Rose Bowl, then Texas, probably, followed by, potentially, Georgia. Brutal.
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) December 8, 2024

That's prompted SEC commissioner Greg Sankey and Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti to look deeper at the current structure and potentially look into fixing it ahead of future seasons.

"I'm prepared to vote for seeding change, but it has to be unanimous," Sankey said.

One suggestion that seems to be the most likely option is to have the conference winners no longer guaranteed to be a top-four seed. That would allow at-large teams or independent teams to have the chance to be seeded higher.

Ohio State Buckeyes running back TreVeyon Henderson celebrates with the trophy following the 34-23 win

Ohio State Buckeyes running back TreVeyon Henderson (32) celebrates with the trophy following the 34-23 win over the Notre Dame Fighting Irish to win the College Football Playoff National Championship at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on Jan. 22, 2025. / Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Last year's national champions Ohio State were seeded eighth and knocked off number one seed Oregon in their opening game before taking down Texas and Notre Dame in their subsequent path to winning the title.

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