The 2024 College Football Playoff altered the landscape of college football's premier postseason competition by expanding to 12 teams from the previous four-team format, which had been in place for the first 10 years of its existence. With that change came automatic first-round byes for four select conference champions. Therefore, after capturing the Big 12 crown, Arizona State earned a bye and the No. 4 seed in the playoff, where it narrowly fell to No. 5 Texas in double overtime, 39-31.
Despite playing in a blockbuster shootout that captured national attention, and one that is considered by many as the best playoff contest this past season, the Sun Devils now became part of the conversation for a format change. A push by the SEC and Big Ten conferences aims to seed based on season records and AP poll rankings, a proposal that would have denied ASU a bye and an automatic spot in the playoff quarterfinals. Granted, ASU played the most competitive game of the Power Four conference champions, losing by one score in extra time, while the other three games ended in double-digit margins.
In response to the majority of last season’s playoff quarterfinal results, the College Football Playoff committee voted to implement a ‘straight seeding’ format for the 2025-26 season. While conference champions will still receive automatic bids, they will no longer earn guaranteed first-round byes as well.
Although ASU head coach Kenny Dillingham led his team to a Big 12 title in its inaugural season in the conference, under this potential format, the team would not have received the No. 4 seed and an extra week of rest. Speaking Thursday at the Big 12 spring business meetings in Orlando, Fla., Dillingham said he would still welcome the upcoming changes.
“I think it was a great change,” Dillingham said. “Would that have negatively affected us last year? We lost two games going into it, so I think that would have been the right thing to do. I'm about, ‘You should get what you earned.’ And last season, maybe we didn't earn the right to be the fourth seed. Maybe we were right to be the eighth seed. I believe you earn your way to those seeds, so I'm supportive of that. I'm also supportive of the (5–11 seeds) for that same thought process.
“Who knows where the best teams are going to be? You never know. So, I think that was more of the conversation, automatic qualifiers versus just wanting to see the best teams in there every year. Whoever those best teams are in college football that year, let’s have those best teams compete for a championship.”
The meetings in Orlando also provided time to discuss the transfer portal. As currently structured, the NCAA allows two windows for football players to transfer: a 45-day window following the playoff selections and a second from April 16th to the 25th. In recent months, a great number of voices in college football have called to eliminate the spring transfer portal.
“As coaches, we unanimously support one portal window, and that is in January,” Kansas head coach Lance Leipold said. “You're gonna know what your roster will be like to start the second semester. You're gonna have the opportunity to work and develop and build those relationships, evaluate your team, and get ready for the next season.”
Although the 45-day window is preferred, the short spring period has become awkward for programs still competing in the postseason. For CFP participants, it creates a difficult balance between recruiting and preparing for the most important game of the year. ASU faced this reality at the end of the 2024 season. Dillingham said keeping his priorities clear was simple.
“The most important thing is the players on your team,” he said. “And it always will be — regardless of who’s on it or who’s not or how much they change. Your current players will always be priority A, B, C, and D, in my opinion — not the guys that you’re hoping to get.”
The 2025 spring meeting introduced a flurry of potential changes to college football, but the broader narrative around collegiate athletics has grown increasingly disheartening. Changes to the status quo continue to dominate the conversation. As he has in the past, Dillingham emphasized in Orlando the importance of appreciating the present, regardless of the format or regulations.
“I think sometimes we focus on the wrong things,” he said. “Not the positives of college athletics, and there are so many positives. Hopefully, we get to a point where people are focusing on, ‘Man, our guys got to be a part of that.’ If we add teams, it’s an opportunity for those guys to be a part of something they’ll remember forever.”
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