CFP format set: 5 conference champs, 7 others
The field for the 12-team College Football Playoff beginning next season will comprise five conference champions and seven at-large selections after the university presidents who oversee the CFP voted unanimously Tuesday to tweak the format.
The move to decrease the number of spots reserved for conference champions from six to five was prompted by realignment and the disassembling of the Pac-12.
The original plan for the 12team format was to have the six highest-ranked conference champions, with the top four receiving first-round byes, and six at-large selections. But with one fewer socalled power conference after the Pac-12's demise, the commissioners who manage the CFP recommended the change from the 6-6 format to 5-7.
No conference will have automatic access. Those five slots will go to the highest-ranked conference champs as determined by the CFP selection committee, ensuring at least one team from outside the Atlantic Coast Conference, Big Ten, Big 12 and Southeastern Conference will make the 12-team field.
The selection committee's rankings also will determine the seven at-large bids. There will be no limit to how many teams can come from the same league.
“It basically confirms the spirit of the original 6-6, and that was done when you had five A5 conferences,” American Athletic Conference commissioner Mike Aresco said Tuesday.
“To have a fifth (champion) is good, and it's not a four-plus-one, which is good. It's the best five . ... It's a merit-based system.”
The coming season will be the first with a 12-team playoff after 10 years of it being a four-team event.
“This is a very logical adjustment for the College Football Playoff based on the evolution of our conference structures since the board first adopted this new format in September 2022,” said Mark Keenum, president of Mississippi State and chairman of the CFP Board of Managers.
During the decade of four-team playoffs, the only team from outside a power conference to make the final four was Cincinnati after being 13-0 following the American championship game in 2021. The Bearcats, now in the Big 12, lost to Alabama in their semifinal at the Cotton Bowl.
While the four highest-ranked conference champions will get a first-round bye in the new format, teams seeded fifth through 12th will open the postseason on the home field of the higher-ranked team — No. 5 vs. No. 12; No. 6 vs. No. 11; No. 7 vs. No. 10; and No. 8 vs. No. 9. The first of those four games will be on Dec. 20, a Friday night, with the remaining firstround contests played the next day.
New Year's Six bowl games will host the quarterfinals and semifinal playoff games. The first quarterfinal game next season will be New Year's Eve in the Fiesta Bowl, followed on New Year's Day by the Peach Bowl, Rose Bowl and Sugar Bowl. The semifinal sites will be the Orange Bowl on Jan. 9, and the Cotton Bowl on Jan. 10.
The national championship will remain at a neutral site, with next season's title game Jan. 20 in Atlanta.
• Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer hired Nick Sheridan as offensive coordinator and JaMarcus Shephard as co-offensive coordinator.
No. 6 Zheng Qinwen, No. 8 Maria Sakkari and former champions Jelena Ostapenko and Elina Svitolina also advanced to the last 16. Svitolina has Swiatek next. Svitolina won their last meeting in the Wimbledon quarterfinals.
• Karolina Muchova, last year's runner-up at the French Open, had an operation on her right wrist for an injury that has sidelined her since September. The 27-year-old from the Czech Republic is ranked 10th.
• Two-time major winner Carlos Alcaraz retired hurt from the Rio Open after two games due to a right ankle injury.
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AP TOP 25 SCORES
No. 15 Creighton 85, No. 1 UConn 66
No. 5 Tennessee 72, Missouri 67
No. 25 BYU 78, No. 11 Baylor 71
No. 18 Saint Mary's vs. USF, late
Utah State 68, No. 19 San Diego State 60 No. 23 Texas Tech 82, vs. TCU 79
OTHER SCORES
Villanova 72, Butler 62
West Virginia 77, UCF 67
Davidson 68, Fordham 53
Florida St. 84, Boston College 76 Syracuse 87, NC State 83
Ball St. 70, N. Illinois 63
C. Michigan 62, Bowling Green 60, OT Iowa 78, Michigan St. 71
Toledo 72, Akron 64
W. Michigan 77, Miami (Ohio) 58 Arkansas 78, Texas A&M 71
TODAY'S AP TOP 25 SCHEDULE
No. 7 Marquette vs. DePaul, 6 p.m.
No. 8 Duke at Miami, 4 p.m.
No. 12 Illinois at Penn St., 3:30 p.m.
No. 13 Alabama vs. No. 24 Florida, 4 p.m. No. 16 Dayton at George Mason, 4 p.m. No. 17 Kentucky at LSU, 6 p.m.
No. 22 Colorado St. at New Mexico, 7 p.m.