CFP Management Committee Reportedly Could Change Bracket Selection Process

The College Football Playoff's management committee will weigh changes to the selection process for the postseason bracket at this week's annual review meeting, according to The Athletic's Chris Vannini.

"The management committee is expected to be presented with more format models and ideas this week, including potentially tweaking the selection process to remove some of the subjectivity," Vannini reported. "Instead of conferences having predetermined automatic bids, leagues could assure some CFP access using performance-based criteria, such as previous playoff results or regular-season nonconference records, according to people involved in the discussions."

It only took one year of the expanded 12-team playoff for people to argue that an evolution was necessary.

Because the four best conference champions are guaranteed a first-round bye, Boise State and Arizona State automatically qualified for the quarterfinals despite the fact they were ninth and 12th, respectively, in the final CFP rankings.

There was also plenty of discussion over SMU earning the final at-large berth over Alabama, Miami, Ole Miss and South Carolina.

Ultimately, there's no perfect way to pick a playoff field. Even in the days of the Bowl Championship Series, searching for supposedly more objective means of selecting just two teams for the national title game ultimately failed in that objective.

Fans and coaches alike derisively talked about the role the "computers" played.

Vannini said Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti has floated a 4-4-2-2-1-1 bracket model. The Big Ten and SEC would each get four representatives with two for the ACC and Big 12, one for a Group of Five team, and one final at-large spot. The at-large bid would go to Notre Dame based on whether the Fighting Irish hit a certain benchmark.

That idea is great for the Big Ten and SEC but less so for everyone else because it puts a pretty low ceiling on how many CFP bids they get. Vannini noted the Big 12, ACC and others might struggle to justify getting a bigger share of playoff revenue down the line as well.

Should the CFP management committee ultimately agree on a new format, it's safe to assume there will come a point when further tweaks are considered to remedy new problems.