Heather Dinich: College Football Playoff group favors 5+7 format for automatic qualifiers, Pac-12 only holdout

Change is on the horizon for the College Football Playoff and ESPN’s Heather Dinich is here to provide fans with a forecast of what’s to come. During an appearance on “The Paul Finebaum Show,” Dinich reported how the CFP selection committee will pick teams for the 12-team CFP.

“It’s going to be really fun,” Dinich said. “What college football fans need to get ready for is how different the seeding is going to look from the selection committee’s Top 25. What I mean by that is, let’s just say you have Georgia as the No. 1 seed and Alabama as the No. 2 seed, hypothetically.

“If Georgia wins the SEC, Alabama at No. 2 in the seeding is going to drop to No. 5 because the four highest-ranked conference champions are going to be seeded one through four and earn first-round byes. It’s a different method of what the bracket is going to look like, so that’s important.”

On Monday, the College Football Playoff management committee met in Dallas to address how they will choose teams in next year’s 12-team CFP. The 10 FBS commissioners and Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick make up the CFP’s management committee.

The issues facing the committee are more important than ever not only because of the format change but due to conference realignment, as well. The landscape of college football will be nearly unrecognizable next season, with the Pac-12 eliminated entirely.

How will conferences play a role in the CFP selection?

With conferences more loaded than ever, Dinich believes the committee will continue to incentivize the conference championship.

“Conference championship games are going to continue to hold a lot of value because of the emphasis placed on automatic qualifiers, but that’s why that model is important that they’re talking about,” Dinich said. “Everyone in that room aside from the Pac-12, at this moment, is in favor of the 5+7, which means the five highest-ranked conference champions plus the next seven highest-ranked teams.

“My understanding from sources, on and off the record, is that they will get to that point. It just hasn’t happened yet. I would expect at least in the next month or so that they take steps to get them much closer to that, if not rubber stamp it.”

As of this report, the committee hasn’t released an official decision on the selection process. Both Finebaum and Dinich know there is still more to consider, including how “Group of Five” schools will fit into the CFP’s latest iteration.

“[Group of Five teams] have reached [the CFP], but it’s also — let’s face reality here — it’s the appearance of fairness,” Dinich said. “The reality is college football is going to wind up with the same heavyweights more often than not playing for the national championship.

“It’s going to be extremely difficult for that Group of Five team, who could probably be ranked 12th or even lower than that, to not only get in this thing but you’ve got to win your conference title. You’ve got to win the first round, quarterfinal, semifinal and then you’re in the national championship game.”