Rece Davis calls for notable change to College Football Playoff format

Year One of the expanded College Football Playoff has been completed. Ohio State was put into the 12-team field with a perceived difficult path and wound up national champions. A huge breakthrough for Ryan Day but with the season now over, bigger-picture discussions are taking place revolving around the CFP.

ESPN’s Rece Davis recently called for a notable change, one fans might agree with. He believes the seeding should be changed when it comes to the conference champions earning a bye. Initially, the goal was to make a model similar to the NFL but disparity between teams was not considered.

“I do have a problem with the seeding,” Davis said. “… They structure the format in a very NFL fashion treating the conference champions kind of like the NFL treats division champions as if all of them are equal or relatively equal. There is a greater disparity among conferences in college football than there are among divisions in the NFL.”

Without specifically mentioning the NCAA Tournament, Davis brought the idea of being a top-five conference champion just earning you a spot in the field.

“Your reward, to me, is getting into the field,” Davis said. “And then just seed the bracket.”

An example used was the paths of Ohio State or Oregon compared to Penn State. James Franklin‘s team lost to both of them during the regular season and Big Ten championship, respectively. The Nittany Lions then had an “easier path” to the CFP semifinals than either of their conference foes.

Had the 12-team field been seeded based on the final CFP rankings, Oregon would have played Indiana/Boise State instead of the eventual national champions coming out of a bye. Penn State could have met Notre Dame, their semifinal opponent, in the quarterfinals.

Davis’ overall goal is to make sure teams are seeded based on the evaluation of the committee. From there, how the tournament plays out is completely left on the field.

“It doesn’t mean they can’t win the games,” Davis said. “It doesn’t mean that whoever is seeded 11th or 12th in a true seed type of thing — doesn’t mean they can’t win. Of course they can. But what the seeding should reflect is what has happened and your evaluation of those teams up to that point. What they do after that is up to them.”

Closing out his thoughts, Davis said he does not believe seeding change is coming. After all, next year might be the final edition of the 12-team format as expansion looms once again.