New CFP Model Will Allow Notre Dame To Earn First-Round Bye

ESPN’s Heather Dinich and Yahoo!’s Ross Dellenger are reporting that change is coming to the College Football Playoffs and that change will be good for Notre Dame.

Both are reporting that the CFP is moving to a straight seeding model, which means the four first-round byes will no longer be reserved for the four highest-rated major conference champions.

During the inaugural CFP last season, Boise State and Arizona State earned first-round byes as the third and fourth seeds despite being ranked 9th and 11th, respectively. 

According to Dinish, the vote to make the move was unanimous.

“The 10 FBS commissioners and Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua, who comprise the CFP’s management committee, reached the unanimous agreement necessary to make the change during a call on Thursday afternoon,” Dinich reported.

Had the new rules been in effect last year, those byes would have gone to Texas and Penn State.

Since Notre Dame is an Independent, under the previous format, the Irish were ineligible a first-round bye since they had no path to winning a conference title.

With that requirement removed, the Irish can no earn a first-round bye if they are ranked among the Top 4, a detail Dinich highlighted.

According to the Action Network’s Brett McMurphy, all four conference champions will still receive an automatic bid to the CFP, but will no longer be guaranteed one of the top four seeds.

Although all four teams who had a bye last season lost in the Quarterfinals, there are obvious advantages that come with earning one, not the least of which is advancing to the second round automatically. 

It also gives a team an extra week to heal from any injuries suffered during the regular season, one less week to potentially suffering any new injuries, additional time for coaches to review film, etc.

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