CFP Meetings: Big Ten vs. SEC & Schedule Strength
- Conference commissioners and Notre Dame's athletic director are meeting this week to discuss potential changes to the College football Playoff selection process.
- The meetings, held in Asheville, North Carolina, will focus on the strength of schedule component, a topic that gained traction after conference meetings in May.
- Rich clark, CFP executive director, is expected to present data on strength of schedule and discuss potential adjustments to the metric.
College Football Playoff commissioners are locked in heated debates, with the central focus on strength of schedule, and potential format modifications. The SEC is pushing to have its conference’s tough competition better reflected, while the Big Ten is leaning towards automatic qualifiers.This clash coudl rewrite the future of the CFP, especially regarding how teams are selected for the playoffs. Concerns about equitable depiction and the role of the selection committee are at the forefront.Discover how the discussions in Asheville, North Carolina, might reshape college football through News directory 3. will the power dynamics of the Big Ten and SEC redefine the landscape? Discover what’s next.
College Football Playoff Commissioners Debate strength of Schedule
Updated June 17, 2025
Conference commissioners and Notre Dame’s athletic director are meeting this week to discuss potential changes to the College football Playoff selection process. The central debate revolves around strength of schedule and whether adjustments can prevent a shift toward a format heavy on automatic qualifiers.
The meetings, held in Asheville, North Carolina, will focus on the strength of schedule component, a topic that gained traction after conference meetings in May. The SEC has voiced concerns that the current process did not adequately recognize its conference’s competitiveness last season, leading to the exclusion of Alabama, Ole Miss, and South Carolina from the 12-team playoff field.
Rich clark, CFP executive director, is expected to present data on strength of schedule and discuss potential adjustments to the metric. this follows comments from SEC leaders questioning the need for a selection committee.
The outcome of these discussions, particularly SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey’s reaction to proposed tweaks, could significantly influence the future of the College Football Playoff.
Big Ten, SEC at Odds?
The Big ten and SEC, which control the future of the CFP format and a significant portion of its revenue, have generally aligned on major issues. However, differing views on playoff format are emerging.
While the Big Ten favors a model with automatic bids for the Big Ten and SEC, the SEC’s coaches pushed back, potentially aligning the conference with the ACC and Big 12’s preferred 5+11 model. this model awards five automatic bids to conference champions and 11 at-large bids.
The SEC appears willing to maintain a selection committee if the metrics are adjusted to weigh strength of schedule more heavily. The conference aims to be rewarded for the perceived difficulty of winning within the SEC.
“The human element is great, but there’s got to be some more clearly defined metrics,” Mississippi State AD Zac Selmon said.
Interestingly, SOS metrics frequently enough favored the SEC over the committee’s rankings last season. ESPN’s football Power Index (FPI) preliminary 2025 season SOS rankings give the SEC the entire top 10 of toughest schedules.
A Big Ten source said, “Adding any new data points in is not going to necessarily cure what’s been a pretty dominant thought (process). It’s always going to come back to this subjective mindset.”
The Big Ten believes that more automatic qualifiers are the only solution, rather than tweaking the strength of schedule metric.
What’s next
The commissioners will continue to discuss potential changes to the College Football Playoff selection process, with a focus on finding a balance between automatic qualifiers and at-large bids.