Just one game stands between us and the conclusion of the first 12-team College Football Playoff in the sport’s history. The new format brought chaos and opportunity to the CFP that we’ve never seen before, but as with anything worth following, there are detractors.
Many are calling for a change to the seeding structure for next year’s tournament, with ideas of eliminating first-round byes or allowing non-conference champions to earn a top-four seed. However, a change of that magnitude would require all 11 members of the CFP Management Committee to agree.
Right now, that isn’t the case, and one of the people standing opposed to the idea is Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark.
As it turns out, Yormark has good reason not to jump at the idea of making changes.
“I’m open to a healthy discussion on the topic,” Yormark told Yahoo Sports. “I certainly have a point of view that will be expressed in the room, but I do not have the appetite to give up any financial reward that comes with a bye.”
In fact, he has several good reasons, as Ross Dellenger points out in his report.
“There is a sizable financial incentive tethered to those receiving a first-round bye: $8 million,” Dellenger writes. “Teams advancing to the playoff each receive $4 million. Those playing in quarterfinals — the four first-round winners and the four top seeds — receive another $4 million.”
He wasn’t the only one opposed, however, as ACC commissioner Jim Phillips also expressed that he’s happy to talk about making some changes, but the changes need to make sense for everyone.
“The NFL, which we believe is the highest level of football in our world, has a system that rewards divisional champions,” Phillips said. “You see it in Major League Baseball, too. It’s not as if this system is so foreign. This shouldn’t be used as a convenient rationale. It deserves a review and we should talk about how it went. But it’s not some exotic structure.”
