The College Football Playoff selection committee will put greater emphasis on strength of schedule in determining the field for the upcoming season.
The change in metrics was part of a slew of modifications made to the selection process, the committee announced on Aug. 20.
For the 2025 season, the schedule strength metric has been adjusted to apply greater weight to games against strong opponents. Also being introduced is the record strength metric, which goes ‘beyond a team’s schedule strength to assess how a team performed against that schedule.’
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In the new metric, teams will be rewarded for defeating high-quality opponents and they won’t be penalized heavily for losing such games. Conversely, teams will have minimal rewards for defeating low-quality teams but will be soundly penalized for losing such games.
Strength of schedule has been something the selection committee has considered for the entire history of the College Football Playoff, but introducing a metric allows those in power to have another data point to determine rankings.
It has been a topic of debate among teams and conferences in the fight to get their squads in, with some believing those with tougher schedules should be rewarded. It was a central argument in whether Indiana and Southern Methodist should have been included in last year’s field given they didn’t face many ranked opponents.
While it has mostly centered on conference schedules, it could also benefit teams that schedule marquee non-conference games now that the penalty for losing isn’t as damaging.
‘All of these modifications will help the selection committee as they rank the top 25 teams,” Rich Clark, executive director of the College Football Playoff, said in a statement. ‘We feel these changes will help construct a postseason bracket that recognizes the best performances and teams on the field during the regular season, and I want to thank our veteran selection committee members and data analytics groups for helping implement these changes.’
Additional changes to College Football Playoff rankings
The selection committee also reviewed its ranking of teams not playing during conference championship week, the final games played before the 12-team playoff is revealed. The committee decided movement in the rankings should be ‘evidence-based’ and didn’t recommend implementing a formal policy to stop any movement.
There also have been changes to the recusals. Previously, committee members weren’t allowed to discuss or vote for teams if they were paid by the school or had a family member within the institution. Now, there will be full recusal and partial recusals.
Members will be deemed partially recused if they have a secondary relationship, such as a family member employed by the institution but not within the football team or senior administration. In such instances, the committee member can participate in discussions related to the team, but still cannot participate in votes related to them.
College Football Playoff rankings dates
The selection committee will unveil its first rankings on Nov. 4, ahead of Week 11. The full schedule of rankings releases will be:
- Tuesday, Nov. 4 (8 p.m. ET)
- Tuesday, Nov. 11 (7 p.m. ET)
- Tuesday, Nov. 18 (8:30 p.m. ET)
- Tuesday, Nov. 25 (7 p.m. ET)
- Tuesday, Dec. 2 (7 p.m. ET)
- Sunday, Dec. 7 (playoff field unveiled, noon ET)
