The College Football Playoff has approved immediate changes to its format for the 12-team model ahead of the 2025 season, and in doing so created a better tournament for the fall while also setting a standard for the ongoing negotiations around 2026 and beyond.

As it stands, this will be the third different playoff system for college football in the span of three years. For the 10 years leading into last season’s inaugural 12-team playoff, the CFP was a four-team affair. The seeding change was first reported by ESPN, which last year signed a six-year, $7.8 billion deal to televise the expanded playoff.

After months of meeting to discuss things to discuss at future meetings, the people in charge of the College Football Playoff actually made a decision on Thursday, and it was one we've assumed they'd make for a while. After last year's 12-team CFP gave byes to the four most highly ranked conference champions, this year's will not.