MisterGopher
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https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6518162/2025/07/28/big-ten-college-football-playoff-format/
Petitti continued meeting with his football coaches, athletic directors and others to devise a system that would reward the Big Ten for its success but would apply fairly throughout the sport. He targeted a guaranteed number of spots for each conference, which then could choose their own participants (allowing for a few at-large berths) rather than leave their fortunes up to the selection committee. From there, the math led him to this conclusion.
Based on end-of-season CFP rankings over the system’s 11-year history, schools currently playing in the Big Ten would have secured 54 CFP spots if the field consisted of five conference champions and 11 at-large teams (5+11). Fifty-one teams would have qualified from the current SEC, with 27 each from both the ACC and Big 12. Among the other conferences and Notre Dame, 20 teams would have earned CFP spots.
The Big Ten would have sent at least four teams to the CFP each year, with a high of six in three different seasons. The SEC would have sent seven teams to the CFP twice but four times would have sent only three teams. Over that span, the ACC would have topped out with four teams once, with three one-bid seasons. The Big 12 would have sent five teams twice and one team four times.
In a 5+11 format, the Big Ten would have averaged 4.9 spots, with the SEC close behind (4.6) and the Big 12 and ACC tied at 2.5 spots apiece from 2014 to ’24. To ensure the system could accommodate additional teams plus Notre Dame, Petitti targeted four berths each for the Big Ten and SEC and two apiece for the ACC and Big 12, plus the highest-ranked champion outside of those four leagues and three at-large choices available for the selection committee.
Petitti continued meeting with his football coaches, athletic directors and others to devise a system that would reward the Big Ten for its success but would apply fairly throughout the sport. He targeted a guaranteed number of spots for each conference, which then could choose their own participants (allowing for a few at-large berths) rather than leave their fortunes up to the selection committee. From there, the math led him to this conclusion.
Based on end-of-season CFP rankings over the system’s 11-year history, schools currently playing in the Big Ten would have secured 54 CFP spots if the field consisted of five conference champions and 11 at-large teams (5+11). Fifty-one teams would have qualified from the current SEC, with 27 each from both the ACC and Big 12. Among the other conferences and Notre Dame, 20 teams would have earned CFP spots.
The Big Ten would have sent at least four teams to the CFP each year, with a high of six in three different seasons. The SEC would have sent seven teams to the CFP twice but four times would have sent only three teams. Over that span, the ACC would have topped out with four teams once, with three one-bid seasons. The Big 12 would have sent five teams twice and one team four times.
In a 5+11 format, the Big Ten would have averaged 4.9 spots, with the SEC close behind (4.6) and the Big 12 and ACC tied at 2.5 spots apiece from 2014 to ’24. To ensure the system could accommodate additional teams plus Notre Dame, Petitti targeted four berths each for the Big Ten and SEC and two apiece for the ACC and Big 12, plus the highest-ranked champion outside of those four leagues and three at-large choices available for the selection committee.
