Heather DinichESPN Senior Writer November 10, 2023, 8:35 PM ET3 minutes read
The top six rankings remain the same in this week’s CFP rankings
Ohio State and Georgia still lead the top six in the College Football Playoff rankings this week.
The College Football Playoff Administrative Committee has agreed to a new model that will reward the five highest-ranked conference champions and the next seven highest-ranked teams in the 12-team format that will begin next season, sources confirmed to ESPN on Friday.
The 5+7 model, agreed to at Thursday’s face-to-face meeting in Dallas, represents a change from the previous 6+6 proposal and still requires unanimous approval from the 11 presidents and chancellors who control the CFP.
A majority of the 10 FBS commissioners and Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick have long favored the 5+7 model but have been hesitant to commit to it while the fate of the Pac-12 Conference is still mired in uncertainty and legal questions is shaped. On Thursday, the group also introduced a new policy requiring a league to have eight members to automatically qualify for a qualifying spot in the 12-team field.
Yahoo! Sports first reported the changes.
The original model was designed to reward the Power 5 champions and top Group of 5 winner. It was agreed to before this summer’s sweeping realignment changes decimated the Pac-12 and left the conference embroiled in a legal battle with Oregon State and Washington State to determine the best path forward.
According to NCAA bylaws, an FBS conference requires at least eight full-fledged FBS members that meet all bowl division requirements. However, the NCAA gives conferences a two-year grace period if they no longer meet membership requirements before changes are required. It’s possible the Pac-12 could use this rule for at least a year while it works out a scheduling solution and next step, but a two-team league would now be ineligible for the CFP.
The CFP board consists of 10 FBS presidents and chancellors as well as Notre Dame President John Jenkins. The Pac-12’s representative is Washington State President Kirk Schulz, who could single-handedly submit the format change if he wanted to.
The CFP board is not expected to meet until early December.