CFP updates metric for measuring strength of schedule

The College Football Playoff selection committee has enhanced its metrics for evaluating strength of schedule, one of the changes announced Wednesday for the 2025 season.
The metric has been adjusted to apply greater weight to games against strong opponents. An additional metric called “record strength” will assess how a team performed against its schedule, rewarding teams for beating high-quality opponents while minimizing the penalty for losing to such a team.
These changes provide a minimal reward for defeating a lower-quality opponent while imposing a greater penalty for losing to such a team, according to the CFP’s news release.
The CFP is entering its second season with a 12-team format. Changes for this year guarantee a place for the five highest-ranked conference champions but no longer includes a bye for the four highest-ranked champions. Seeding will be based directly on the final top 25 ranking of the CFP selection committee, with the top four teams receiving a first-round bye.
“All of these modifications will help the selection committee as they rank the top 25 teams,” said Rich Clark, executive director of the College Football Playoff. “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.”
The selection committee will announce the first of six rankings on Nov. 4. The final rankings will be released on Dec. 7 along with the 12-team playoff bracket and game sites.