The College Football Playoff format has drawn plenty of criticism over the criteria the committee uses to select the participating teams for the bracket. The 2025-26 CFP featured plenty of discussion about which teams got in and which didn't, with Notre Dame and Texas among those heavily mentioned as potential snubs because of their schedules. Miami, a team mentioned in some debates, ultimately reached the CFP National Championship Game, where they lost to Indiana.
Teams can typically make their case for a spot in the CFP based on which opponents they face on their schedules. On Saturday night, the SEC's Texas and the Big Ten's Ohio State will battle in another big out-of-conference matchup between two top-four teams. While appearing on "The Joel Klatt Show," legendary coach Urban Meyer said he hoped games like that one "don't go away." Meyer, now an analyst at Fox Sports, also called the "core fundamentals" of the CFP format "so wrong." More news: Eli Drinkwitz Rips Kansas Over ‘Weird’ Rivalry Video After Missouri Win "You know, we don't need to see Indiana against Old Dominion.
No one wants to see that. ... I wish the committee would go away, [and] it would turn to all play-in, let each conference have four games, whatever, four teams in, and you guys go play," Meyer suggested. "Texas last year did not get in.
If they play Old Dominion instead of Ohio State, they're in," he contended. "I think the core fundamentals of that is so wrong. And it's so bad for the game of college football if all of a sudden we're wasting --- you, me, and Fox and everybody, we're going to these God-awful games where teams are picked by 50." The College Football Playoff started in 2014 with four teams in the inaugural tournament.
The format expanded to include 12 teams in 2023, and it could expand by two teams or more after this season. However, the criteria for selection continue to raise concerns and debates about whether it's good or bad for college football. Last season, Texas played Ohio State in an early-season matchup between elite college football programs.
The Buckeyes won a close game, 14-7 in their home venue, and ultimately got a spot in the CFP bracket at the end of the season. However, the Longhorns went 10-3 last season, with a three-game winning streak to close out their season. Among Texas' three losses was the Buckeyes, so Meyer makes a good point that teams would probably rather pad their records with easy wins than play tough out-of-conference opponents who could damage their CFP chances later.
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