CFP Adds New Metric for Conference Strength — SkimNews
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- The College Football Playoff Selection Committee will add a new metric designed to contextualize the power of a conference when comparing two similar teams, per ESPN.
- Georgia coach Kirby Smart told CBS Sports that SEC coaches expressed regret over moving to nine conference games: "I'm not blaming the committee, I'm blaming the system."
- BYU drew specific ire from SEC coaches after finishing ahead of both Texas and Vanderbilt in the rankings without making the playoff — the Cougars outpaced both SEC schools in the commonly cited strength-of-record metric and had one fewer regular-season loss than Vanderbilt and two fewer than Texas.
- The SEC received four of the seven at-large selections last season but failed to win a single CFP game against an opponent from another Power Four league.
- Duke reached the 2025 ACC Championship Game after playing only one AP Top 25 opponent all season, with Texas Tech now in a similar position in 2026 after beating No. 25 Houston as the only ranked team on its schedule.
- Ole Miss was the only 2025 at-large team ranked outside the top 30 in strength of schedule, calling into question whether the new metric will produce many real-world changes.
- Notre Dame presents an awkward case for the metric — the independent plays no conference schedule but must be evaluated as an at-large and will still be compared in strength-of-schedule conversations.
Why it matters: The CFP is adding a tool to address SEC grievances that nine-game conference schedules get undervalued against softer Big 12 slates, but with only one at-large team (Ole Miss) outside the top 30 in strength of schedule last season, the change may function more as a political concession to the sport's most powerful league than a substantive reform of how teams are ranked.
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