The College Football Playoff selection committee will add a conference-strength metric to its evaluations beginning in late November, giving members another way to compare teams that finish with similar records after playing very different conference schedules.
NEW: The College Football Playoff committee will now consider a strength-of-conference metric in its selection process, @CFBHeather reports.
— On3 (@On3) September 24, 2026
The new metric will help determine the strength of each conference based on the schedule strength of each team in its league.… pic.twitter.com/0pvOD27l4h
CFP committee will consider strength of conference
The data point will measure the strength of each conference through the schedule strength of the teams in it. The metric is not meant to outrank quality wins, overall strength of schedule, record strength or what members see on film.
A similar tool has been available to the committee in the past, but this season it will have more emphasis on the gaps inside a single conference.
SEC and Big Ten will benefit the most from the new point of emphasis
SEC coaches spent the offseason arguing that a nine-game conference schedule is not being weighed the way the committee says strength of schedule should be weighed. Vanderbilt finished 10-2 last season and wasn't really among the teams considered for the final CFP spot. Texas was also on the outside looking in after finishing 9-3 and defeating playoff teams Texas A&M and Oklahoma.
A rule like this will probably put the Big 12 and ACC at a disadvantage while they play catch up with the SEC and Big Ten. It also presents an interesting dilemma for Miami in the future.
The Hurricanes reached last season's championship game as a 10-seed at-large. With the recent changes to the playoff system, it looks like Miami wouldn't even make it into the 12-team CFP this year if all things were the same.
Miami can't control its ACC schedule or how other programs within the conference develop, but it's not exactly eye-popping. The Canes have home dates against Boston College, Duke, Florida State, Pittsburgh and Virginia Tech and road games at Clemson, North Carolina, Stanford and Wake Forest.
The season was always going to come down to the November trip to Notre Dame, but now a loss looks like it would guarantee a snub (if Miami doesn't win the conference). And if that happens, a lot of fans will want Miami to consider leaving the ACC.
Add us as a preferred source on Google