notre dame: What is the straight seeding in the College Football Playoff? And how it affects Marcus Freeman’s Notre Dame

The College Football Playoff will reportedly have a new straight seeding model, and no team figures to benefit more than the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. ESPN's Heather Dinich first reported the news.

The straight seeding means the top four-ranked teams in the CFP poll will get a bye. Last season, the top four conference champions got a first-round bye, which automatically negated the independent Fighting Irish a chance to get the extra week of rest.

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Marcus Freeman's squad reached the CFP title game last season without a bye. Playing one fewer game would likely be a welcome change.

Notre Dame was in contention for a top-four seed last year after finishing the regular season 11-1. The Irish finished fifth in the CFP rankings, but could have entered the conversation along with conference championship game losers Texas and Penn State.

By last season's standards, having the bye might not seem like such a big advantage. Oregon, Georgia, Boise State and Arizona State all lost in the quarterfinals. However, the seeding will also be different after the changes are made.

To make the seeding change for this fall, the vote had to be unanimous. According to Heather Dinich, one key factor in the negotiation was that the top four-ranked conference champions will still receive the $8 million prize even if they do not make it out of the first round of the CFP.

Could the Notre Dame-USC rivalry be nearing its end?

Regardless of how each team is doing, the game between the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and USC Trojans is always one of each school's most appealing matchups each season. It might not be that way for long.

The teams will face off in South Bend on Oct. 4, but that is the final game of the current contract. USC offered a one-year extension, looking to play in Los Angeles in 2026, but Notre Dame wants a long-term deal.

Sports Illustrated reported that reluctance from USC to sign a longer deal comes from the uncertain future of the College Football Playoff, but they wouldn't move the game to the start of the season.

Both schools have met 95 times in the last 100 years, and while they've never shared a conference and are over 1,800 miles apart, this has become one of the longest-running rivalries in college football.

Notre Dame leads the all-time series 50-37-5, winning six of the last seven matchups.

About the author

Allan Wolburg Robles is a College Sports journalist at Sportskeeda with over 17 years of experience in the field writing for publications including Reforma, Yahoo! OddsShark and Apuesta. Allan studied Communications at Anáhuac University, where he learned what would become the basis of a trade that was already a dream of his before starting college.

His favorite team is Army West Point as when he was young, Allan lived in West Point for a couple of years, went to pretty much every home game, a couple of Army-Navy games and even got to meet some of the players.

Allan's favorite players of all time include Tommie Frazier, who was unbelievable during the Nebraska dynasty of the early 90's. Tim Tebow was also a favorite, mainly because of his leadership skills, although he was also awesome on the football field. As a fan of defensive football, (or what's left of it), Sean Taylor could take over a game for Miami.

Allan has always considered himself a student of the game more than a fan of it. So the historical part and evolution of the game, as well as the ins and outs of what happens on the field, and being able to put it into words for the audience, are his biggest strengths.

Besides sports, Allan enjoys reading books, watching movies and spending time with his dogs.

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Edited by Alvin Amansec