Is having a first-round bye a disadvantage in the College Football Playoff? Based on two years of data, it doesn’t appear to be a benefit.
After all of the top four seeds lost in the quarterfinals of last year’s College Football Playoff, three of the top four seeds went down in this year’s CFP as No. 2 seed Ohio State lost to No. 10 Miami, No. 3 Georgia lost to No. 6 Ole Miss and No. 4 Texas Tech lost to No. 5 Oregon.
No. 1 seed Indiana became the first team with a first-round bye to win a game in the 12-team playoff with its decisive 38-3 win over Alabama in the Rose Bowl, though even the Hoosiers had a slow start offensively before scoring 38 points in the final three quarters.