The College Football Playoff selection committee is preparing to add a new data point that could change how borderline teams are compared when the 12-team field is selected later this season.

ESPN’s Heather Dinich reported that the committee will use a metric in late November that examines the strength of the schedules played by teams within each conference. The goal is to give the committee another way to determine how difficult a team’s conference schedule was compared with those of other playoff contenders.

The metric could become especially important when two teams have similar records but played substantially different schedules within their respective leagues. It could also help separate teams from different conferences whose overall records and résumés are difficult to distinguish.

The new calculation will not replace the committee’s existing criteria. Quality wins, overall schedule strength, record strength and the committee’s evaluation of teams on film will remain part of the selection process. Instead, the conference-based measurement is intended to provide another piece of information when the committee faces difficult comparisons.

That could make the final weeks of the regular season even more significant for teams sitting near the CFP cutoff. A team with two or three losses could receive additional consideration if its conference schedule was particularly demanding, while another team with the same record could face a tougher comparison if its league schedule was considered less difficult.

The change could also create new scenarios involving teams that never play each other. If two programs finish with identical records but have faced very different conference opponents, the committee will have another statistical tool to determine how those schedules should be weighed.

For fans, the biggest question will be how much influence the new metric actually has. The committee has indicated that it will not automatically override individual results or quality victories, meaning a team's own performance will remain central to the discussion.

The new measurement will begin entering the conversation as the committee releases its weekly rankings in November. With the 12-team playoff field determined in December, teams on the bubble could find themselves watching not only their own games, but also the results of the conference opponents they faced throughout the season.