My thoughts...
First of all, it looks like the Chik-fil-a Bowl is changing its name back to Chik-fil-a Bowl Peach Bowl. Interesting. Sounds better. Fits in with the other 5 semi-final bowls. I like it.
It also looks like the 6 "big" bowl games (Orange, Cotton, Peach, Sugar, Fiesta & Rose) will happen every year, but rotate which two are hosting "semi-final" games in the playoff. The other four will just be traditional bowl games. The schedule is currently...
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| via CBSSports.com |
Follow the same formula every three years until 2026-27. Those host cities will also have the opportunity to bid to host the championship game. So, Dallas is hosting the first championship game in 2015 (as well as the Cotton Bowl). They will announce the next two host cities (for 2016 & 2017) this September. Looks for those to be Tampa and San Diego.
The committee has said that no cold-weather city will get the game unless they have a Dome. I think the only cities that will ever host this game are... Dallas/Arlington, LA/Pasadena, Phoenix/Tempe, New Orleans, Atlanta, Miami, Tampa, San Diego, and maybe Houston (or San Antonio?). Jacksonville, Nashville, and Charlotte could also be options, but a long-shot at best. Detroit, Indianapolis, St. Louis, & Minneapolis are non-bowl or cold-weather towns with domes, so they could also place a bid to host. But, my guess is that the six semifinal bowls cities plus Tampa, San Diego and Houston will host the game over the next ten years.
My question: Will their be automatic bids to the four? There shouldn't be. The top four ranked teams should go and leave it at that. Also, conferences should be forced to have a championship game. If you don't win a conference championship game, then you shouldn't be eligible for the playoff. Otherwise, we should get rid of conference championship games all-together. And we know that won't happen ($$$).
The key to this not being a mess is who ends up on the committee to select the four teams to be in the playoff. If it is a bunch of big-ten and north-eastern people, then we're screwed. Otherwise, this system has to be an improvement on the BCS if no other reason than four teams get a shot as opposed to two. By my calculations, if this system had been in place over the last 11 years, Georgia would have been in the playoff four times (2002, 2005, 2007, 2012). So, here's hoping that we can get over the hump and get a ring over the next few years.
As always... Go Dawgs!
