🏈 BCS playoff rotation announced

[JoshB]

If you’re dreading the first full week without college football since last August, do not worry, because in the future, tonight would be the night of the new national championship game in college football.
The dates and semifinal locations of some of the upcoming college football playoffs have been announced.
For the most part, the following rules are in place:

1. The semifinal games rotate through 6 bowls. The Rose & Sugar Bowls are paired together meaning the Rose and Sugar will host semifinal games in the same years every three years.
2. The Rose and Sugar Bowl have secured the premiere New Year’s Day slot regardless of whether or not they are hosting the semifinal games. The only exception is when Jan 1 is a Sunday (NFL day). The Rose is slotted for 5:00 PM ET and the Sugar at approximately 8 PM ET.
3. The semifinal games will always be either Dec 31st or Jan 1 – Jan 1 when Rose/Sugar are hosting; Dec 31 when the other 4 bowls are hosting
4. The Championship Game will be on Monday night anywhere from 7 to 11 days after the semifinal games. The first Championship Game is Jan 13, 2015, but in some years it could go as late as Jan 14th.

Here is the schedule for the first few years which will show you what the three year rotation will look like:
2014 Season:

• National Semifinals: Jan 1, 2015 at Rose & Sugar Bowls
• Championship Game: Mon, Jan 12th at TBA
• Orange Bowl & three other “access” bowls will be played Dec 31 and Jan 1

2015 Season:

• National Semifinals: Dec 31, 2016 at TBA
• Championship Game: Monday, Jan 11th at TBA
• Rose & Sugar Bowls: Friday, Jan 1; Orange & three other “access bowls” will be TBA

2016 Season:

• National Semifinals: Dec 31, 2017 at TBA
• Championship Game: Monday, Jan 9th at TBA
• Rose & Sugar Bowls: Monday, Jan 2; Orange & three other “access bowls” will be TBA

Still To Be Announced:

1. In addition to Rose, Sugar & Orange, the three remaining playoff sites to be included in the rotation are still to be selected. Most assume they will be Fiesta (Glendale, AZ), Cotton (Arlington, TX) and Chick-fil-A (Atlanta).
2. We’re also still waiting for the first Championship site selected to be announced. It will likely be the same venue as one of the six venues included in the rotation.

Photo Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

http://www.saturdaydownsouth.com/2013/bcs-playoff-rotation-announced/

 

[TerryP]

This is right online with what we discussed two weeks ago—literally.

 

[BamaFan615]

What do they mean by "access" bowls? They have made this thing about as complicated as it could possibly get...

 

[JoshB]

What do they mean by "access" bowls? They have made this thing about as complicated as it could possibly get...

The access bowls are the bowls that will go in rotation for the Semifinals each year. When they aren't hosting a Semifinal game, then they'll be a major BCS Bowl hosting teams that didnt quite make the playoffs. So just look at it like they just added two more BCS Bowls to the post season, with 2 BCS Bowls playing host to the Playoffs.

 

[TerryP]

What do they mean by "access" bowls? They have made this thing about as complicated as it could possibly get...

The access bowls are the bowls that will go in rotation for the Semifinals each year. When they aren't hosting a Semifinal game, then they'll be a major BCS Bowl hosting teams that didnt quite make the playoffs. So just look at it like they just added two more BCS Bowls to the post season, with 2 BCS Bowls playing host to the Playoffs.

First of all there are six bowl locations for the playoff: three contract bowls and three access bowls.

The three contract bowls have agreements in place to host teams from a specific conference each season.

Rose Bowl: Pac vs B1G
Sugar: SEC vs Big12
Orange: ACC vs SEC, B1G, or Notre Dame.

The teams in those game will never change. They will be representatives from those conferences each year because of written agreements with each specific conference. Hence, the term, "contract bowls."

The other three are called access bowls because they don't have a specific agreement with each conference. IOW, while the Cotton Bowl has been a game between the SEC and Big12 the last few years, it could be a game between a team from the PAC and a team from the ACC in 2014.

Looking at the Orange Bowl as another example of how the contract bowl games work. It's certainly possible for the B1G or SEC to play a team in the Orange Bowl. But, the commissioners have agreed that when the Rose and Sugar bowls are hosting the semifinals, the Big Ten or SEC champion will not be placed in the Orange Bowl. Instead, it would have to be placed in one of the three other access bowls to increase the worth of that bowl.

In simpler terms. The "group of five" consists of those conferences not in the "Power Five." You'll find a conference like the Big East as a member of the "group of five," and the "Power Five" the ones I mentioned earlier. In a sense, they've taken what we've called the automatic bids and renamed them in naming the bowl game instead: contract bowl.

Access bowl invitations fall to those who are remaining after the semi-final teams are announced. But, those bowl games are not contracted to take teams from certain conferences. As an SEC school, we won't see a team in ATL for the CFA or a team in Dallas for the Cotton UNLESS we have a team ranked high enough to earn that slot.

In 2016 you could have the two access bowls (looks to be Cotton and Chick-Fil-A that year) host a SEC team, one from the PAC, B1G, and Big12. And, at the same time you would have, by contract, PAC vs B1G in the Rose and SEC vs Big12 in the Sugar. Orange would have the ACC champ and could also have a SEC, B1G, or Notre Dame team. That would leave the Fiesta with room for one, or two, teams from that "group of five" non-power conferences. The way it broke down this year that could mean another team from the SEC in the Fiesta (access) and could easily mean another team from one of the "group of five."

---

There are several scenarios in what I just posted. If it isn't clear, you'll have to ask a more detailed question.

 

[TerryP]

BTW, for those who think this is going to resolve things, this year goes to show how screwed up it will be.

Using 2014's laid out system (and BCS rankings) with this years teams we'd have

1. Notre Dame
2. Bama
3. Florida
4. Oregon

Now, Bill Hancock has said that teams are going to be giving some home field preference in the semi-finals. So, that would mean one of two things would have happened.

It would have been Bama vs Oregon in the Sugar Bowl because of lower ranked team having to travel the furthest. That would mean Notre Dame would have to travel across the country to play Florida in the Rose Bowl. How is that game giving Notre Dame a "closer to home" location?

If they chose to put Notre Dame in the Sugar against UF, that's giving Oregon a closer to home advantage over Bama and also giving Florida an advantage over Notre Dame.

The ACC would have Florida State—ranked 12th in week 15's poll—in the Orange Bowl going against an SEC or B1G team. Nebraska, coming in a #16, would be the highest ranked team from the B1G. Since Notre Dame is in the semi-finals that leaves the Orange bowl with the choice of Nebraska or four teams from the SEC ranked higher than Nebraska. Again, using the BCS rankings, that gives us Florida State vs Georgia in the Orange Bowl.

Then we get to Access Bowl games. Assuming that goes as suspected it's the Cotton, Chick-Fil-A, and Fiesta.

Cotton - Texas A&M/LSU vs Kansas State/Oklahoma. (I'm picking A&M for Cotton due to travel distances for A&M and the same for Kansas State/Oklahoma.)
Fiesta - Stanford vs LSU/Texas A&M. (See above...but remember, going by BCS rankings.)
Chick-Fil-A - South Carolina vs Oklahoma/Kansas State.

---

The problems? As you can see, travel situations with the top four. Secondly, what do you see missing? For one, not a single B1G team in the six bowl rotation.

You think Jim Delany would be pissed off?

 

[BamaFan615]

Gotcha, for some reason I had in my mind that the term access was for the semi-final bowls (an access to the NC).

Having a "tournament" is one thing. Having bowls is one thing. Having both just seems weird...and confusing. But hey, money talks.

 

[TerryP]

Gotcha, for some reason I had in my mind that the term access was for the semi-final bowls (an access to the NC).

Having a "tournament" is one thing. Having bowls is one thing. Having both just seems weird...and confusing. But hey, money talks.

I can understand why they are doing it. However, I do think they dropped the ball—and are continuing to do so—in how they are releasing the information on how it is going to be set up.

Evidence supports my notion they should have put everything together and then released "this is how it's set up." Seriously. They've announced three games that are going to happen but haven't decided where they are going to be played?

Contract bowls I can understand. Conferences have contracts with the bowl games. To call the other access bowls? I'm convinced Jim Delany has been in charge of the wording. After all, this is the genius that decided the B1G should be divided in the "Leaders and Legends" divisions. (Names, btw, they are considering changing because it's been such a debacle.)