Topic: So we have a playoff...

[IM4DHERD]

4 teams, seeded by committee as in basketball, #1 vs. #4, #2 vs. #3 with those winners to play for the championship at a location to be determined by bid, just like the Super Bowl, so current bowl locations may be in the mix or not.  Probably will be since most anywhere with the stadium and hotels infrastructure to handle a championship already has a bowl.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/football/ncaa/06/26/college-football-playoff-plan-bcs-presidents.ap/index.html?eref=sihp&sct=hp_t11_a0

Semifinals to rotate among 6 bowls, including Fiesta, Rose, Orange and Sugar.  What would the 5th and 6th bowls be? They must already have some in mind or why else add two to the number?  

I think that as often as they can, they will probably try to accommodate the traditional champs, for instance if the Big 10 team is in the playoff, they will try to set that into the Rose Bowl, which could mean that the new Big XII/SEC bowl in Dallas, which the conferences set up to match their champions whenever possible, could/would be in the mix.  Otherwise:

Cotton Bowl?  (Also in Dallas)
Gator Bowl? / Outback Bowl? (Both in Orlando)
Capital One Bowl?
Chick-Fil-A Bowl?

After that, you're heading into Humanitarian, Insight and Alamo Bowl territory.

[HerdKelly]

Just another step towards insignificance for the smaller/early bowls.

[Scottyo614]

Jerry's World gets one...I simply cannot call it the Cotton Bowl and don't be surprised to appease the Big 10 if Lucas Oil Stadium didn't pop up at some point in this.

Georgia Dome could handle a game that big pretty well too.

[IM4DHERD]

Interesting...This SI article says that the only 3 bowls a lock to be in the rotation for semifinal games are the Rose, the Orange and the Big XII/SEC's new Champion's Bowl (Jerry's World) bowls with the remaining three spots up for bids.  Sugar Bowl and Fiesta Bowl are not a lock.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/writers/andy_staples/06/26/presidents-approve-four-team-playoff/index.html?eref=sihp&sct=hp_t11_a0

[MU ATO]

Just another step towards insignificance for the smaller/early bowls.

How were they any more significatn now?
 ???

[IM4DHERD]

This does nothing but good.  Will raise the level of 2 additional bowls to what was called "BCS" status, meaning that 12 teams will get to play in the upper-level, most prestigious bowls.  Chances are that MU won't ever get into the current top 4 playoff, but our chances of getting into one of the other 4 top tier bowls is greater than ever.  Now, the bowls might, and probably will set their standards for the top ranked available teams (after the top 4 are chosen) from "X" & "Y" conferences, but it will be hard to keep a top 10-15 ranked team from CUSA/BE/MWC out of that 12 teams field.

Also opens up to a larger playoff.  The BCS each year acted like a weatherman...Never got it right and never apologized.  No one ever thought there was a true path to a playoff, but now that they have opened the pandora's box, I foresee a clamor to open it up to at least 8 teams which they should all be in favor of...In fact, I wonder if that may have something to do with a 6 bowl rotation.  Perfect for an 8 team playoff - quarterfinals in 4 bowls, semifinals in the other 2 bowls a week later, then a Championship game bid to a city like the Super Bowl.  Makes all 6 of their bowls relevant every year.

[MarshallGrad]

Without at least eight teams, it is a a make believe playoff. Not real. Will not solve most of the current outcry. The first time a four team selection does not include the champ of one of the four major conferences or at least one of the undefeated Boise type teams, it will be called out as the sham it is. There cannot be a playoff without a legitimate "play off". It takes more than four teams out of 126 to make a playoff. Period.

[Greg H]

Without at least eight teams, it is a a make believe playoff. Not real. Will not solve most of the current outcry. The first time a four team selection does not include the champ of one of the four major conferences or at least one of the undefeated Boise type teams, it will be called out as the sham it is. There cannot be a playoff without a legitimate "play off". It takes more than four teams out of 126 to make a playoff. Period.

Exactly right.  If you're in the "top 8," you clearly have a good argument that, on any given day, you could beat any of the top 7.  16 would be better, but 8 is definitely the minimum for a legit playoff.

[IM4DHERD]

More interesting comments at http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/8099725/college-football-playoff-approved-questions-remain

"The commissioners will take bids to host the other three bowl games that will be part of the semifinals mix. The Fiesta Bowl and Sugar Bowl will probably be considered, but a source told ESPN.com that commissioners probably favored having the additional games in the Southeast, Texas and the West Coast. "

Already have the Champions Bowl at Cowboy Stadium...Rose Bowl aready on West Coast...I can see the desire for one in the SE, certainly Atlanta but New Orleans is on the fringe of the SE and a great destination.

"The first national championship game is scheduled for Jan. 12, 2015, and commissioners plan to play the championship game on the second Monday night of January in each of the first five seasons."

WHY not a Saturday night?  Fan travel, fan parties, traditional college football day???

6. How much access will teams from smaller conferences have to get into the playoffs?
There are basically five power conferences left in college football: ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 and SEC. The champions of those leagues will be guaranteed a spot in one of the six major bowls (and in one of the semifinals if they're selected by the committee). The teams in college football's other leagues have to hope they're good enough to be selected by the committee.

By adding two more major bowl games, the commissioners feel like they've increased the chances of a team like Boise State or Hawaii playing in one of the sport's marquee postseason games.

"I think what this does is produces access and it's going to produce a significant opportunity for high-ranking teams that might not be ranked one through four," Slive said.

"The champions of those leagues will be guaranteed a spot in one of the six major bowls" - I thought there was no more "AQ"??