Miami, FL

The Cotton Bowl has emerged as the "prohibitive favorite" to host the national championship game on Jan. 12, 2015 when the four-team playoff system takes effect.

According to sources, the Rose and Sugar bowls will host college football's first national semifinals on Jan. 1, 2015 with the winners facing off in the championship game.

Based on the 12-year deal that will take effect after the 2014 season, the Rose Bowl Game will be played on Jan. 1 every season whether they are hosting the national semifinals or not.

Under the deal, the Rose and Sugar will host the semifinals four times. In the years they aren't hosting, the national semifinals would be moved from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, according to sources.

The only exceptions would be on Sunday, Jan. 1, 2017, and Sunday, Jan. 1, 2023, when the Rose and Sugar would move to Dec. 31, 2016, and Dec. 31, 2022, respectively.

If the Rose and Sugar don't host the semifinals in those two seasons, the national semifinals would be played on Dec. 30, 2016, and Dec. 30, 2022.

Six bowls, including the Orange, will rotate as hosts for the national semifinals. The other three have not been officially determined but sources said they would include the Cotton, Tostitos Fiesta and Chick-fil-A bowls.

It was earlier reported that those six bowls would be considered only for the initial national playoff game on Jan. 12, 2015, to expedite the selection process with the game about two years away.

The remaining national title game sites will be bid out to any city interested in hosting the game, similar to how the Super Bowl is chosen, according to BCS executive director Bill Hancock.

Last month, Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany said that the Rose and Sugar bowls would host the national semifinals in the same year as part of the six-bowl semifinal rotation.

The BCS commissioners met Monday and will meet again Tuesday in Miami as they continue to iron out details for the new playoff.

Among the agenda is to determine the composition of the selection committee and finalize the location of the semifinal rotations.

In the upcoming college football playoff, the top four teams -- as determined by the selection committee -- will meet in the semifinals.

After those four teams are selected, the league champion or top available team from the Pac-12 and Big Ten will play in the Rose Bowl, SEC and Big 12 teams in the Sugar Bowl and ACC in the Orange Bowl.

 

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