While most of the details of a college football playoff haven’t been hashed out yet, two components have been constant: that semifinals would rotate among six (and, now, perhaps seven) bowl games, and that the championship game would be bid out to a neutral site.
As far as the latter is concerned, there could be a one-year delay on that bid. In fact, the 2015 playoff -- the first after the end of the BCS as we know it today -- could be played within three bowl sites (two semifinals and the championship game). According to ESPN’s Brett McMurphy, six cities will be considered for the first championship game in college football’s new postseason. Those cities are: Glendale, Ariz.; Miami, Fl.; New Orleans, La.; Pasadena, Calif.; Arlington, Tx.; and Atlanta, Ga.
Not coincidentally, every one of those cities is a host site for the six major bowls projected to act as rotating playoff sites.
The rationale behind the reported move is time, or lack thereof. The four-team playoff is 28 months away, meaning BCS commissioners apparently didn’t feel the process for any city interested in submitting an RFP (request for proposal) for the championship game would have been completed in time.
Per the report, this will be a one-year deal; a neutral site will begin hosting college football’s championship game following the 2015 season. Indianapolis, Detroit, Houston, and Jacksonville are just some of the cities interested in bidding for the championship game.