The new "playoff" system in college football is just one season away from actually happening and the pieces are starting to fall into place as to what the venues will be and what bowl games will be involved in the six game rotation. We already know that the Rose, Champions (replacing the Sugar), and Orange bowls have three of the six semi-final spots on lock. But the "mystery" has been which bowls will get the other spots… sort of.
On Thursday night an ESPN.com report stated that four bowls are competing for the final three spots with the Tostitos Fiesta, Chick-fil-A, AT&T Cotton Bowl, and Bridgepoint Education Holiday Bowl all competing for the right to be a part of the new playoff system.
To the victors go the spoils and trappings of the richest party in college football. To the loser? Well, to the loser goes nothing really – congrats your bowl game is now about as meaningless as it ever could be.
Everyone seems to think that it's really between the Cotton Bowl, Chick-fil-A bowl, and Holiday Bowl for the final two spots, but should it be? Realistically there's probably a big time difference between who should be included and who will be included with the Rose, Champions, and Orange bowls.
Why say that? Easy, it's because the Fiesta Bowl shouldn't belong but we all know unless the current BCS folks actually do something out of the ordinary the most useless of all these bowl games will stay in the rotation.
It shouldn't be in the rotation discussion at all and here's why: No longer does it have a tie-in with the champions of the Big XII, about the only draw for attention it had in the first place. Additionally of all the corruption and scandal around the BCS from time to time this bowl game and it's officials were at the center of most of it. Lastly, can you honestly say this game has more tradition or better football than that of the Cotton, Chick-fil-A/Peach, or Holiday Bowl's? Highly doubtful.
Sure University of Phoenix stadium is state of the art and a wonderful place to witness a football game, but why reward a group of corrupt people who nearly brought down the BCS to begin with? After all, you're trying to sell the college football fan and the general public that this will be a new system and not just the BCS dressed up in another name with just two more teams added in, right?
It's the perfect solution, but one that's highly doubtful if for nothing else than the fact that without a new stadium in San Diego it ain't gonna happen down there. Qualcomm is a pile of junk place to watch a football game, even if San Diego is one of the better places weather wise.
Ideally, it would be the Cotton, Chick-fil-A, and Holiday Bowls winning out for the true college football fans. These games have actual history and memorable moments galore. Tradition and pageantry is what makes college football and college sports in general important right? But when has that really mattered to the BCS officials anyway?
Expect it to be the Fiesta, Cotton, and Chick-fil-A games being added to the rotation when it's all said and done and don't coming crying to us when you're disappointed they missed an opportunity to really connect with the fans and history.
I mean, when's the last time the BCS folks did anything that actually made sense? Don't count on it happening this time either.
