College Football Playoffs: Rose Bowl, Sugar Bowl To Host First National Semifinal In 2015

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With the oft-maligned BCS era closing in 2014, much speculation has gone around concerning how college football will adapt a playoff system.

While all the details have yet to come to fruition, one thing is almost certain: The Rose Bowl game and the Sugar Bowl will host college football’s first national semifinal on January 1, 2015. From CBS Sports:

"The Rose and Sugar bowls are likely to host college football’s first major-college national semifinals in back-to-back games on Jan. 1, 2015 CBSSports.com has learned.While it was stressed the situation is not finalized one source that was a “likely scenario.” There are other indicators. CBSSports.com also learned the two bowls will be paired together four times as national semifinals on the same Jan. 1 date for the length of the 12-year playoff deal. In the eight years they are not semifinals the Rose and Sugar are expected to stay on Jan. 1 with their conference partners – Pac-12/Big Ten for the Rose, SEC/Big 12 for the Sugar."

Essentially, three bowl pairings will be seen in the 12-year span, and each year, those three will rotate four times. The first pair of bowls up in that rotation will be the Rose and Sugar Bowls, and it’s likely that the other current BCS bowls get involved.

The championship game will take place the Monday following New Year’s Day, which is where the current BCS championship game currently sits.

The Rose Bowl game, as stated by CBS Sports, will still include a tilt between the Pac-12 and Big Ten champions three times every four years in the deal.