[NU Sports] The playoffs are coming, the playoffs are coming!

[Mike Nolan]

ESPN is citing sources from the FBS meetings this week that a four-team playoffs system is 
a near certainty, starting with the 2014 season.  

Several proposals may emerge from this week's meetings, including having two semi-final games 
on New Year's Day with the national championship game about a week later.  

These are still being referred to as 'neutral site' games, though that's quite debatable
for schools not located in California, Arizona, Texas, Louisiana or Florida.

It looks like the Big Ten's proposal for the higher ranked team to host the semi-final games
is pretty much dead in the water.  However, the Big Ten is apparently still fighting for
the Rose Bowl as a Big Ten - Pac 10 matchup, which could knock it out of the rotation for
the semi-final games.  (Presumably that would also mean that if either the Big Ten or the Pac 10 
champions qualified for the playoffs the Rose Bowl would have to pick another team from that conference.)

However, the Rose Bowl could still bid for the right to host the National Championship game, which 
would be bid out, like the Super Bowl is.  

Similarly dead, the proposal that a school must win its conference championship to be eligible
for the playoffs.  ('Bama winning the NC with a shutout pretty much killed that one!)

See http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/7851441/source-bcs-exploring-neutral-site-4-team-playoff-format
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Mike Nolan