ESPN's Skipper, BCS' Hancock See "Little Chance" Of BCS Playoff Expansion Before '27

ESPN President John Skipper and BCS Exec Dir Bill Hancock “see little chance college football's playoff will expand beyond four teams before 2027,” according to Dennis Dodd of CBSSPORTS.com. Both Skipper and Hancock said that there was “no ‘look-in’ built into the playoff contract that would allow both parties to come together on a renegotiation of format.” Dodd wrote that “doesn't mean it couldn't happen during the 12-year term of the deal that begins after the 2014 season, but it doesn't appear likely.” Skipper said, “The commissioners and presidents wanted to go long because they wanted to stop further speculation about eight teams and 16 teams. They put a stake in the ground that, for 12 years, it's going to be the same. I don't think there's any contemplation that there will be any change to that.” Hancock: “I tell you on Jan. 7, 2013 I don't see anything that would change.” Hancock also provided new details on the playoff. The site of the first playoff championship game “will be announced before April’s BCS meetings in Pasadena, Calif.” Additionally, the selection committee is “expected to have 15-18 members. Hancock said that the committee “could include college administrators, commissioners -- even, perhaps, a retired media member.” The three "access" or open bowls to be added to the playoff will "likely be geographically located -- one each in the West, Central and Eastern parts of the country.” Dodd: “Figure that to be the Fiesta Bowl, Cowboys Stadium and Atlanta’s Georgia Dome” (CBSSPORTS.com, 1/7).

THE COTTON CLUB: ESPN.com’s Brett McMurphy cited sources as saying the AT&T Cotton Bowl is a “prohibitive favorite” to host the national title game on Jan. 12, 2015. The BCS commissioners met yesterday and will meet again today in Miami “as they continue to iron out details for the new playoff.” The major topics of discussion include “determining how and of whom the selection committee will be composed and finalizing the location of the semifinal rotations” (ESPN.com, 1/7). Cotton Bowl Athletic Association Chair Tommy Bain said of the chances of bringing the championship game to Cowboys Stadium in '15, "Our goal is to host the first one. We're totally optimistic about hosting national championships and we're cautiously optimistic about hosting the first one” (FT. WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM, 1/8). In San Antonio, Tim Griffin wrote it is “not surprising” that Cowboys Stadium has “wowed officials of the new tournament.” The venue has “the bells and whistles that would be attractive for corporate partners.” With standing-room ticketing, Cowboys Stadium “could attract more fans -- potentially more than 100,000 -- to a potential championship game than any other American facility.” It will be “interesting to see if the Cotton Bowl jumps into the national-title rotation if the Valero Alamo Bowl would attempt to better its current positioning” (MYSANANTONIO.com, 1/7).

RHYMES WITH ORANGE: In Miami, Joseph Goodman writes the BCS “goes bye-bye after next season,” and for the city of Miami, “that means it all ended with a bang.” Goodman asks, “When will college football’s national championship once again bask in the South Florida sun? ... The easy answer is that during the next 12 years -- the life of the first college playoff contract -- nothing is certain, but the Orange Bowl Committee hopes to be awarded at least one championship but, possibly, two.” Orange Bowl Committee CEO Eric Poms said, “Moving forward, national championship games (in Miami) are no longer guaranteed. ... We’re going to have to compete and earn it.” Goodman writes, “No offense to Dallas, Phoenix, New Orleans, Atlanta, Pasadena, San Francisco and any other city that believes it can be a better host for a national game/event/party in January, Miami is a cut above.” As “nice as Jerry Jones’ stadium is -- and it’s great -- it’s not in Miami” (MIAMI HERALD, 1/8).

IT'S A NEW AGE: Hancock said that last night's Alabama-Notre Dame BCS Championship Game "already had resulted in at least one milestone in the controversial BCS era." Hancock: “It has been the least contentious year. ... We are at an historic juncture, a turning point between the old and the new. The sun is setting on the BCS era, and the playoff era will begin in just over a year." In St. Louis, Vahe Gregorian notes among "yet-unknowns include the actual name of the new system that will replace the 15-year-old BCS" (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 1/8).