BCS Exec Dir Bill Hancock yesterday reiterated that the title of college football’s new championship game set to begin in '14 “will not include a sponsor,” according to Ivan Maisel of ESPN.com. Hancock: "The Final Four doesn't have one. The Masters doesn't. The Super Bowl. That's the kind of event we have." He added that conference commissioners and college administrators overseeing the format “expect to unveil its name and logo at their meeting in Pasadena, Calif., next month.” Hancock said that the group has narrowed the candidates for the name to a "small number." He added that the decision to forgo a title sponsor “will not affect the bowls that host the semifinal games.” Hancock: "The semifinals will have something to the effect of 'The Football Tournament Semifinal at the Discover Orange Bowl’” (ESPN.com, 3/12). CBSSPORTS.com’s Chip Patterson wrote, “We can likely expect the name of the new college football playoff to be far from flashy. Something like ‘Football Championship Tournament’ or ‘National College Football Championship’ would not be a surprise.” The lack of a title sponsor “gives the playoff an ‘authentic’ feel that many fans believe was stripped from existing bowls.” There are “still fans who refuse to make the transition from ‘Peach Bowl’ or ‘Citrus Bowl,’ so at least that aspect of this big-money operation is spared.” The decision also “allows the presidents to keep their options open when it comes to sponsors for the event” (CBSSPORTS.com, 3/12).
