I might be answering my own question but here goes anyway...
I know in the 4-team playoff set-up, the #1 seed chose which of the 2 semi-final bowls to play the #4 seed, leaving the other bowl as the #2-#3 setup.
For the 12 team playoff, is it safe to assume this is what will happen? In the case of this season, #1 chooses between Rose, Fiesta, Peach, and Sugar and then #2 chooses from remaining 3 bowls, and #3 picks from the 2 left over.
If this is the case, if Oregon stays at #1, it seems fair to assume they would choose the Rose Bowl for obvious geographic reasons and maybe slightly to maintain that B10 tradition. But if it were Penn State or another B10 school, would they do the same or maybe pick the Peach as the closest site? I guess you'd have to consider your possible matchups as well since the Peach might be closer to the bulk of east coast & midwest alumni/fans but if a possible matchup was vs an SEC or ACC team would you do that?
With the Peach, Orange, and Sugar in SEC (and ACC--except for the Sugar) territory, it does give that conference a consistent geographic advantage. The Rose Bowl will only ever be a quarterfinal site because of their refusal to move off of the Jan 1 date so the other 5 will rotate between quarterfinals and semifinals.
I realize these bowl sites will be considered "neutral" but with the expanded playoff format, some fans are just not going to attend 2-4 games within a 6 week period so geography may turn these into away games for some higher seeds. It will be interesting to see how all this plays out.
I know in the 4-team playoff set-up, the #1 seed chose which of the 2 semi-final bowls to play the #4 seed, leaving the other bowl as the #2-#3 setup.
For the 12 team playoff, is it safe to assume this is what will happen? In the case of this season, #1 chooses between Rose, Fiesta, Peach, and Sugar and then #2 chooses from remaining 3 bowls, and #3 picks from the 2 left over.
If this is the case, if Oregon stays at #1, it seems fair to assume they would choose the Rose Bowl for obvious geographic reasons and maybe slightly to maintain that B10 tradition. But if it were Penn State or another B10 school, would they do the same or maybe pick the Peach as the closest site? I guess you'd have to consider your possible matchups as well since the Peach might be closer to the bulk of east coast & midwest alumni/fans but if a possible matchup was vs an SEC or ACC team would you do that?
With the Peach, Orange, and Sugar in SEC (and ACC--except for the Sugar) territory, it does give that conference a consistent geographic advantage. The Rose Bowl will only ever be a quarterfinal site because of their refusal to move off of the Jan 1 date so the other 5 will rotate between quarterfinals and semifinals.
I realize these bowl sites will be considered "neutral" but with the expanded playoff format, some fans are just not going to attend 2-4 games within a 6 week period so geography may turn these into away games for some higher seeds. It will be interesting to see how all this plays out.
