College football's national champion will now longer be at the mercy of the BCS. Starting with the 2014 season, a plan has been officially approved by a presidential oversight committee for a four-team, three game playoff. A group of 11 conference commissioners as well as Notre Dame's athletic director presented the plan to a panel of 12 college presidents on Tuesday, who approved.
Some questions were answered, while new ones developed. Among the details released at a press conference in Washington, D.C., is that a selection committee - and not the current BCS ratings system - will choose the four teams. The teams will be selected without the requirement of a conference championship.
As for the host sites, a rotation of six bowl games will share hosting duties for the two semifinal games and a neutral site for the title game. Those six bowls were not named, and currently only four bowls - the Fiesta, Rose, Sugar and Orange - are members of the BCS. Ostensibly, two more slots are open, with the Cotton Bowl rumored as a favorite to join the group.
The proposed deal will extend for 12 years, through the 2025 season.
While Tuesday's announcement made the four-team, three-game playoff format official, there are many questions that have not been answered, specifically who the committee will be comprised of, how they'll select teams and how the revenue of the three-game playoff will be distributed.
For more news on the new college football playoff format, check out SB Nation's college football page.
