By 2014 the College Football Hall of Fame will have relocated from South Bend, Indiana, to the heart of Atlanta, overlooking Centennial Park in a brand new, truly amazing structure that will help cement the city's claim as the unofficial capital college football.
Around the same time, college football will begin its long-await postseason revamping - four teams will compete in three games to determine a national champion, with six existing bowls rotating the semifinal games and the championship event going to whatever city provides the best bid.
Atlanta wants that game, but they aren't alone, and the cities and venues they'll compete against might not be able to boast the saturation of this city's widespread passion for the game, but they'll have shinier, nicer stadiums to offer up.
Case in point - Dallas and Cowboys Stadium, as well as Houston and Reliant Stadium, both (relatively) warm climate areas with modern, state-of-the-art domes, have stated their intentions. And that's just the first two groups to go public in the two days since the new playoff was announced. You can expect the same venues and cities who battle for Super Bowls and Final Fours - Indianapolis, Detroit, New Orleans, Tampa, etc. - to cast their lots as well.
Remember this? It's the now somewhat-muted plans for a new Falcons stadium downtown, complete with a retractable roof, that would replace the 21-year-old Georgia Dome. Facilities are built to last centuries, but in terms of marketing and luxury appeal, age in dog years. If Atlanta's serious about keeping its stranglehold on the college game, they'll need to show serious progress towards a new facility in the next 5-10 years.
For more on the college football playoffs, check out SB Nation's college football page.
