What will the playoff system look like?
Rejoice college football fans, a four-team playoff is coming.
While we have some details, others are still hard to come by. We know a selection committee will weigh several factors to pick the four best teams in the country and we know the title game dates but beyond that, what will the new system look like over the life of the 12-year deal?
The Eye on College Football decided to take a look and mapped it out. The six bowls in rotation are the four current BCS bowls -- Rose, Orange, Fiesta and Sugar -- and we took the liberty of thinking the Cotton Bowl and Chick-fil-A Bowl are the other two that make the cut. Based on what the commissioners have said, the Champions Bowl is in the rotation but we're figuring on it rotating between the Cotton and Sugar depending on if one of them is hosting a semifinal.
Via Sports Illustrated's Stewart Mandel and according to Bill Hancock, the "Big Six" bowls will be played three each on Dec. 31 and Jan. 1, around 1 pm/4:30 pm/8 pm ET. The selection committee will pick the teams for all six bowls and while it could be the top 12 spread over six games, it is likely there is some sort of deal to keep certain conferences in certain games. The Pac-12 and Big Ten will meet in the Rose Bowl unless it is a semifinal regardless.
Here's how the rotation could run from Year 1 of the 2014-15 season all the way out to 2020.
Looking back: The playoff bracket from past seasons
| 2014-2015 | ||
| Wednesday Dec. 31, 2014  TBD vs. TBD | Thursday Jan. 1, 2015  SEC vs. Big 12 | Monday Jan. 12, 2015  Semifinalist vs. Semifinalist |
 ACC vs. TBD |  Pac-12 vs. Big Ten | |
Semifinal #1 #1 vs. #4 | Semifinal #2 #2 vs. #3 | |
| 2015-2016 | ||
| Thursday Dec. 31, 2015 ACC vs. TBD | Friday Jan. 1, 2016 SEC vs. Big 12 | Monday Jan. 11, 2016 Semifinalist vs. Semifinalist |
TBD vs. TBD | Pac-12 vs. Big Ten | |
| Semifinal #1 #1 vs. #4 | Semifinal #2 #2 vs. #3 | |
| 2016-2017 | ||
| Saturday Dec. 31, 2016 ACC vs. TBD | Monday Jan. 2, 2017 SEC vs. Big 12 | Monday Jan. 9, 2017 Semifinalist vs. Semifinalist |
TBD vs. TBD | Semifinal #2 #1 vs #4 | |
| Semifinal #1 #2 vs. #3 | Pac-12 vs. Big Ten | |
| 2017-2018 | ||
| Saturday Dec. 30, 2017 ACC vs. TBD | Monday Jan. 1, 2018 SEC vs. Big 12 | Monday Jan. 8, 2018 Semifinalist vs. Semifinalist |
| Semifinal #1 | |
Pac-12 vs. Big Ten | Semifinal #2 #2 vs. #3 | |
| 2018-2019 | ||
| Monday Dec. 31, 2018 ACC vs. TBD | Tuesday Jan. 1, 2019 SEC vs. Big 12 | Monday Jan. 7, 2019 Semifinalist vs. Semifinalist |
|
| |
| Semifinal #1 #1 vs. #4 | Semifinal #2 #2 vs. #3 | |
| 2019-2020 | ||
| Tuesday Dec. 31, 2019 TBD vs. TBD | Wednesday Jan. 1, 2020 SEC vs. Big 12 | Monday Jan. 6, 2020 Semifinalist vs. Semifinalist |
ACC vs. TBD | Pac-12 vs. Big Ten | |
| Semifinal #1 #1 vs. #4 | Semifinal #2 #2 vs. #3 | |
