Agreement on Playoff Structure Announced

November 12, 2012 by CFP Staff and BCS

The BCS Presidential Advisory Committee and the Group of Commissioners today unanimously approved additional details to implement the new four-team playoff for college football's post-season, beginning as scheduled in the 2014-2015 season.

In the group's first meeting since June 26th in Washington, D.C., unanimous agreement was reached to:

• Lock-in a four team seeded playoff. The teams that will play will be chosen by a selection committee.
• Create three "contract bowls" and three "host bowls" as part of the post-season format. The highest-ranked champion from the five conferences that are not in contract bowls will be guaranteed a spot in a host bowl.
• Share revenue, for the first time in college football history, based on academic performance as part of the funding formula.
• Share revenue with a higher portion of revenues going to the conferences of the four teams that qualify for the playoff and participate in the other games. Distributions will also be made to conferences whose teams don't qualify for either a contract or host bowl. Since the new format is projected to be so popular, there will be more revenue for all conferences and independent institutions.
• Move forward to complete a television rights agreement for the new format.
• Begin hiring staff so the new structure can begin operating.

"Today's meeting is a unanimous ratification of what we announced last June in Washington, D.C., said Charles Steger, the Chairman of the Presidential Oversight Committee. "I'm delighted that additional details have been resolved and that everything is on track so fans can enjoy the post-season they've been asking for. College football, with its great regular season, is strong and popular – it's about to get stronger and more popular."

"This format is good for college football in both the short-term and long-term and I think it's great for the game," said Bill Hancock, the Executive Director of the BCS. "The four-team playoff will be wonderfully popular and because fans can't get enough college football, the other bowls will benefit too. I'm proud of how everyone came together and that agreement has been reached."

Additional details, such as the name of the new structure, details of the selection committee, and location for the first playoff games, including the championship game, remain to be announced.