College Football Bowl Central

While the bowl games have been around for decades, the College Football Playoff has only been in effect since 2014. The NCAA Football postseason contest is preceded by the Bowl Coalition, Bowl Alliance and the BCS. This new structure is still in the infancy stages and has introduced a bracket-style competition that seeds four teams to participate in the semifinals. The winners of the two semifinal games advance to the national championship game.

The College Football Playoff committee, primarily made up of athletic directors from each major conference, former players, coaches and administrators, meets in early December and ranks the Top 25, along with selecting the top four teams and seeding them into the semifinal games.

Once the committee ranks the teams, they place the top-seeded team at the closest site to their home field to prevent a road-game environment. When it comes to the venue for the College Football Playoff National Championship Game, cities can bid to host the game years in advance. This season’s championship game will take place in Atlanta on January 8.

The semifinals are assigned to a different pairing of the six major bowl games each year:

In the years that the bowl games aren’t host to the semifinals, they host their bowl’s affiliated conferences or committee selections. The Rose Bowl usually hosts the Big Ten champions against the Pac-12 champions, while the Sugar Bowl hosts the SEC champions against the Big 12 champions. The Orange Bowl plays host to the ACC champion and either the second-place SEC team, second-place Big Ten team or independent Notre Dame. The Cotton, Fiesta and Peach bowls are all decided by committee selection.

The College Football Playoff is poised to be one of the top sports betting events of the year. There’s plenty of betting action throughout the College Football Playoff, so be sure to keep an eye on this page for the best college football betting content, odds and the hottest trends this December.

The New Year’s Six

Rose Bowl

The “Granddaddy of them all” is entering its 103rd year, with Georgia and Oklahoma facing off for a chance to play in the national championship game. 
Visit the Rose Bowl page

Sugar Bowl

As if the College Football Playoff wasn’t sweet enough, they added a Sugar Bowl. For the third straight year, fans will be treated to a Clemson vs Alabama playoff game.
Visit the Sugar Bowl page

Orange Bowl

The Orange Bowl takes place on December 30 and will see the Miami Hurricanes taking on the Wisconsin Badgers at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami.
Visit the Orange Bowl page

Cotton Bowl

Ohio State missed out on a chance to compete for the national championship but will look to end its season on a winning note vs No. 8-ranked USC.
Visit the Cotton Bowl page

Fiesta Bowl

Lots of fireworks are expected in this year’s Fiesta Bowl with the high-scoring Penn State Nittany Lions squaring off with the equally explosive Washington Huskies.
Visit the Fiesta Bowl page

Peach Bowl

The UCF Knights will put their perfect record on the line vs the No. 7-ranked Auburn Tigers who had wins over both Alabama and Georgia this season.
Visit the Peach Bowl page

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