Arizona could host 4 college football postseason games
This story was originally published May 7, 2015.
Two dates still are to be finalized, but it appears this will be the end-of-season college/NFL feast in Arizona.
- Dec. 27: Green Bay at Arizona Cardinals
- Dec. 29: Arizona Bowl (tentative date)
- Jan. 1, 2016: Fiesta Bowl
- Jan. 2: Cactus Bowl (tentative date)
- Jan. 3: Seattle at Arizona Cardinals
- Jan. 11: College Football Playoff Championship
Add to that lineup likely Arizona State and Arizona bowl games and potentially the Cardinals returning to the playoffs (wild-card games are Jan. 9-10 and division playoffs Jan. 16-17) and Mark Cuban's still unproven theory that there is such a thing as football oversaturation will be put to a legitimate test.
"You'd be hard pressed to find a region that would have had as much great football in as short a period as is getting ready to happen in Arizona," Bill Hancock, College Football Playoff executive director, said Tuesday.
Championship games were played at University of Phoenix Stadium twice in the Bowl Championship Series era so this will be the third time that metro Phoenix has hosted three bowls in the same postseason.
And for the first time, there could be four bowls in the state. The Arizona Bowl, between Mountain West and Conference USA teams, was certified Tuesday by the NCAA. Details of that bowl are still to be determined. The Copper (now Cactus) Bowl was played in Tucson from 1989-99.
The Cactus Bowl, between Pac-12 and Big 12 teams, will be played at Chase Field for at least the next three years due to construction at ASU's Sun Devil Stadium.
In the 2006-07 postseason, Texas Tech won 44-41 over Minnesota in the Insight (now Cactus) Bowl at Sun Devil Stadium; Boise State, 43-42 over Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl overtime classic; and Florida, 41-14 over Ohio State in the BCS Championship.
The 2010-11 lineup brought us Iowa, 27-24 over Missouri (Insight); Oklahoma, 48-20 over Connecticut (Fiesta); and Auburn, 22-19 over Oregon (BCS).
Remember that in the College Football Playoff era that the Fiesta Bowl does not have contractual ties with any conference. The selection committee that chooses the CFP semifinalists also picks teams to go in the other New Year's Six bowls, which for the Fiesta after the 2014 season were Boise State and Arizona. The Fiesta picks after this season will be similar then the Fiesta will host one of the CFP semifinals on Dec. 31, 2016.
Hancock said that the CFP worked so well in its initial year -- Alabama, Oregon, Florida, Ohio State making the semifinals with No. 4 Ohio State winning -- that there was no need for major changes either in the process or the selection committee.
Kirby Hocutt, Texas Tech athletic director, and Bobby Johnson, former Vanderbilt coach, are joining the committee to replace Oliver Luck, who left as West Virginia athletic director to join the NCAA, and Archie Manning, forced to drop off the 13-member committee last year for health reasons. Jeff Long, Arkansas athletic director, will continue as committee chair.
"Watching them work, I was so proud of their dedication and the hard work, diligence and earnest manner in which they approach it all," Hancock said. "It was a tribute to their integrity and the fact they wanted to the job done right."
The first of six College Football Playoff rankings will be announced Nov. 3 and the last, including pairings for the New Year's Six bowls, on Dec. 6.
