Orlando wants piece
With potential expanded playoff, more cities could get in on fun
Steve Hogan has watched college football evolve for more than a quarter of a century.
As CEO of Florida Citrus Sports, Hogan has been at the forefront of advocating for Orlando to become a major player in the sport with everything from hosting multiple bowl games to presenting attractive matchups as part of season-opening neutral-site matchups.
So when the news of the proposed expansion of the College Football Playoff system to a possible 12-team model came out on Thursday, Hogan saw it as another opportunity for the community to make its case.
“If anything has been consistent in my career for over 25 years, it is that postseason college football evolves,” said Hogan, who has been in charge of FCS since 2006. “I’m a guy that saw the Bowl Coalition to the BCS to the four-team playoff. This is part of the sport.
“I’m excited about all the iterations as they come because I’m confident in Orlando’s 75-year history in the postseason of college football.”
The Citrus Bowl debuted in 1947 and while its name has changed over the years, it’s grown into one of the top-tier postseason games outside of the current New Year’s Six bowl games. The addition of the Cheez-It Bowl, which began in 1990 as the Blockbuster Bowl, provided the city with the distinction of being one of the few with multiple bowl games.
Both games have featured strong attendance, with the Citrus Bowl averaging 56,604 spectators over the five seasons between 2015-19. Television ratings have also been solid, with the game averaging 8.3 million viewers over the past five seasons.
The proposed 12-team playoff model would be composed of the six highest-ranked conference champions and six at-large teams determined by the 13-member selection committee. The four highest-ranked conference champions would be seeded one through four and would get a bye while the eight other teams would be seeded five through 12 and would play first-round games on campus sites.
The four quarterfinal games and two semifinal games would take place at bowl sites.
In the current model, the two semifinals rotate among six games including the Cotton, Fiesta, Orange, Peach, Rose and Sugar bowls.
The bowl games under the new proposal haven’t been determined but it makes sense that Orlando could be in the mix for consideration.
“That’s going to continue to create opportunities for Orlando,” Hogan said. “The best destination in the world, in my view. An amazingly attractive collegiate football destination on the front end and the back end of the season. I’m confident that this evolution — as was in the past evolutions — is just going to create opportunities for us.
“Which opportunities are the best fit for Florida Citrus Sports and the Vrbo Citrus Bowl or the Cheez-It Bowl for the future, I don’t know. But I’m excited about them and I know we’re going to be in a positive position, I believe, to be a part of whatever the system becomes.”
Hogan said it’s too early in the process to know where exactly Orlando would fit into any future changes to the system but he believes there are enough positives with the city, local officials and Camping World Stadium to make it an attractive option.
The Playoff management group, which is composed of the 10 conference commissioners and Notre Dame athletics director Jack Swarbrick, meet next Thursday and Friday in Chicago to discuss the expansion proposal. The group will make its recommendations to the playoff board of managers, which is composed of 11 school presidents and chancellors, who have the final say on the matter.
Bill Hancock, who is the executive director of the Playoff, said the earliest that any final decision could be made by the board would be in September.