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College Football Playoff Slowly Taking Shape

MIAMI (CBSMiami) – As conference commissioners continue to finally put together a college football playoff for the Football Bowl Subdivision, some details are starting to trickle out ahead of a predicted full roll out later in June.

The playoff is expected to have four teams in a seeded format. The number 1 seed would play the number 4 seed and the number 2 seed would play the number 3 seed in semifinal matchups and then the winners would play for the national championship.

The issue for the commissioners is how to choose what sites will host the semifinals and how will a championship site be chosen. According to CBSSports.com's Dennis Dodd, commissioners are sensitive to the fairness issue of the playoffs.

Dodd reported the commissioners don't want the number 1 and 2 seeds to go on the road for the semifinals. Commissioners are trying to figure out how to incorporate the antiquated bowl system into the playoff format.

CBSSports' report said a "flex" plan is in play and that option would allows the bowls with the highest-seeded teams to host semifinal games as essentially pass-through games to the national championship. The major bowls pitched their causes to commissioners earlier this year.

Currently, five conferences have bowl tie-ins: Fiesta (Big XII), Sugar (SEC), Rose (Big Ten, Pac-12), and Orange (ACC). But, when the playoff format starts in 2014, the Rose Bowl is the only bowl guaranteed to have its current tie-in, according to CBSSports.com.

The Big XII and SEC announced in May that it would hold a game featuring the champions of both leagues, if the champions are not selected for the playoff. It's unknown what tie-in to a bowl game that game may or may not have, but CBSSports repoted the game is expected to be bid out with the Sugar Bowl and Cowboys Stadium as leading options for a location.

The Fiesta Bowl is set to lose it's automatic tie-in with the Big XII after 2014 and the Orange Bowl has struggled mightily having to host the ACC Champion. A potential permanent semifinal host at the Orange Bowl could be a coup for the Orange Bowl committee and bring in big revenue to Miami.

There are still plenty of questions that need answering before the BCS commissioners announce a playoff plan near the end of June. Anything less than a final four format will not be welcomed by fans and the media, but for the first time, major college football is on the cusp of a playoff.

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