Moving the Orange Bowl to Friday night last season got huge TV ratings for Florida State vs. Michigan, so it's no surprise that the CFP has moved a game to Friday night for next season:

Friday, Dec. 29: Cotton Bowl
Saturday, Dec. 30: Fiesta Bowl, Orange Bowl
Monday, Jan. 1: Peach Bowl, Rose Bowl, Sugar Bowl

https://twitter.com/CFBPlayoff/status/83...8626407425

So since the Cotton took the G5 last year, will be a semi-finl in 2018 , and will be forced to take the G5 again in 2019, that the Cotton will not take a G5 team in 2017.

So that means the Fiesta and Peach each have a 50/50 chance of getting the G5 in 2017.

Probably not a coincindence that the bowl with the P5 vs.P5 matchup got moved to prime time. The 2 bowls with the possible G5 team were slotted in early afternoon.

At least purely schedule-wise, this is the best possible setup to maximize ratings: a slate of CFP games on Friday and Saturday and then the semifinals on New Year's Day Monday while avoiding games on New Year's Eve entirely. Now, the final ratings will ultimately come down to the matchups, but at least there won't be any complaints about the game times impacting viewership.

Rose and Sugar should get NYD to themselves.

(03-03-2017 03:54 PM)MplsBison Wrote:  Rose and Sugar should get NYD to themselves.

I think Citrus and Outback might disagree since they have played the early games on NYD.

(03-03-2017 03:26 PM)Wedge Wrote:  Moving the Orange Bowl to Friday night last season got huge TV ratings for Florida State vs. Michigan, so it's no surprise that the CFP has moved a game to Friday night for next season:

Friday, Dec. 29: Cotton Bowl
Saturday, Dec. 30: Fiesta Bowl, Orange Bowl
Monday, Jan. 1: Peach Bowl, Rose Bowl, Sugar Bowl

https://twitter.com/CFBPlayoff/status/83...8626407425

I think the fact that real brands like FSU and Michigan were playing most likely contributed to the high ratings. Baylor, UCF, other nonsense teams would have been a ratings nightmare.

(03-04-2017 11:01 AM)Scoochpooch Wrote:  I think the fact that real brands like FSU and Michigan were playing most likely contributed to the high ratings.

Of course, but having a timeslot likely to attract a lot of viewers (instead of, say, noon on a weekday or 8 pm on New Year's Eve) also helps a lot.

The Cotton Bowl is likely to have a ratings-friendly matchup next season, which combined with the favorable timeslot should lead to another big TV rating. The Cotton had the "access" team last season; it won't next season. The Rose and Sugar are semis next season, so the best non-playoff teams from the Pac-12, Big Ten, Big 12, and SEC will all be available. Excellent chance that the Cotton will get two top-10 teams.

Wish that the bowls were rotated such that the G5 team could get into the Rose, Sugar, or Orange bowls every now and then instead of what appears to be a rotation between Fiesta, Peach, and Cotton, but oh well. It was pretty cool seeing a team like TCU in Pasadena instead of Big Ten-Pac 10/12 matchup for the thousandth time.

Rose, Sugar, and Orange were called "Contract Bowls" within the CFP for good reason: all their annual ties/slots were already contractually spoken for. The CFP couldn't just override those contracts.

(03-04-2017 01:47 PM)Love and Honor Wrote:  Wish that the bowls were rotated such that the G5 team could get into the Rose, Sugar, or Orange bowls every now and then instead of what appears to be a rotation between Fiesta, Peach, and Cotton, but oh well. It was pretty cool seeing a team like TCU in Pasadena instead of Big Ten-Pac 10/12 matchup for the thousandth time.

You do realize that because these bowls you want have have tie-ins? That was the whole reason for the creation of the G5 Champ getting a ACCESS bowl slot due to not being contracted major NYE/NYD bowl? The whole reason to add Cotton and Peach was to add a slot for the G5 champ while providing P5's more access slots and places for displaced P5 champs when their bowl is part of the access and they are not in the CFP.

The Cotton Bowl committee is excited to get a Friday night slot again. Remember that pre CFP they had moved the game to the Friday night between NYD & the BCS Championship.

Also, this is likely to be a Big12 #1/2 vs SEC #1/2 matchup since the Sugar is a playoff this year.

(03-04-2017 09:27 PM)msm96wolf Wrote:  

(03-04-2017 01:47 PM)Love and Honor Wrote:  Wish that the bowls were rotated such that the G5 team could get into the Rose, Sugar, or Orange bowls every now and then instead of what appears to be a rotation between Fiesta, Peach, and Cotton, but oh well. It was pretty cool seeing a team like TCU in Pasadena instead of Big Ten-Pac 10/12 matchup for the thousandth time.

You do realize that because these bowls you want have have tie-ins? That was the whole reason for the creation of the G5 Champ getting a ACCESS bowl slot due to not being contracted major NYE/NYD bowl? The whole reason to add Cotton and Peach was to add a slot for the G5 champ while providing P5's more access slots and places for displaced P5 champs when their bowl is part of the access and they are not in the CFP.

Oh I completely get why the tie-ins are there and why the access bowls are where they are right now, I just wish there was a little more diversity in the traditions. I suppose it wouldn't be impossible to get a non-Big Ten vs Pac-12 matchup in the Rose Bowl if one of them had their champ go to the CFP and none of their other teams were ranked high enough to make an access bowl, although that's unlikely.