It used to be when there were a few bowl games, going to a bowl was a reward for doing well, not to mete out punishment to both the players and the fans. Hence, the warm weather or domed locations.
Whereas, the NFL traditionally play at the home team stadiums for the playoffs. It wasn’t until the Superbowl that the NFL had neutral sites for the championship.
True — but the moment college football devolved into the poll and bowl system for picking “mythical national champion,” the homefield edge was a constant corruption.
I’n ok with one team or the other hosting the game — since college football should be played on college campuses — as long as the homefield advantage is random. Flip a coin.
Over time, the northern teams would get their share. Football is supposed to be an outdoor sport. Weather is part of the game. Man up and deal with it.
Neutral sites are not a solution unless they are also regionally distributed. Southern and west coast teams should not get to play every year in their region, often on their own field, in front of mostly their fans and in their weather.
I would be perfectly ok with Ohio State having to play Texas in the Cotton Bowl next week if that was the result of a coin flip. I’m not ok with the NCAA deciding that the northern teams always have to travel. The SEC and Southern California teams should have to play their fair share of championship games in January in a blizzard in Ann Arbor, South Bend, etc.
Definitley some corrections need to be made. What is the sense of conference championship games (Texas - Georgia and Ohio State - Indiana being two examples) when both participants still made the playoff regardless of the outcome (other than money I mean)? And the traditional bowl games - Rose, Orange, Cotton e.g. - do not want to give up their money either. Now we are down to four teams and still two rounds to go - the finalists will have played fifteen or sixteen games (almost an NFL schedule). The FCS level has a 16-team playoff and handles this correctly but there are too many moneyed interests at the upper level competing for the bucks for a sensible system.