Replacing the five-game Bowl Championship Series (BCS) this season is the College Football Playoff’s New Year’s Six, a new system contracted through 2025 to determine the national champion through a plus-one, single elimination format.

At-large spots for prior BCS bowls outside of the rotating national championship game were determined by a combination of human polls and computer-generated selection methods with set rules limiting a single conference’s total number of invites.

2014 New Year’s Six Bowl Games

  • Sugar Bowl, Jan. 1, 8:30 p.m. (Alabama vs. Ohio State)
  • Rose Bowl, Jan. 1, 5 p.m. (Oregon vs. Florida State)
  • Cotton Bowl, Jan. 1, 12:30 p.m. (Baylor vs. Michigan St.)
  • Orange Bowl, Dec. 31, 8 p.m. (Georgia Tech vs. Mississippi St.)
  • Fiesta Bowl, Dec. 31, 4 p.m. (Boise State vs. Arizona)
  • Peach Bowl, Dec. 31, 12:30 p.m. (Ole Miss vs. TCU)

Beginning this season, there are no conference limits and at-large spots — after final four invites are handed out — are picked using the selection committee’s final poll with attention given to direct tie-ins (Orange, ACC for instance). Computer rankings are no longer used to select participating teams and the highest-ranked champion of a Group of Five (non-power) conference gets a spot regardless of ranking.

The national semifinal rotation is set on a three-year cycle with the following pairings: 2014 —Rose, Sugar; 2015 — Orange, Cotton, 2016 — Fiesta, Peach.

Also, all New Year’s Six games are contractually obligated to be played within a two-day stretch in the new era, so no more individually exclusive Cotton or Orange Bowl nights for bowl fans.

Half of the New Year’s Six games remain contracted, while the other three — Fiesta, Cotton, Peach — are considered access bowls:
  • Sugar (SEC vs. Big 12 when Sugar is not a semifinal game)
  • Rose (Pac-12 vs. Big Ten when Rose is not a semifinal game)
  • Orange (ACC vs. highest ranked SEC/Big Ten non-champion or Notre Dame when Orange is not a semifinal game)

Furthermore, concerning the SEC’s possible New Year’s Six selections annually, there are specific guidelines:

The winner of the SEC Championship Game automatically qualifies for a spot in the Cotton, Fiesta or Peach Bowls if that team is not selected to participate in the four-team playoff.