EBS Game Scheduling

Overview

The EBS Tournament Calendar details the scheduling for the various rounds of the Enhanced Bowl Season (EBS) tournament depending on which day New Year's Day falls. The four first round games are scheduled for the week leading up to Christmas Day. Three of the quarterfinal games are held on January 1 with the fourth held later in the week on either January 2 or 3. Semifinal games are held a week later and the finals scheduled for either January 15 or 16. Specific dates and times were selected to both minimize conflicts with student-athletes' academic responsibilities and maximize availability for fans, both those traveling and those watching on television. Conflicts with both the NFL regular season and playoffs were avoided.
Note: all times in this document are Eastern Time unless expressed otherwise.

Methods

In selecting the dates for EBS tournament games, the following factors were considered:

In fairness to the student-athletes competing, games are scheduled to minimize conflicts with final exams. Games begin no earlier than dates in the current bowl system. Further, no games are scheduled on Christmas Day.
To maximize availability to fans, most games are scheduled during periods when fans are most available to travel. This includes weekends and the period surrounding New Year's Day.
In order to support the bowl tradition, three quarterfinal games are scheduled for New Year's Day, preserving the "day of college football" on January 1. Further, first round games are scheduled at the start of the traditional "bowl season," providing an ample window for non-tournament bowl games to continue their operation.
Whenever possible, tournament games are scheduled either during prime-time or on the weekend when the majority of college football fans will be able to watch the games on television.
Given the NFL's existing schedule of regular season games all-day Sunday and Monday night, as well as playoff games on Saturday afternoon and night and Sunday afternoon, EBS tournament games are not scheduled in direct conflict with these games.

Details

First Round Games

First round games are scheduled using one of two methodologies. In years when the Saturday before Christmas Eve falls on or after December 20 (when New Year's Day falls on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday) three games are scheduled for that Saturday with games kicking off at 1:00, 4:30, and 8:00 pm. The fourth game is scheduled for prime-time at 8:00 pm the previous Thursday, 12/21 or 12/20, when New Year's Day falls on Monday or Tuesday, respectively; the previous Friday, 12/20, when New Year's Day falls on Wednesday; or the following Tuesday, 12/23, when New Year's Day falls on a Thursday.

In other years (when New Year's Day falls on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday), games are scheduled on the Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday evenings before Christmas. On one of those nights, a doubleheader is scheduled with one of the bowls in the Eastern or Central time zones starting at 7:00 pm and a bowl in either the Mountain or Pacific time zones starting at 10:00 pm. This doubleheader is held on Tuesday 12/22 when New Year's Day falls on Friday and on Thursday 12/23 or 12/22 when New Year's Day falls on Saturday or Sunday, respectively. All other games are scheduled for 8:00 pm kickoffs.

With the exception of the weeknight doubleheader, bowl sites are assigned to the particular times slots as is most convenient for the hosting sites.

These dates minimize conflict with final examinations at the majority of schools. The "Impact on Academics" section shows that in 2006, when the games are scheduled for Thursday 12/21 and Saturday 12/23, only seven percent of schools are still taking final exams on Thursday. Only one school still has scheduled exams on Saturday.

The scheduling of these games should allow fans to travel to the bowls. Since games are held near the Christmas holiday, fans should be able to take extended holidays to attend games. Further, the Saturday games will allow fans to travel without the need to use vacation time.

Also, by scheduling either during the week or on Saturday, there is minimal conflict with NFL play. When late in the season, the NFL often moves some games to Saturday. However, the NFL has demonstrated that they will yield to college football as was the case in the 2004-05 season when the NFL did not schedule on Saturday, Jan 1. Further, this year's NFL Saturday games will be broadcast on the NFL Network, whose games are typically scheduled on Thursdays for the earlier portion of the regular season. None of the other games offer any potential conflict with the NFL schedule.

Quarterfinal Games

The primary motivation in the scheduling of the quarterfinal games is the preservation of the New Year's Day "full-day-of-college-football" bowl tradition. Every year, three EBS tournament games are held on January 1, except when New Year's Day falls on Sunday, in which case the games are moved to January 2. Games are scheduled for either a 1:00, 4:30, or 8:00 pm kickoff. The remaining game is scheduled for prime-time (8:00 pm) the next day, provided that day is not Saturday (in which case the game would interfere with the first week of the NFL playoffs) or a Sunday (in which case the game would interfere with the last week of the NFL regular season). In these cases, the final quarterfinal game is moved to January 3rd. Neither of these scheduled dates should interfere with the NFL as the games will either fall on the Sunday evening of a playoff weekend (when games are scheduled for 1:00 pm and 4:30 pm) or on the last Monday evening of the regular season when Monday Night Football games are traditionally not scheduled.

There are two slates of bowl sites that will host the quarterfinal games. In odd-numbered seasons (i.e., even-numbered January 1 years), the Rose and Sugar Bowls join the Capital One and Cotton Bowls as quarterfinal host sites. Accommodating for Rose Bowl tradition, kick off is scheduled for 4:30 pm (1:30 PT) on New Year's Day. The Sugar Bowl is scheduled for the 8:00 pm on the January 2/3 date. The Capital One and Cotton Bowls alternate between the 1:00 pm and 8:00 pm New Year's Day kickoffs.

In even-numbered season (i.e., odd-numbered January 1 years), the Fiesta and Orange Bowls host quarterfinal games along with the Capital One and Cotton Bowls. The Fiesta and Orange Bowls are scheduled for either the 8:00 pm kickoff on January 1 or January 2/3, alternating dates in subsequent years. Likewise, the Capital One and Cotton Bowls alternate between the 1:00 pm and 4:30 pm kickoff times.

No school has final exams or any classes scheduled during these periods.

Just as with the existing bowl system, New Year's games are ideal for traveling fans as this is a national holiday, allowing families to take extended vacations at the bowl sites.

Semifinal Games

As with the current National Championship Game, the semifinal games are held one week after the New Year's Day bowls. The first semifinal game is typically held six days after the last quarterfinal game (January 8 when New Year's Day falls on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday; and January 9 when New Year's Day falls on a Saturday or Sunday). However, when New Year's Day falls on a Friday, the first semifinal game is scheduled for Friday, January 8 to avoid a potential NFL-playoffs scheduling conflict. This is seven days after New Year's Day, but only five days after the last quarterfinal game. Bowl site selection, as described below, looks to minimize the chance of a team playing on five days rest. The second semifinal game is typically held the day after the first semifinal, except again, when New Year's Day falls on a Friday. In this case, the second semifinal game is held two days later on Sunday, January 10. All games are scheduled to kick off at 8:00 pm.

Because the number-one seed is given preference regarding East Coast (Orange/Sugar/Capital One Bowls) or West Coast (Fiesta/Rose/Cotton) sites for both the quarterfinal and semifinal, the bowl site scheduled to host the first semifinal game is determined based on the quarterfinal hosting schedule. In years when the Sugar Bowl hosts the January 2/3 quarterfinal, the Orange Bowl host the second semifinal and the Fiesta hosts the first semifinal. When the Orange Bowl hosts the last quarterfinal game, the Sugar Bowl hosts the second semifinal. Finally, when the Fiesta Bowl hosts the last quarterfinal game, the Rose bowl hosts the second semifinal. The Rose Bowl never hosts the January 2/3 quarterfinal game.

A review of January 2007 academic calendars show that this scheduling conflicts with classes at 45% of schools; however, the limited number of teams (4) participating in the semifinal games minimizes the academic effect on DI-A as a whole.

National Championship Game

The National Title Game is scheduled six days following the second semifinal game (January 15 when New Year's Day falls on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday; and January 16 when New Year's Day falls on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday). The game will always kickoff at 8:00 pm.

A review of January 2007 academic calendars shows that this date conflicts with classes in 57% of schools; however, the limited number of teams participating in the final game (2) minimizes the academic effect on DI-A as a whole.

Finally, in four of the seven possible scheduling dates, this game will fall either on the weekend or on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day (observed), a federal holiday. The ability for fans to find time off of work on these days should give those wanting to travel to the Championship Game the ability to do so.