FIRST ROUND (Sweet Sixteen): Dec. 26-27
Higher seeds are “home” teams, though there are no "home" games per se; the location of each group is set by the 1-4 seeds (with attention paid to pre-existing conference affiliations with certain bowl sites when relevant).
It is possible for those who wish to consider the possibility of seeds 1-8 hosting first round games to imagine them doing so, with only the Quarterfinal games ("Elite Eight") taking place at the four bowl sites. However, it is very likely that minimizing travel costs between games will be a more important factor.
Therefore the "@" should be taken as a technical designation only (for uniforms, etc.).
Group A (Fiesta Bowl)
16 Georgia @ 1 Oklahoma
9 Texas @ 8 Boise State
Group B (Orange Bowl)
12 Ohio State @ 5 Cincinnati
13 TCU @ 4 Penn State
Group C (Rose Bowl)
14 Oklahoma State @ 3 USC
11 Texas Tech @ 6 Virginia Tech
Group D (Sugar Bowl)
10 Alabama @ 7 Utah
15 Georgia Tech @ 2 Florida
QUARTERFINALS (Elite Eight): Jan. 1
Winners of the first round games meet at the same bowl site within the week—hence Dec. 26 through Jan. 1, which is seven days. When Jan. 1 falls on Sunday, the first round games move to Dec. 27-28 and the quarterfinals to Jan. 2. The traditional date of Jan. 1 (or 2) for the four BCS bowl sites is preserved.
Ideally the date would be left to these four bowl games, but it may be difficult to force the non-playoff bowls to move to a different date.
SEMIFINALS AND FINAL (Final Four): Jan. 7 and Jan. 12
The winners of the four quarterfinal games then advance to a 5th site for the “Final Four”—for example, the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis (pictured at the top of the article).
Note that the 15 playoff games take place at five sites: the four BCS bowl sites and a fifth, neutral site that may change from year to year (as the NFL Super Bowl and the NCAA Final Four), or be set in one location (as the NCAA College World Series).
Each of the five sites hosts three games. This represents a bonus for the four BCS bowl sites, as they host one currently (and the title game every fourth year).
The concessions *by* the BCS (the concessions *to* the BCS have already been mentioned) are the addition of the fifth site, presumably to be organized in full or in part by the NCAA (not the BCS conferences), with the winner of the final being officially recognized by the NCAA and presented with an NCAA trophy (this is not the case currently).
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