Sites of 2016, 2017 title games set

ByBRETT MCMURPHY
December 16, 2013, 2:57 PM

— -- Arizona and Tampa, Fla., will host college football's 2016 and 2017 national championship games.

Glendale's University of Phoenix Stadium, the site of the Fiesta Bowl and home of the Arizona Cardinals, was chosen over three other venues for the Jan. 11, 2016, game.

Tampa's Raymond James Stadium was selected over five other venues for the Jan. 9, 2017, game. Raymond James hosts the Outback Bowl each year and is home to the  South Florida Bulls and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The commissioners of the 10 Football Bowl Subdivision conferences and Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick voted on the sites.

AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, was announced in April as the site of the title game in 2015, the first year the NCAA moves to the four-team College Football Playoff.

Since 1999, the Glendale/Phoenix area has hosted four BCS title games. This will be the first college football title game in Tampa, which has hosted four Super Bowls -- two at Raymond James Stadium.

Tampa also will become the first city that does not hold one of the College Football Playoff's six major bowls to host a national title game. Tampa finished as the runner-up to Arlington to host the first title game in the post-BCS era.

The three cities Glendale beat out for the 2016 game were Jacksonville, Fla. (EverBank Field), New Orleans (Mercedes-Benz Superdome) and Tampa.

The five cities Tampa beat out for the 2017 game were San Francisco/Santa Clara (Levi's Stadium), Jacksonville, Minneapolis (Vikings Stadium), San Antonio (Alamodome) and Miami (Sun Life Stadium).

During the 12-year College Football Playoff contract, the semifinals will be at:

• Rose and Sugar bowls: Jan. 1, 2015; Jan. 1, 2018; Jan. 1, 2021; and Jan. 1, 2024.

• Orange and Cotton bowls: Dec. 31, 2015; Dec. 31, 2018; Dec. 31, 2021; and Dec. 31, 2024.

• Fiesta and Chick-fil-A bowls: Dec. 31, 2016; Dec. 31, 2019; Dec. 31, 2022; and Dec. 31, 2025.

In years the Rose, Sugar and Orange bowls do not host the semifinals, they will get the highest-ranked team from their respective conference tie-ins: Rose (Pac-12 vs. Big Ten), Sugar (SEC vs. Big 12) and Orange (ACC vs. highest-ranked from SEC/Big Ten/Notre Dame).

The BCS ends this season with No. 1 Florida State and No. 2 Auburn playing on Jan. 6 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif.