Georgia football: College Football Playoffs staying in our backyard

The College Football Playoff announced that the deals with the Peach Bowl, Fiesta Bowl and Cotton Bowl have been extended through 2026.

Don’t worry Georgia football fans, the College Football Playoff is not leaving our backyard. The Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl will remain part of the system through 2026. This year, the Peach Bowl is one of the top-four bowl games for teams that missed the playoffs. Next season, the Peach Bowl hosts a playoff semifinal game.

This is good news for the Bulldog Nation. Especially if last year’s success is what we can expect from here on out. Being able to play semifinal and other high-profile bowl games just an hour away from home is a huge advantage. And despite Georgia Tech and Georgia State having their home base there, Atlanta is and will always be part of Bulldog county. Packing Mercedes Benz Stadium is not an issue for Georgia fans.

The Cotton Bowl and Fiesta Bowl also extended their deals with the playoff system. The Fiesta hosts the other semi-final game after next season. When the playoffs formed in 2014, other bowl games were in consideration. The Citrus Bowl was one of those games since for a while, it hosted the best non-BCS bowl with agreements to take the best SEC and Big 10 team that didn’t earn a BCS bowl.

So knowing the deals with the Peach, Fiesta and Cotton were shorter than the deals with the Sugar, Orange and Rose bowls, at one time there was a thought that the bowls in the system would shuffle. But with these new deals, that’s not the case, at least not until 2026.

Next: Georgia needs to make Atlanta their second home

For this year, the Peach Bowl is not on Georgia’s to-do list. The Bulldogs have their sites on either the Cotton Bowl or Orange Bowl in the playoffs. But next year, Georgia football certainly wants a spot in the Peach Bowl.