Perhaps the BEST B1G Forum anywhere, here at College Football Fan Site, CFB51!!!

I think the location of these neutral site games is frequently overblown, but I wonder if it matters as far as attendance here.  You are now talking 3 bowl games, as to 1 or 2, and last week is during the holidays and the first one, so you get people that want to guarantee a trip.  Then next week is the championship.

This week you have to take work off.  If you win you are going to the championship, and you'd probably want to go to that, and if you lose, well, you are probably glad you missed it.  But if you don't have to hop on a plane.  If you don't have to book a hotel.  If you don't have to take time off work.

Seems like this one could be a HEAVY Texas crowd

From the perspective of an Ohio State fan who has previously travelled to multiple NC and CFP games, I agree with all of this.  

Part of the difference is that you don't have as long to plan as you used to.  I went to the BCSNCG where Ohio State beat Miami back in 2002/3.  Back then Ohio State beat Michigan on Saturday, November 23, 2002 and didn't play Miami until Friday, January 3, 2003.  That is one day shy of six weeks between games.  Those of us (like me) who went to that game had a long time to decide we were going, buy tickets, figure out travel arrangements, etc.  

For this game, Ohio State beat Oregon less than two weeks ago in Pasadena and here were are with a game against Texas in Dallas today then, as you pointed out, if the Buckeyes beat Texas they'll play Notre Dame in Atlanta less than two weeks from now.  

The quick turnarounds make it nearly impossible to plan your own trip.  You simply can't economically book a flight on that notice so unless you live in the DFW area your only viable way to go is on a package.  I've done both, planned my own trips and packages.  The packages are nice but they are also EXPENSIVE compared to planning your own trip.  Buying the Alumni package trips for:

• The Rose Bowl (vs Oregon)
• The Cotton Bowl (vs Texas), and
• The Peach? Bowl (vs Notre Dame, assuming tOSU wins the Cotton)

Buying all three of those would probably be easily north of $10k and that doesn't include tickets for the home Playoff game against Tennessee.  

In addition to all of that, I think you have a really good point here:

If you win you are going to the championship, and you'd probably want to go to that, and if you lose, well, you are probably glad you missed it.

Exactly.  If Ohio State loses in Dallas I'd be glad I missed it and if they win, I'd rather go to the CG in Atlanta (which is also closer, potentially drivable, and thus a LOT cheaper).  Either way, I don't really want to go to the game in Dallas.  The only exception would be if I lived close enough to Jerry World to go to the game without a flight and without more than maybe one night in a hotel.  That is going to massively favor Texas because obviously there are a LOT more Texas fans in DFW and the surrounding area than Ohio State fans.  

For comparison:

• The drive from the Horseshoe to Jerry World is almost 1,100 miles and takes nearly 16 hours.  
• The drive from the Horseshoe to Mercedes-Benz Stadium is a little under 600 miles and takes a little under 9 hours so it is about half the trip to DFW.  

If I was still young and single and travelling to games like this, I'd hold out for the CG in ATL on the basis laid out by @ELA that there is no scenario in which I'd rather go to DFW.  

Just as a point of fact, the Peach Bowl has already been played in Atlanta, that was Texas' win over Arizona State.  The next game in Atlanta is just the CFP final.

I wasn't sure.  I put the "?" because I didn't know how they treated that:

• The Peach? Bowl (vs Notre Dame, assuming tOSU wins the Cotton)

https://twitter.com/steve__pants/status/1877436105412255891?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1877436105412255891%7Ctwgr%5Eb22f51be63e5bd0dda1c4f26c4e3be1bf9483f28%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.surlyhorns.com%2Fboard%2Findex.php%3Fapp%3Dcoremodule%3Dsystemcontroller%3Dembedurl%3Dhttps%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2Fsteve__pants%2Fstatus%2F1877436105412255891%3Fs%3D6126t%3Dy24cLAxRGy73J6BPsctsHQ

So, if Texas and Ohio State meet in DFW/JerryWorld to play a football game....does LSU still have home-field advantage?  

From surlyhorns: Today I learned that when Colt hit Quan to beat tOSU in the 2009 Fiesta Bowl, the LB Quan ran away from was current ND head coach Marcus Freeman:

Bayless's.

How can Skip be such a dick and Rick be so damn cool?

Wonder if Skip just doomed OSU.  His hawt taeks are generally putrid.