Per ESPN.com:

At least four cities will bid on the 2016 College Football Playoff championship, while at least six cities will pursue the 2017 title game, bowl sources told ESPN.

Sept. 27 is the deadline to submit requests for proposals to bid on the 2016 and 2017 title games. In November, the 10 Football Bowl Subdivision commissioners and Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick will vote on and announce those two title game sites.

Sources told ESPN cities that have indicated they will bid on the Jan. 11, 2016, game include Glendale, Ariz.; Jacksonville, Fla.; New Orleans; and Tampa, Fla.

Cities that will bid on the Jan. 9, 2017, game include Jacksonville, Miami, New Orleans, San Antonio, San Francisco and Tampa.

Other cities considering a bid on either game include Atlanta, Minneapolis and Arlington, Texas, sources said.

"considering a bid" is at least a step toward a bid; beyond that, of course, Minneapolis would have to be accepted.

That said, we can't imagine Minneapolis would bid on the January 2016 game with the Dome slated for destruction after this Vikings season and the new Vikings stadium not being scheduled to open until July of 2016. That is the only tenable site for a championship game (TCF Bank Stadium in January? Nope).

But 2017 and beyond? Absolutely.