The dates of the College Football Playoff games and selection of the semifinal participants will remain unchanged after the CFP management committee discussed possibly pushing back the event.
CFP executive director Bill Hancock said Wednesday there was no support among the conference commissioners who manage the playoff to lengthen the regular season by pushing back the date of the national semifinals and championship.
“After a robust discussion, the management committee decided the games will remain on the scheduled dates,” Hancock told AP.
The selection committee will set the pairings for the semifinals on Dec. 20, the day after most major college conferences are scheduled to play their championship games.
The playoff semifinals are set to be played Jan. 1 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, and Sugar Bowl in New Orleans. The national championship game is scheduled to be played Jan. 11 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida.
“We reserve the right to discuss this again if the circumstances change,” Hancock said.
Nearly 30 major college football games have been postponed or canceled in the last two weeks because of COVID-19 as virus cases surge across the country. Numerous games have been rescheduled for mid-December and if disruptions continue at this rate some postponed games are at risk of not being made up.
The Big Ten and Pac-12 are already canceling conference games because their late starts left no room for make-up dates.
Hancock said if a team chosen to participate in the semifinals cannot play in the scheduled date because of COVID-19-related problems, the team will not be replaced.
“Flexibility is out friend,” Hancock said.
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