Should a situation arise where one of the top four teams cannot participate in the College Football Playoff due to COVID-19, the CFP has set January makeup dates for both semifinals and the national championship, CFP director told Bill Hancock to ESPN on Wednesday.
There is no indication from the teams or the CFP that a change will be needed, but if both semifinals are to be postponed, the CFP has targeted January 11 for The Rose Bowl Game presented by Capital One and January 12 for the Allstate sugar bowl. The make-up date for the College Football Playoff National Championship presented by AT&T is January 18 – one week after the current January 11 date – at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida.
If both teams are available for a semi-final, the match will be played as scheduled, even if the other match has to be postponed. If a semifinal is postponed, the plan is to move it to January 11.
No. 1 Alabama and No. 4 Notre Dame play Friday at 4 p.m. ET in the Rose Bowl, followed by No. 2 Clemson vs. No. 3 Ohio State at 8 p.m. ET at the Sugar Bowl.
“Everyone plans to play the games as planned,” said Hancock. “The teams, the school staff and the bowl staff have worked very hard to give the players a chance. There are COVID procedures in hotels and stadiums. We have thoroughly prepared and we are ready. But it is always makes sense to do so, prepared even for circumstances we don’t believe will happen. “
Hancock said the markup dates were determined with the consideration that the Rose Bowl contains the top seed, Alabama.
When games are moved, the locations will remain the same, Hancock said. The Rose Bowl is at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas this year, and the Sugar Bowl remains at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans.
“Of course we’ll keep an eye out and adapt if we have to,” said Hancock. “The coming season has got off to an exciting start, and we plan to continue that.”