The College Football Playoff semifinal games will be played as scheduled, despite a request for an alteration.
Southeastern Conference commissioner Greg Sankey said on “The Paul Finebaum Show” on Thursday that he wanted the CFP committee to flip the dates of the Orange Bowl and Cotton Bowl.
His request came after the Sugar Bowl, in which Notre Dame defeated Georgia 23-10, was delayed one day after the truck attack in New Orleans that killed 15 people and injured dozens more.
Notre Dame moves on to meet Penn State in the Orange Bowl on Jan. 9. Ohio State and Texas will play in the Cotton Bowl the following day for a berth in the national championship.
Per ESPN, Sankey was worried the winner of the Sugar Bowl could be at a disadvantage having two fewer days of rest and preparation time than Penn State, which played on New Year’s Eve.
But CFP executive director Rick Clark told ESPN on Friday the schedule will not change.
“We’re not going to flip the games,” Clark said. “The concession we made with the athletic directors was to start the Sugar Bowl earlier — an 18-hour or so delay. We slipped the game 18 hours to ensure we could provide safety and security for teams, coaches, staffs, fans and others involved. (New Orleans) and Sugar Bowl officials were amazing.”
Sankey told Finebaum that the “incredible horrible tragedy” in New Orleans warranted consideration of a change of dates.
“Sometimes just like within a game you have to adapt you have to adjust,” Sankey said.
Clark said such a change would have a wide-ranging impact.
“Logistics are very complicated, disruptive to the other teams involved that have schedules in place, especially Texas and Ohio State,” he said. “Fans have made arrangements already and this creates issues for them. There’s more, but these are some of the major points.”
–Field Level Media
