2020 College Football Playoff is Set

The Covid-19 plagued college football season came to an end on December 19th, with the four team College Football Playoff field set as well as most of the other bowl games. Some bowl games have been cancelled, but then, some teams said they wouldn’t participate in the post season as well, so it’s probably a wash.

As usual, the semifinals are at two of the New Year’s Six bowls. The winners will advance to the College Football National Championship game in Miami on January 11th. In one semifinal, #1 seeded Alabama (11-0) will play #4 Notre Dame (10-1) in the Rose Bowl. However, due to Covid-19 concerns in California, the Rose Bowl will be played in Arlington, Texas. The only other time it was played somewhere besides Pasadena, was in 1942, when the game was moved to Durham, North Carolina due to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor less than a month earlier. The other semifinal will have #2 Clemson (10-1) taking on #3 Ohio State in the Sugar Bowl.

If that sounds like the Usual Suspects, it’s because it is. This is the seventh year of the CFP, and both Alabama and Clemson will be making their sixth appearances. It’s the fourth trip for Ohio State and second for Notre Dame. Three conferences are represented, the SEC (Alabama), the Big Ten (Ohio State) and the ACC with Notre Dame and Clemson (Notre Dame, which is in the ACC for basketball, is an independent in football. Due to scheduling concerns regarding Covid, the Fighting Irish played in the ACC this year). It seems strange to us that there are only four slots in the CFB, but five Power Conferences as they are called (Big 10, Big 12, Pac-12, ACC and SEC), not to mention teams outside the Power Five that get left out. These include Cincinnati (9-0) of the American Conference, and Coastal Carolina (11-0) of the Sun Belt. Texas A&M (8-1) in the SEC, and Big 12 champ Oklahoma (8-2) also missed out. But the Sooners have been there four times, so they are frequent visitors. It’s been four years since a Pac-12 team has been there, although that’s understandable this year with Pac-12 champ Oregon only playing six games and losing two of them.

It’s time to expand this thing to eight teams, with the Power Five conference champions and three at large teams that could include additional Power Five teams and/or non Power Fives like Cincinnati, that had outstanding seasons. Of course, there are other bowl games to be played (Cincinnati will face Georgia in the Peach Bowl, and Texas A & M will play in the Orange Bowl vs. North Carolina, to name two) but Alabama and Clemson have met four times in seven years, including three times for the championship. That’s fine for fans of those two programs, but an expanded field might generate more interest outside the southeast, even if those two continue to be in it.

Here’s the highlight reel for the Alabama vs. Florida SEC Championship, won by the Crimson Tide 52-46: