College Football Playoff could be moved from New Year’s Eve
College football semifinal games could be moved off New Year’s Eve.
College football on New Year’s Eve could be getting a major makeover. On Wednesday, Bill Hancock, the executive director of the College Football Playoff said the Playoff will be determining whether or not having New Year’s Eve games are the right way to go.
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“We will be exploring whether there is a better way for the semifinals,” Bill Hancock, the Playoff’s executive director, said Wednesday, adding: “We will be thinking about whether New Year’s Eve is the right way to go.”
The news comes after last year’s contests in which TV ratings for the semifinals took a major hit, dropping 40 percent.
One of the obstacles in changing the date is the fact the Playoff is committed to playing football on New Year’s Eve in seven of the next 10 years. Hancock said in recent months that the Playoff is committed to playing the game on New Year’s Eve, but this latest development might signify a change in this line of thinking.
According to ESPN’s Brett McMurphy, moving the semifinals off New Year’s Eve in 2018 is likely to happen.
When the announcement of the Playoff on New Year’s Eve was first made, it seemed like a very good idea. However, two things really made New Year’s Eve college football a difficult proposition last year. For one, many people will not be watching college football on New Year’s Eve, instead electing to take part in the New Year’s Eve festivities and not sitting in front of their screens watching sports.
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Secondly, the games last year were very lopsided. DeShaun Watson and the Clemson Tigers thrashed Baker Mayfield and the Oklahoma Sooners by a 37-17 score in the first game and in the second game, Alabama rolled over Michigan State 38-0.
This is definitely worth exploring and it will be interesting to see if Hancock and the Playoff do indeed make a change.