College Football Playoff: Schedule makers finally get it right

The College Football Playoff takes place around New Year’s each season, but avoiding the holidays this upcoming season was the right decision.

There are holidays that naturally lend themselves to sporting events. Baseball belongs on the Fourth of July just like football should be played on Thanksgiving Day. Both of those traditions have been instilled in American culture for some time and college football is trying to get their piece of the holiday pie.

When the College Football Playoff was introduced following the 2014 season its pair of semi final games took place on New Year’s Day. That schedule was bumped up to New Year’s Eve for the 2015 and 2016 seasons before returning to the first day of the year following the 2017 season. Finally, after four years of tinkering, the first round of the College Football Playoff won’t interfere with the holidays.

The 2018-2019 College Football Playoff semi finals will take place on December 29 at the Cotton Bowl and Orange Bowl. For the first time since its inception, college football fans won’t have to squeeze the marquee event into their already busy schedule. New Year’s Eve is a time for family, fireworks and food. Some People sit on their porch and shoot off fireworks. Others attend parties with their friends. Few want to be cooped up inside starting at a television set.

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Most people are taking vacation and resting on the Saturday between Christmas and New Year’s Eve. It’s the perfect time to kick back on the couch and watch football all afternoon and into the evening. It will be interesting to see how the ratings reflect this change. Perhaps the schedule makers will take notice and free up New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day in the future. People shouldn’t have to choose between football and the holidays. They should get both.