Irish get last spot in semifinals
A college football season filled with uncertainty brought on by the pandemic will end with a perfectly predictable College Football Playoff.
Alabama vs. Notre Dame. Clemson vs. Ohio State. Four of the bluest of blue bloods and the teams that have comprised the top four in relevant rankings for nearly two months. Notre Dame was picked Sunday over Texas A&M for the final spot, ending what little drama there had been.
The top four teams in the selection committee’s first rankings of the season were the sameteams in a different order in the last. Alabama, Notre Dame, Clemson and Ohio State have held the first four spots in the AP Top 25 since Oct. 25.
The Fighting Irish and Crimson Tide will meet Jan. 1 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, after a late pandemic-related relocation fromthe Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. The Tigers and Buckeyes are set to play the same day at the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans.
The national champion of this long and strange season is scheduled to be determined Jan .11 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida.
Texas A&M finished fifth in the final rankings and will take on No. 13NorthCarolina in the Orange Bowl on Jan. 2.
Oklahoma surged to sixth after closing with seven straight victories and a Big 12 title and will face No. 7 Florida in the Cotton Bowl on Dec. 30.
Unbeaten Cincinnati finished eighth, making the Bearcats the top-ranked team among Group of Five conference champs and guaranteeing them a spot in one of the New Year’s Six bowls. Cincinnati will meet No. 9 Georgia in the Peach Bowl on New Year’ s Day.
Pac-12 champ Oregon, No. 25, will face No. 10 Iowa State in the Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 2.
One of the semifinals was scheduled to be played at the Rose Bowl, but a move was announced Saturday night. The change was made after coaches and school officials from playoff contenders complained about California’s COVID-19 restrictions that bans spectators from sporting events and would have made it impossible for players’ families to attend the game.
Playing the game at the home of the NFL’s Cowboys will allow16,000 fans to attend.