The College Football Playoff management committee on Wednesday agreed to keep the playoff on its current timeline and name a national champion as planned on Jan. 11 in Miami Gardens, Florida, unless the coronavirus pandemic forces a schedule change, CFP executive director Bill Hancock told ESPN.
The CFP management committee, which is made up of the 10 FBS commissioners and Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick, also determined that if a semifinalist is unable to play because of a COVID-19 disruption after Selection Day on Dec. 20, the selection committee would not choose a replacement team.
Hancock declined to speculate on what might happen, but said, “the committee will continue to do its due diligence between now and selection weekend.”
“During a thorough and robust conversation, the CFP management committee today agreed not to place a replacement team in the playoff should a school not be able to field a team because of COVID after Selection Day,” Hancock said. They also decided that each team will use its conference’s COVID-19 testing protocol in connection with the CFP games.
“The management committee also made clear that the CFP games will be played on the scheduled dates,” he said. “They reserve the right to discuss this again if circumstances change, but our planning is centered on holding the games on their scheduled dates.”
The Rose Bowl and the Allstate Sugar Bowl will host the semifinal games on Jan. 1. The committee’s first ranking will be revealed Tuesday.