Given the tragedy in New Orleans early Jan. 1, next week’s College Football Playoff Semifinals schedule is a very trivial matter. But SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey said Thursday he asked if the dates for the Orange Bowl and Cotton Bowl could be flipped to give the Sugar Bowl winner an extra day of preparation.
Friday morning, he got his answer. CFP executive director Rich Clark told ESPN the semifinals schedule will remain intact.
“We’re not going to flip the games,” Clark said. “The concession we made with the athletic directors was to start the Sugar Bowl earlier — an 18-hour or so delay. We slipped the game 18 hours to ensure we could provide safety and security for teams, coaches, staffs, fans and others involved. NOLA and Sugar Bowl officials were amazing.”
Notre Dame defeated Georgia, 23-10, in the Sugar Bowl, earning an Orange Bowl spot Jan. 9 against Penn State. Ohio State faces Texas in the other CFP semifinal a day later. Earlier Thursday in an appearance on The Paul Finebaum Show, Sankey said he’d asked if those games could be swapped.
“Have I raised the issue of that potential change? I have. I recognize it’s difficult, I don’t know if it’s impossible,” Sankey said. “I raised that yesterday (Wednesday) and the focus quickly became ‘Today’s kickoff, today’s game and we’ll see what happens.’
“I have not heard back from anybody directly after having asked the question is really a ‘Yes,’ or ‘No’ answer to the question I asked.”
The terrorist attack, which killed at least 15 and injured dozens of others, prompted the postponement of the Sugar Bowl from Jan. 1 to a day later. Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill told NBC News she would have preferred the game be postponed “at least another day.”
“I have raised the issue of that potential change. I recognize it’s difficult…I don’t know if it’s impossible.”
Greg Sankey on possibly flipping the dates of the Orange and Cotton Bowls, so the Sugar Bowl winner gets a little more rest: pic.twitter.com/Dxtw3DCDkH
— Paul Finebaum (@finebaum) January 2, 2025
Sankey had foreseen the semifinals dates would not be changed, telling Finebaum Thursday coaches and players affected by the Sugar Bowl’s one-day delay would just have to “adjust.”
“There was an unforeseen, unexpected, incredible, horrible tragedy that has altered the game schedule,” Sankey said. “Sometimes, just like within a game, you have to adapt, you have to adjust, and right now as the schedule is set, these teams will have to adjust their preparation based on the schedule that lies ahead.
About Arthur Weinstein
Arthur spends his free time traveling around the U.S. to sporting events, state and national parks, and in search of great restaurants off the beaten path.