The College Football Playoff will not flip the Cotton Bowl and Orange Bowl dates despite a request from SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey.
The tragic terror attack on New Year’s Day in New Orleans that claimed 14 lives and left many others injured caused a delay for the Sugar Bowl between Notre Dame and Georgia. The Irish eventually won the game 23-10 that was played on Jan. 2.
The Sankey suggested the flip of the Orange Bowl, to be played on Thursday, Jan. 9 with the Cotton Bowl, scheduled for Friday, Jan. 10 to give the Sugar Bowl participants an extra day of practice so as not punish them for the delay.
Sankey was hoping to negate any disadvantage Georgia, or Notre Dame for that matter, would have because of the Sugar Bowl’s delay. Sankey told SEC Network’s Paul Finebuam, “I have raised the issue of that potential change. I recognize it’s difficult…I don’t know if it’s impossible.”
“This is not an SEC-related issue; it’s for both teams,” Sankey said. “I also know that the communities have dates, they have plans, there are stadium availability issues that can arise. What I’ve not heard back from anybody after having asked the question is really directly a yes or no answer to the question I asked.”
After some consideration, the playoff committee has decided to leave the schedule as is. “We’re not going to flip the games,” CFP executive director Rich Clark told ESPN. “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.”
Clark went on to say the logistics of changing the games would be difficult. “Logistics are very complicated, disruptive to the other teams involved that have schedules in place, especially Texas and Ohio State,” he said. “Fans have made arrangements already, and this creates issues for them. There’s more, but these are some of the major points.”
Notre Dame will have to adjust its timeline and schedule before the Orange Bowl, but the committee decided one team’s disruption was better than all four.
“Sometimes, just like within a game, you have to adapt, you have to adjust,” Sankey said. “Right now with the schedule set, these teams will have to adjust their preparation based on the schedule that lies ahead.”