In what would be the biggest change of this disrupted college football season, the Rose Bowl could lose its scheduled College Football Playoff semifinal and be canceled.
The Athletic reported Monday that there are members of the College Football Playoff management committee trying to force this year’s Rose Bowl-hosted semifinal to a different location due to California’s restrictions on public gatherings. Due to state, county and city rules, the Rose Bowl is not just prohibited from hosting fans, but players’ family members as well.
Per the report, Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, would be the most likely alternative. In addition to Texas having far fewer restrictions on public gatherings — fans were allowed to attend the World Series in Arlington back in October — the stadium is far closer to this year’s playoff contenders, who are largely concentrated in the South and Midwest.
With the Rose Bowl slated to take place two weeks from Friday, a decision could be made as soon as Tuesday or Thursday, when the CFP management committee meets. In the event that the semifinal moves to another location, it is expected that the Rose Bowl would simply go dark rather than book another game.
The Rose Bowl hosts a College Football Playoff semifinal once every three years. The two previous Rose Bowl semfinals rank as the second and third-most watched in the brief history of the CFP, though that has as much to do with the January 1 date as the game’s prestige. The Sugar Bowl, which also takes place January 1, owns the top CFP semifinal audience thus far.
There have already been a number of changes to the bowl schedule, which was supposed to get underway Saturday with the Frisco Bowl. That game was called off Monday due to COVID-19 issues on SMU, which accepted a bid in the game just days earlier. The Pinstripe Bowl, Sun Bowl and LA Bowl were previously called off after initially being part of the bowl schedule. Several other bowls — the Las Vegas, Bahamas, Hawaii, Holiday, Quick Lane, RedBox — were never put on the schedule.
[News from The Athletic 12.14]
