Friday’s College Football Playoff semifinals could move to mid-January if postponements are necessary. Also: Kirk Herbstreit will be calling one of the semifinals from his home after testing positive for COVID-19; NBC has set its schedule for the shortened NHL season.
CFP semis would move to mid-January if postponements necessary
Potential make-up dates or January 11, 12 and 18 have been set for the College Football Playoff semifinals and National Championship in the event that games need to be postponed, ESPN reported Thursday. If only one of this year’s semifinals — the Rose Bowl and Sugar Bowl — needs to be postponed, it would be rescheduled for January 11. If both need to be pushed back, the Rose Bowl would be on January 11 and the Sugar on January 12. Any postponement of the semifinals would necessarily result in the National Championship, currently scheduled for January 11, moving back a week to January 18.
In related news, the Rose Bowl will keep its name despite moving from Pasadena, Ca., to Arlington, Tex., according to The Athletic. The city of Pasadena owns the Rose Bowl brand and is being compensated for its use. [ESPN.com 12.30, The Athletic 12.30]
Herbstreit to work Sugar Bowl from home after testing positive
ESPN lead college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit is scheduled to call Friday’s Sugar Bowl remotely from his home after testing positive for COVID-19. Herbstreit previously called a game remotely back in September after coming in proximity to someone who tested positive, though he tested negative at the time.
Fellow ESPN analyst Greg McElroy has also tested positive and was forced to miss Wednesday’s Cotton Bowl. He was replaced by Dusty Dvoracek. McElroy will also be replaced by Dvoracek on Friday’s Rose Bowl radio broadcast. [Herbstreit/Twitter 12.29, McElroy/Twitter 12.29]
NBC sets NHL schedule
NBCSN is scheduled to begin its NHL coverage this season with a rare weeknight tripleheader on January 13, the first night of the shortened season. Penguins-Flyers would lead off at 5:30 PM ET followed by Blackhawks-Lightning at 8:00 and Blues-Avalanche at 10:30.
The NBC broadcast network would begin its season on January 17 with Capitals-Penguins, the first of 16 regular season windows — the most on record for the NHL on broadcast television. Ten of those 16 games would feature teams in the East Division. [NBC Sports PR]
