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2020–21 NCAA football bowl games

Series of college football bowl games following the 2020 season From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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The 2020–21 NCAA football bowl games were a series of post-season games scheduled to complete the 2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season. Team-competitive games began on December 21, 2020, and concluded with the 2021 College Football Playoff National Championship played on January 11, 2021. Three all-star games followed, concluding with the 2021 Hula Bowl, played on January 31, 2021.

Quick facts Season, Regular season ...

The number of bowl games was lower than in recent seasons (25 team-competitive bowls aside from the National Championship Game, and three all-star games), as both the regular season and postseason were impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.[1] In mid-October 2020, the NCAA waived bowl eligibility requirements for the 2020–21 bowl season, intended "to allow as many student-athletes as possible the opportunity to participate in bowl games this year."[2] This led to nine teams with losing records accepting bids to bowl games, surpassing the six teams with losing records who were deemed bowl eligible (rules not waived) in order to fill the 2016–17 NCAA football bowl games  consistent with the ongoing proliferation of what used to be a limited number of bowl games intended to reward the best teams in college football.

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Schedule

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The schedule for the 2020–21 bowl games is below. All times are EST (UTC−5). Note that Division II bowls and Division III bowls are not included here.

On October 23, 2020, the Football Bowl Association announced a rebranding as "Bowl Season"; the organization works "with all existing bowls to promote the benefits of the entire bowl system."[3] The organization's logo was visible on the field at some bowl games.[4]

College Football Playoff and Championship Game

The College Football Playoff (CFP) system is used to determine a national championship of Division I FBS college football. A 13-member committee of experts ranked the top 25 teams in the nation after each of the final five weeks of the regular season. On August 5, 2020, CFP organizers announced that they would move the release of final rankings and semifinal matchups from December 6 to 20, in order to accommodate conferences that had delayed their championship games to mid-December.[5] The top four teams in the final ranking were seeded in a single-elimination semifinal round, with the winners advancing to the National Championship game.

The semifinal games for the 2020–21 season were the Rose Bowl and the Sugar Bowl.[6] Both were played on January 1, 2021, as part of a yearly rotation of three pairs of six bowls, commonly referred to as the New Year's Six bowl games. The Rose Bowl game was relocated to AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, home of the Cotton Bowl Classic, after Governor Gavin Newsom's orders in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in California would have resulted in the game being played behind closed doors without fans.[7] The semifinal winners advanced to the 2021 College Football Playoff National Championship at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, played on January 11, 2021.

In the event of COVID-19 issues within the playoff teams, CFP organizers had identified contingency dates (which did not need to be used) of January 11 and January 12 for the semifinals and January 18 for the championship game.[8]

Thumb
Hard Rock Stadium, site of the National Championship game
Semifinals Championship
January 1 – Rose Bowl
AT&T Stadium, Arlington[c]
  1   Alabama 31  
  4   Notre Dame 14   January 11 – National Championship
Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens
 
      1   Alabama 52
January 1 – Sugar Bowl
Mercedes-Benz Superdome, New Orleans
    3   Ohio State 24
 
  2   Clemson 28
  3   Ohio State 49  
  1. Bowl count includes the National Championship game.
  2. Dates exclude all-star games.
  3. The 2021 Rose Bowl was moved to AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in California.

Each of the games in the following table was televised by ESPN.

More information Date, Time (EST) ...

Source:[6]

Non-CFP bowl games

Due to a sponsorship change, what had been the Camping World Bowl played in Florida was renamed the Cheez-It Bowl, and the former Cheez-It Bowl played in Arizona became the Guaranteed Rate Bowl. Also due to a sponsorship change, what had been the Belk Bowl was renamed as the Duke's Mayo Bowl. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 edition of the New Mexico Bowl was moved to Frisco, Texas.[9]

New bowls

Three new bowls had planned to debut during the 2020–21 bowl season, although only one was actually played.

The Montgomery Bowl was announced as a "substitute of the Fenway Bowl for this season only".[12]

Cancelled bowls

The following annual bowl games had their 2020 editions canceled (date announced):

On December 14, the NCAA's Football Oversight Committee (FOC) announced that FBS teams would be allowed to schedule an additional game in the event of a bowl game cancellation.[30] Such games would need to be requested not later than December 21, and played not later than December 31.[30] A replacement game would need to be scheduled against an opponent from a conference with a tie-in to the canceled bowl game.[30]

The cancellations, along with the move of the Cure Bowl from CBS Sports Network to ESPN due to its acquisition by ESPN Events, left the Arizona Bowl as the only bowl not televised by the ESPN family of networks.[31] On December 10, it was announced that the Arizona Bowl would be shifted from CBS Sports Network to the main CBS network as a substitute for the Sun Bowl.[32]

Bowls played

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Source:[6][10][33][34]

FCS bowl game

The Celebration Bowl, held between the champions of the FCS Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) and Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) was canceled, due to both conferences having postponed football to spring 2021 due to COVID-19.[35]

The NCAA has likewise delayed the Division I FCS tournament to April 2021, with the 2021 NCAA Division I Football Championship Game scheduled to occur in May 2021.[36]

All-star games

The East–West Shrine Bowl and NFLPA Collegiate Bowl were canceled due to COVID-19 concerns.[37][38]

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Team selections

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In mid-October, the NCAA waived its usual bowl eligibility requirements.[39] In early November, the Pac-12 Conference announced that its teams would need to have at least a .500 record to be considered for a bowl game.[40] Additionally, the Mid-American Conference (MAC) only allowed their top two teams to go to bowl games.[41]

Programs removed from bowl consideration

Multiple programs opted out of, or were otherwise removed from, bowl consideration in advance of final CFP standings and bowl announcements on December 20. Each program is listed with its win–loss record and the date its removal was announced.

The following programs dropped out of their respective bowl games after the pairings were set:

Bowl teams with losing records

Nine teams with losing records received bowl invitations, the first such occurrences since the 2016 season:

Six of the nine teams played their bowls, recording three wins (Kentucky, Mississippi State, and Ole Miss) and three losses (Houston, North Texas, and Western Kentucky).

CFP top 25 standings and bowl games

On December 20, 2020, the College Football Playoff selection committee announced its final team rankings for the year.[83]

This was the seventh year of the College Football Playoff era. Of the 28 playoff spots awarded during that time, 22 went to Alabama (6), Clemson (6), Ohio State (4), Oklahoma (4), and Notre Dame (2).

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Conference champions' bowl games

Ranks are per the final CFP rankings, released on December 20, with win–loss records at that time. Two bowls featured a matchup of conference champions—the Arizona Bowl and the Sugar Bowl. Champions of the Power Five conferences were assured of a spot in a New Year's Six bowl game.

The Sun Belt Championship Game was canceled due to COVID-19 issues, resulting in co-champions being declared.[84]

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Television ratings

All times Eastern. CFP Rankings.

Non-CFP bowl games

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College Football Playoff

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Notes

  1. Win–loss records are prior to the bowl game being played.
  2. Reflects actual conferences of participants, for specific teams that are listed. Else, reflects conference tie-ins, which are subject to change as bowl invitations are issued and accepted.

References

Further reading

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