The College Football Playoff abandoned a plan to play most of its semifinals on New Year’s Eves after television ratings tumbled last year, moving the dates of future games to ensure they will be played on a weekend or a holiday.
The changes will start with the 2018 season. The TV ratings for last year’s semifinal games played on Thursday, Dec. 31, dropped 36 percent from the semifinals played the season before on New Year’s Day.
This season’s semifinals are still set for Saturday, Dec. 31. Next season’s playoff is scheduled to be back on Jan. 1. In 2018, the games initially scheduled to be played on New Year’s Eve now will be played Saturday, Dec. 29.
The 2019 games will move to Saturday, Dec. 28.
The other seasons affected by the change are 2024, when the semifinals will be moved to Saturday, Dec. 28, and 2025, when the games will be played on Saturday, Dec. 27.
EAST CAROLINA is conducting a campaign on its social media platforms to tout the reasons it deserves strong consideration for becoming a part of the Big 12 Conference. Last week, Big 12 presidents directed Commissioner Bob Bowlsby to study expansion.
Fellow American Athletic Conference schools Cincinnati, Houston, Memphis, Central Florida, Connecticut and Tulane also are in the discussion if the 10-team Big 12 does decide to expand.
THE NCAA football oversight committee recommended Division I programs hold only one “live-contact” practice per week.
The current guidelines, which are not enforceable rules, allow two live practices per week. The new guidelines will take effect this season.
Live practices are defined as those that involve tackling to the ground and full-speed blocking, and can occur in full or half pads. Live contact doesn’t include thudding, when players aren’t taken to the ground.
JON STEINBRECHER, the Mid-American Conference commissioner, is calling for limits on when and where football satellite camps can be held.
Steinbrecher suggested a 15-day window to hold the camps and a requirement they take place on the ground of another four-year college. Satellite camps have become a big issue over the past year. The Southeastern Conference wanted them banned, with some coaches arguing it was just a way for programs to recruit.
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