Playoff director Bill Hancock announces new title game dates, first 2017 rankings date
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If Halloween happens to be your favorite holiday, you may have an extra reason to celebrate this year as College Football Playoff executive director Bill Hancock announced Thursday that the committee’s debut 2017 rankings will be released on Oct. 31. In total, there will be six CFP rankings released next season, including the final poll which announces the four-team Playoff field.
Aside from the date of the first rankings, Hancock announced that the committee doesn’t have any plans to adjust its “protocol or the CFP process,” this according to ESPN senior writer Heather Dinich.
You may recall the committee took some heat last season for leaving Big Ten champion Penn State out of the Playoff over fellow league team Ohio State. Not only did Penn State win the league title over the Buckeyes, but the Nittany Lions beat Ohio State head to head. Although the matter was further complicated considering Penn State had lost two games in the regular season, compared to Ohio State’s lone loss at Penn State.
Another move announced Thursday, Hancock announced two future title games would be moved up, avoiding a two-week layoff for the winners of the semifinal winners in 2025 and 2028.
Bill Hancock: @CFBPlayoff changed champ game dates in 2025 from 1/13 to 1/6 and 2026 from 1/12 to 1/5. Semis are 12/28, 12/29 respectively.
— George Schroeder (@GeorgeSchroeder) April 27, 2017
Here’s a breakdown of the entire schedule for the 2017 College Football Rankings:
Dates for the 2017 #CFBPlayoff selection committee rankings have been announced. pic.twitter.com/isDrpdS4ha
— CFBPlayoff (@CFBPlayoff) April 27, 2017
A graduate of the University of Tennessee, Michael Wayne Bratton oversees the news coverage for Saturday Down South. Michael previously worked for FOX Sports and NFL.com
