NCAA bowl games included in 2016-17 playoffs
One of the highlights of NCAA football is bowl season. And one of the relatively new additions is the inception of the playoff system. Two of the bowl games that take place in December will have higher stakes, as the winners of those two games will face off in the 2017 College Football National Championship. Both games will take place on New Year’s Eve.
One of the two semifinal games will be the 2016 Fiesta Bowl. Also known as the 46th BattleFrog Fiesta Bowl, this game will take place at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. It will be televised nationally on ESPN and will have a radio broadcast on ESPN Radio.
It’s also a unique game, as the New Year’s Eve meeting will mark the second time in 2016 a Fiesta Bowl will have been played. The first was on New Year’s Day of 2016, as No. 7 Ohio State cruised to a 44-28 victory over No. 8 Notre Dame.
The second game will be the 2016 Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl. This will take place at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, and will be the other semifinal game in this year’s playoff bracket. A year ago, 14th-ranked Houston pulled off a stunning upset over No. 9 Florida State. It was the Cougars’ first major bowl playoff appearance since the 1985 Cotton Bowl Classic.
The times and teams for those games will be announced later this year, prior to the official kickoff of the bowl season. However the seeding will feature No. 1 vs. No. 4, and No. 2 vs. No. 3. They will likely be split between 3:00 p.m. or 7:00 p.m. Eastern. The winners of the two games mentioned will face off in the 2017 College Football Playoff National Championship.
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The current playoff system has been in place since 2014, with the top four teams in the country facing off to declare the NCAA National Champions. A year ago, Alabama edged out Clemson to claim their fourth championship in seven years. FBSchedules.com has provided a full list of bowl games for the 2016-17 season, including the playoff games.
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