College Football Playoff rankings dates announced for 2020 season

The College Football Playoff Selection Committee released its rankings dates.

The College Football Playoff Selection Committee has announced its rankings dates.

Even though two Power 5 conferences are not playing college football this season, as well as two other conferences out of the Group of 5, the Selection Committee will still be tasked with ranking the four best teams in the country to give us what we want: A four-team playoff featuring the best teams in the land in that particular season. Here are its official 2020 rankings dates.

College Football Playoff Selection Committee rankings release days

• Tuesday, Nov. 17
• Tuesday, Nov. 24
• Tuesday, Dec. 1
• Tuesday, Dec. 8
• Tuesday, Dec. 15
• Sunday, Dec. 20 (Selection Day)

This year, the two national semifinal games will be the Rose Bowl and the Sugar Bowl, as it is their turn in the national semifinal rotation. The Selection Committee will also be tasked with picking the other New Year’s Six Bowls as well: The Cotton Bowl, the Fiesta Bowl, the Orange Bowl and the Peach Bowl.

There are two things that are very interesting here. One, the Selection Committee is going through with its responsibilities, despite members of the committee having conference allegiances to ones that aren’t playing this fall. This could lead to an incredibly objective look of the land for those who’s Power 5 or Group of 5 conference isn’t playing ball this fall. Keep an eye on this.

The other thing of note is the Selection Committee doesn’t have the awkward position of trying to figure out who will play in the Rose Bowl this year. It’s purely coincidental that it’s part of the national semifinal rotation in a year where the Big Ten and Pac-12 aren’t playing. There is a chance we could get something akin to what we had three years ago when Georgia defeated Oklahoma.

If we want to include a third area of interest, could there be more than one Group of 5 team getting into a New Year’s Six bowl? Though it’s not to say the best team in The American will be a top-12 team in the country going away, then again, that could totally happen, maybe there will be a second team worthy of playing in the Cotton Bowl, the Fiesta Bowl or the Peach Bowl?

Given the geographical footprints and bowl allegiances of the ACC, the Big 12 and the SEC, whoever ends up with the top seed, whether that be Clemson, Alabama, Georgia, Oklahoma or whoever, one would think they would all pick the Sugar Bowl as their preferred bowl of choice this year. Unless Clemson or Notre Dame wants to go to California, they’ll all head to New Orleans.

Even though the Big Ten, the Pac-12, the Mountain West and the MAC won’t be part of the College Football Playoff Selection Committee’s plans this year, it is a welcomed sight to see the committee formalizing dates on which they will debate and rank the top 25 teams currently playing in the craziest year of our lives.

How the Selection Committee will pick the playoff field and the New Year’s Six will be fascinating.

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