Eight days before the 2021-2022 College Football Playoff is set to begin, officials are instituting new policies that may determine this year’s national champion.
On Thursday, Heather Dinich of ESPN reports that a team can advance to the national championship or win the national championship if their opponent is forced to forfeit due to a COVID-19 outbreak.
“If one team is able to play in the title game and the other can’t because of COVID-19 — and the game can’t be rescheduled — the team that can’t play will forfeit and its opponent will be declared the national champion. If both teams can’t play on the original or rescheduled date, the game will be declared a no-contest and the CFP national championship will be vacated for this season,” Dinich reports.
In addition, Dinich reports that the College Football Playoff Committee has instituted a new policy that will allow for the national championship to be pushed back as late as January 14 if there is a COVID-19 outbreak.
Despite these policies, the College Football Playoff Committee is confident that both semifinals and the championship game will be played as scheduled. Furthermore, officials expect all three games to be played without a reduction in attendance at any of the three stadiums.
