Football season is winding down — the NFL playoff teams have all been selected and tonight is the College Football Playoff National Championship.
Until a few years ago, when the college football regular season ended, the teams with the best records played in bowl games. When I was young, there were only 4 — the Rose Bowl, Sugar Bowl, Cotton Bowl and Orange Bowl. Over the years the number of bowl games expanded — today, I don’t even know how many bowl games are played. Many I’ve never heard of until recently. And today, teams don’t even have to have a winning record to participate in a bowl game.
But anyhow, in 2014, the College Football Playoffs began as a four-team postseason tournament for NCAA FBS schools. A playoff committee selects four schools to compete in semifinals with the winners meeting in the title game. All three games are played on neutral fields and the venues are rotated on an annual basis.
Tonight’s game, between Alabama and Georgia, will be played at the Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, It will be the first cold-weather city to host the championship game. The stadium invested $7 million in health and safety upgrades in response to the pandemic, including hospital-grade air filters and enhanced cleaning protocols. Masks are not required inside the stadium, but they are strongly encouraged. The stadium uses cashless concession kiosks… no cash.
If you’re attending, you must have a digital ticket. Copies or photographs of tickets will not be accepted.
So just like the rest of the world, football is changing to adapt to the times. Someone said that life is a lot like football — you have to tackle your problems, block your fears, and score your points when you get the opportunity.
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