| 2020–21 College Football Playoff | |
|---|---|
| Season | 2020 |
| Dates | January 1–11, 2021 |
| Teams invited |
|
| Venues | |
| Champions | Alabama(3rd CFP title, 18th overall title) |
← 2019–20 2021–22 → | |
The2020–21 College Football Playoff was asingle-elimination postseason tournament that determined thenational champion of the2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season. It was the seventh edition of theCollege Football Playoff (CFP) and involved the top four teams in the country as ranked by theCollege Football Playoff poll playing in two semifinals, with the winners of each advancing to thenational championship game. Three of the four teams were champions of their respective conferences: No. 1Alabama from theSoutheastern Conference, No. 2Clemson from theAtlantic Coast Conference, and No. 3Ohio State from theBig Ten Conference. The final participant, No. 4Notre Dame, was anFBS independent.
The playoff bracket's semifinal games were held at theRose Bowl and theSugar Bowl on New Year's Day, part of the season'sslate of bowl games. The Rose Bowl semifinal, held inArlington, Texas, due to theCOVID-19 pandemic, saw Alabama defeat Notre Dame, 31–14. It was the first Rose Bowl held away fromPasadena, California, since1942. The second semifinal, at the Sugar Bowl, matched Clemson and Ohio State in a rematch of the previous season's semifinal at theFiesta Bowl. After losing the previous matchup, Ohio State defeated Clemson by a twenty-one-point margin. Following their wins, Alabama and Ohio State advanced to the national championship game, held on January 11 inMiami Gardens, Florida. A rematch of the CFP semifinal at the2015 Sugar Bowl, the Crimson Tide defeated the Buckeyes, 52–24, to win their third CFP national championship and their eighteenth claimed national championship in school history.
The national championship was the least viewed game of the playoff; the Rose Bowl and Sugar Bowl semifinals received 18.9 million and 19.1 million viewers, respectively, compared to the 18.7 million viewers for the championship game. Alabama head coachNick Saban won his seventh national title, which broke a tie withBear Bryant for the most all-time.
| Semifinals | Championship | |||||||
| January 1 –Rose BowlAT&T Stadium,Arlington[a] | ||||||||
| 1 | Alabama | 31 | ||||||
| 4 | Notre Dame | 14 | January 11 –National ChampionshipHard Rock Stadium,Miami Gardens | |||||
| 1 | Alabama | 52 | ||||||
| January 1 –Sugar BowlMercedes-Benz Superdome,New Orleans | 3 | Ohio State | 24 | |||||
| 2 | Clemson | 28 | ||||||
| 3 | Ohio State | 49 | ||||||
The 2020–21 CFP selection committee was chaired byIowa athletic directorGary Barta. Its other members were formerThe Arizona Republic reporterPaola Boivin,Wyoming athletic directorTom Burman,Oklahoma athletic directorJoe Castiglione,Colorado athletic directorRick George, former head coachKen Hatfield, formerNFL playerRonnie Lott,Arkansas State athletic directorTerry Mohajir,USA Football chairman and formerArmy chief of staffRay Odierno, formerTexas A&M athletic directorR. C. Slocum,Georgia Tech athletic directorTodd Stansbury,Florida athletic directorScott Stricklin, and mathematician and former NFL playerJohn Urschel.[1]
Due to the far-reachingimpact of theCOVID-19 pandemic, each school and conference operated under a different policy for playing games.[2][3] The first rankings of the season were released on November 24, 2020;Alabama from theSoutheastern Conference (SEC) debuted at No. 1, with conference-matesTexas A&M andFlorida at Nos. 5 and 6.Notre Dame andClemson, both representing theAtlantic Coast Conference (ACC),[a] were ranked second and third, andOhio State from theBig Ten Conference debuted fourth.[5] The following weekend, No. 2 Notre Dame held off No. 17North Carolina by fourteen points inChapel Hill to avoid the upset;[6] No. 15Oregon and No. 8Northwestern were unable to do the same as they suffered losses toOregon State andMichigan State, respectively.[7][8] The top seven remained unchanged in the following rankings,[9] and each of the top six teams won their next games by an average margin of 27 points.[10] Upsets did occur, though: No. 22Coastal Carolina defeated No. 17BYU in the"Mormons vs. Mullets" game,[11][12] and unrankedTCU upset No. 15Oklahoma State.[13] Again, the top of the rankings remained unchanged at the December 8 release.[10] A loss by No. 6 Florida toLSU the following Saturday ended the Gators' playoff hopes, according to Sam Cooper ofYahoo! Sports;[14] that game featured an incident in which Florida'sMarco Wilson was penalized for throwing an LSU player's shoe after the play, thereby allowing the Tigers to continue the drive that ended with the game-winningfield goal.[15] That week was also of note because theMichigan–Ohio State game was not played; Michigan canceled the game due to COVID-19 issues, making 2020 the first season since1917 during which the teams did not play.[16]
Conference championships were played the following week; leading into the weekend,Iowa State of theBig 12 Conference replaced Florida at the No. 6 spot in the rankings amidst an unchanged top five.[17] ThePac-12 championship was originally supposed to featureWashington and No. 13USC, though Washington dropped out of the game due to COVID-19-related personnel shortages several days beforehand.[18] As a result, Oregon filled in as the North Division's representative in Washington's place; ultimately, Oregon defeated USC by seven points to win the conference title.[19] Alabama secured their CFP spot with a six-point win over No. 7 Florida in theSEC championship; Matt Zenitz ofAL.com wrote that the win ensured Alabama would be seeded No. 1.[20] Meanwhile, No. 3 Clemson defeated No. 2 Notre Dame to win theACC championship[21][a] and No. 4 Ohio State won theBig Ten championship over No. 14 Northwestern.[22] Iowa State fell to No. 10 Oklahoma in theBig 12 championship, a result that ensured neither team would make the playoff, according to Berry Tramel ofThe Oklahoman.[23] Additionally, No. 9Cincinnati defeated No. 23Tulsa to win theAmerican championship to continue their undefeated season; Cincinnati head coachLuke Fickell wanted his team to be considered for the playoffs.[24] Though the team was generally expected to miss the playoffs, they were nearly guaranteed aNew Year's Six bowl berth.[25] The oddities of the COVID-impacted schedule meant that several regular season games were played during conference championship week as well—among them was a win by No. 5Texas A&M overTennessee. This win brought Texas A&M to8–1, the only loss coming to No. 1 Alabama, meaning the Aggies were widely viewed as being in contention for a CFP berth.[26]
The College Football Playoff matchups, along with the rest of the final CFP rankings, were released by the selection committee on December 20, 2020. Alabama maintained its No. 1 spot and Ohio State rose to No. 3 following each teams' respective conference title victory; Clemson similarly rose to No. 2 while Notre Dame, the ACC runners-up, slid to No. 4 but still made the playoff. Texas A&M and Big 12 champions Oklahoma were the first two teams out of the field at Nos. 5 and 6, respectively. The bracket was set with pairings of No. 1 Alabama and No. 4 Notre Dame in theRose Bowl semifinal along with No. 2 Clemson and No. 3 Ohio State in theSugar Bowl semifinal.[27] The inclusion of Ohio State drew criticism from some due to their shorter schedule,[28] and similar criticism arose from the exclusion of Texas A&M, mostly on the basis of strength of schedule.[27] Instead, the Aggies, ranked fifth in the final CFP poll, were assigned to theOrange Bowl against No. 13North Carolina. The other New Year's Six bowl assignments included No. 6 Oklahoma and No. 7 Florida in theCotton Bowl Classic, No. 25 Oregon vs. No. 10 Iowa State in theFiesta Bowl, and No. 8 Cincinnati facing No. 9Georgia in thePeach Bowl.[29]
| No. | Week 12 | Week 13 | Week 14 | Week 15 | Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alabama (7–0) | Alabama (8–0) | Alabama (9–0) | Alabama (10–0) | Alabama (11–0) |
| 2 | Notre Dame (8–0) | Notre Dame (9–0) | Notre Dame (10–0) | Notre Dame (10–0) | Clemson (10–1) |
| 3 | Clemson (7–1) | Clemson (8–1) | Clemson (9–1) | Clemson (9–1) | Ohio State (6–0) |
| 4 | Ohio State (4–0) | Ohio State (4–0) | Ohio State (5–0) | Ohio State (5–0) | Notre Dame (10–1) |
| 5 | Texas A&M (5–1) | Texas A&M (6–1) | Texas A&M (7–1) | Texas A&M (7–1) | Texas A&M (8–1) |
| 6 | Florida (6–1) | Florida (7–1) | Florida (8–1) | Iowa State (8–2) | Oklahoma (8–2) |
Key: Team increased ranking from previous week Team decreased ranking from previous week Team selected to College Football Playoff
| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. 4 Notre Dame | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 14 |
| No. 1 Alabama | 14 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 31 |
atAT&T Stadium •Arlington, Texas
The Rose Bowl semifinal marked the eighth meeting between Alabama and Notre Dame; the Irish entered with a 5–2 series lead. The teams had last met in the2013 BCS National Championship Game, a 28-point Alabama win.[30] As a result ofCalifornia COVID-19 policies, the game was played atAT&T Stadium inArlington, Texas, instead of at theRose Bowl.[31] Alabama took the game's first lead with a touchdown on their first drive, a pass fromMac Jones toDeVonta Smith. The Crimson Tide continued by scoring on both of their next two possessions, giving them a 21–7 halftime lead.Christian Harris intercepted anIan Book pass for the Crimson Tide on their first defensive series of the second half; Alabama's offense scored on their ensuing drive. The Tide led 31–7 before a Notre Dame touchdown—a 1-yard rush by Book—and a successfully-recoveredonside kick with fifty-four seconds to play. Notre Dame's final drive ended with an incomplete pass at the Alabama 15-yard line, and the Crimson Tide advanced to the championship game with a 31–14 win.[32]
| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. 3 Ohio State | 14 | 21 | 7 | 7 | 49 |
| No. 2 Clemson | 14 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 28 |
atMercedes-Benz Superdome •New Orleans, Louisiana
Clemson and Ohio State met for the third time in CFP history and the fifth time ever in the Sugar Bowl semifinal. Clemson had won all four of the teams' previous meetings, including CFP semifinal matchups at the2016 Fiesta Bowl and the2019 Fiesta Bowl.[33] The first six possessions of the game featured two touchdowns and one punt for each team:Trevor Lawrence andTravis Etienne scored rushing touchdowns for Clemson while aTrey Sermon rush and aLuke Farrell reception pulled the Buckeyes level. Ohio State's first lead came with 10:35 left in the second quarter on a pass fromJustin Fields toJeremy Ruckert following a Clemsonthree-and-out. The Buckeyes scored twice more before halftime and the teams traded touchdowns twice in the second half, allowing Ohio State to maintain their 21-point lead. Clemson's final possession ended with aSevyn Banks interception; Ohio State won 49–28.[34]
| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. 3 Ohio State | 7 | 10 | 7 | 0 | 24 |
| No. 1 Alabama | 7 | 28 | 10 | 7 | 52 |
atHard Rock Stadium •Miami Gardens, Florida
The national championship game between Alabama and Ohio State marked the teams' fifth meeting. Alabama had won three of the previous four games, though Ohio State won the teams' last meeting at the2015 Sugar Bowl, a CFP semifinal.[35] After a three-and-out by the Buckeyes to begin the game, Alabama scored on a rush byNajee Harris and a reception byHeisman Trophy winner DeVonta Smith, giving them a lead early in the second quarter.[36][37]Master Teague's rushing touchdown tied the game, but Alabama retook the lead for good on their next drive with a touchdown pass from Jones to Harris. The Crimson Tide added two touchdowns in the first half, giving them a 35–17 halftime lead, and two more in the second half while forcing Ohio State into aturnover on downs on consecutive drives in the late third quarter and mid-fourth quarter. A 20-yardGarrett Wilson touchdown reception on OSU's first drive of the second half marked their final points of the game, as Alabama ultimately claimed the championship by a 52–24 score.[36]
The championship victory marked Alabama's third CFP championship[38] and their eighteenth national title in school history.[39] It was the seventh for Alabama head coachNick Saban, giving him the record overBear Bryant, with whom he had been tied on six championships apiece.[40] It was the least-watched national championship since the introduction of theBowl Championship Series in1998 with a total viewership of 18.7 million. Both semifinal games outperformed the championship in terms of viewership: the Ohio State–Clemson semifinal had 19.1 million viewers, just ahead of the 18.9 million who watched Alabama–Notre Dame.[41]
The championship game was the last at Alabama for offensive coordinatorSteve Sarkesian, who left to take the head coaching job atTexas following the season.[40] Sarkesian returned to the CFP with the Longhorns in2023–24 and2024–25.[42]
