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College Football Playoff adjusts future semifinals dates

Tommy Gilligan / USA TODAY Sports

The College Football Playoff committee announced Thursday it has adjusted the future dates of its semifinals to ensure they'll take place on Saturdays or holidays in the future.

The move ends the committee's failed attempt to create somewhat of a New Year's Eve tradition after ratings for last season's semifinals were borderline disastrous.

"We had healthy discussions with a lot of people who love college football and we concluded that making these changes would be the right thing to do for our fans," executive director Bill Hancock said in a statement.

The new dates affect the fifth, sixth, 11th, and 12th years of the College Football Playoff contract, and leave the 2020-21 season as the only one that will have the semifinals played on a Friday:

"We tried to do something special with New Year's Eve, even when it fell on a weekday," said Hancock. "But after studying this to see if it worked, we think we can do better. These adjustments will allow more people to experience the games they enjoy so much. For these four years, our previous call is reversed."

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