CFP won't flip dates of semis despite SEC request

The College Football Playoff will not flip the dates and times of the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic and the Capital One Orange Bowl after SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said on Thursday he made the request to change them.

With its 23-10 Allstate Sugar Bowl win against Georgia on Thursday, Notre Dame will face Penn State on Jan. 9 in the Capital One Orange Bowl at 7:30 p.m. ET (ESPN). On New Year's Eve, Penn State advanced when it beat Boise State 31-14 in the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl.

The quarterfinal at the Allstate Sugar Bowl was delayed after a deadly pickup truck attack in New Orleans that killed 15 people and injured dozens more.

Sankey's concern was a potential disadvantage for Notre Dame, which will have to play on a shorter turnaround than Penn State, which hasn't played since New Year's Eve and will get a longer rest.

"We're not going to flip the games," CFP executive director Rich Clark told ESPN on Friday morning. "The concession we made with the athletic directors was to start the Sugar Bowl earlier -- an 18-hour or so delay. We slipped the game 18 hours to ensure we could provide safety and security for teams, coaches, staffs, fans and others involved. NOLA and Sugar Bowl officials were amazing."

Texas needed double overtime to escape a gritty Arizona State team on New Year's Day 39-31 and the Longhorns will face Ohio State, which trounced Oregon 41-21 in the Rose Bowl Game presented by Prudential, at 7:30 p.m. ET (ESPN) on Jan. 10 in the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic On Thursday, Sankey said he raised the issue of potentially changing the game on "The Paul Finebaum Show" and asked decision-makers involved if it would be possible.

"I recognize that's difficult," Sankey told Finebaum. "I don't know if it is impossible. I raised that [Wednesday] and the focus quickly became today's kickoff, today's game and we'll see what happens.

"This is not an SEC-related issue, it's for both teams," Sankey said. "I also know that the communities have dates, they have plans, there are stadium availability issues that can arise. What I've not heard back from anybody after having asked the question is really directly a yes or no answer to the question I asked."

Clark told ESPN on Friday morning that the logistics of changing the games would be difficult.

"Logistics are very complicated, disruptive to the other teams involved that have schedules in place, especially Texas and Ohio State," he said. "Fans have made arrangements already and this creates issues for them. There's more, but these are some of the major points."

Sankey told Finebaum he realizes this conversation resulted from an "unforeseen, unexpected, incredible horrible tragedy that has altered the schedule."

"Sometimes just like within a game you have to adapt you have to adjust," Sankey said. "Right now with the schedule set, these teams will have to adjust their preparation based on the schedule that lies ahead."