College Football Playoff announces semifinal times

The first of this season’s College Football Playoff semifinals will begin at 1 p.m. Pacific time on New Year’s Eve. The CFP on Tuesday announced the start times for the semifinals and four other marquee bowl games to be played on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. The second season of the playoff will be the first in which the semifinals will be played on Dec. 31, a Thursday. Last year’s semifinals were played on Jan. 1 at the Rose Bowl and Sugar Bowl and drew record TV ratings for ESPN. This year the semifinals will be played in the Cotton and Orange bowls. The order of the games will be announced on Dec. 6. The second game is set to begin at 5. – AP