STILLWATER – As Oklahoma State was wrapping up their second to final practice before letting the team go home for the holidays on Dec. 23 after an early morning practice, the College Football Playoff management committee announced new increased protocols for the postseason play in both the College Football Playoff and the New Year’s Six bowl games. The series of new actions are there to protect student-athlete health and safety as the omicron virus has spread in advance of the College Football Playoff.
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Bill Hancock
"As we prepare for the Playoff, it's wise and necessary to put into place additional precautions to protect those who will play and coach the games," said Bill Hancock, Executive Director of the CFP. "These policies will better protect our students and staffs while providing clarity in the event worst-case scenarios result."
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Mike Gundy is confident in his team battling COVID.
Speaking to head coach Mike Gundy and to Director of Football Operations Rod Johnson after Wednesday’s practice, both said that as of this moment none of Oklahoma State’s plans had changed for travel and preparation for the Play Station Fiesta Bowl.
The Cowboys still plan on leaving on the team charter on Sunday, Dec. 26 and the players scattered around the country have their airline tickets to fly into Phoenix on the same date. The team will continue it’s planned practices and activities, but those could all come into change upon arrival in Scottsdale, where the team will be headquartered. There was testing of players today and as of Wednesday afternoon the football team did not have a problem with an abundance of positive tests.
The major points of the new protocols call for optional dates for some of the games as determined by the bowl and ESPN, the television partner.
The travel restrictions and how soon teams need to be on site for games has been relaxed to as few as two days before the scheduled contest.
All bowl events have become optional as far as player, staff, and overall team involvement.
All media functions required and scheduled will now be virtual with no in-person contact with the players, coaches, and the media.
The changes were based on a recommendation from the Management Committee during a video conference yesterday, December 21, 2021.
The following are the policies for the Fiesta Bowl:
If an institution determines that it is unable to compete in the game because an insufficient number of athletes are available to play because of COVID-19. The CFP, bowl game and ESPN shall attempt to identify an alternate date for the game within one week of the scheduled date; if no date can be identified, the game would be considered no contest.
The playing as scheduled protocol for the two CFP semifinals in the Cotton Bowl and Orange Bowl are different. If one team is not able to play then they are required to forfeit the contest and the other team moves onto the CFP Championship Game.
Other protocols that apply to all CFP games and New Year’s Six games include:
Teams' travel to bowl sites – Teams have the option to arrive at the bowl site not later than two days before the game, rather than the customary five days before the game. (For example, not later than Wednesday before a Friday game.)
Bowl events – Attendance at events at the game sites will be optional for student-athletes, institutions' staff members, bands and spirit squads.
News conferences – Media access to coaches, staff and student-athletes will be virtual.
Access to the playing field – Non-essential personnel will not have access to the field and sidelines pre- and post-game. (For clarity, this includes, but is not limited to, institutions' friends and family and bowls' "special guests" and sponsors.)
Testing arrangement. Each institution will use the testing arrangement that it used during the regular season. The institution will arrange for testing at the game site.
Acceptance of opponent's protocol. Each conference has agreed to accept each other conference's testing protocol.
Certification. The director of athletics and the institution's chief medical officer must certify that each person with access to the playing field on game day has tested negative for COVID-19 within 72 hours of the kickoff or has been fully vaccinated.
Health and Safety. To provide the best chance of health and safety, the participating institutions are encouraged to ensure that student-athletes and staff take prudent measures and follow medical recommendations to help prevent the contraction or transmission of COVID before, during and after they travel to the game sites.
