Last season it was in Glendale, AZ. This season it will be in New Orleans. The Clemson-Ohio State post-season rivalry, which dates back to the 1978 Gator Bowl, gets one for the thumb in 2020. The two national powers will square off for a fifth time on New Year’s Day in the Sugar Bowl, one of the two national-semi final playoff games announced Sunday afternoon by the CFP Committee. Clemson was ranked #2 and Ohio State #3 in the committee’s final judgement.
ESPN has set the kickoff for the Clemson-Ohio State game for 8:45 PM on New Year’s Day.
The game will be a rematch of the semi-final in 2019 in suburban Phoenix which Clemson won 29-23. In fact, Clemson is undefeated against the Buckeyes in their four meetings and have opened as 6.5 point favorites. This will be the fourth pairing of the teams in the CFP. They also played in the 2013 Orange Bowl and 2016 Fiesta Bowl.
Clemson will be returning to New Orleans, the site of its last loss which came in last year’s National Championship Game against LSU. That’s the only loss Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence has suffered in his career with the Tigers.
The other national semi-final will send #1 Alabama against #4 Notre Dame in Arlington, TX. The committee placed Alabama in Arlington because there can be 16,000 fans there and it was felt the #1 team should have the chance for more fans. Only 3000 fans will be allowed at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans.
The final committee rankings had Texas A&M at #5 and Oklahoma at #6.
