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The College Football Playoff semifinals this year are in which bowls? The committee releases its rankings when? Whos on the committee?Inhale. Exhale. Repeat.There are coaches everywhere who study the sport for a living and cant answer those questions. The CFP is entering its third season, yet theres still plenty of confusion over how it all works.Heres your CFP 101 for 2016:THE GAMESThe semifinals: Chick-fil-A?Peach Bowl and Fiesta Bowl, both Dec. 31. Kickoffs will be at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m ET on ESPN.College Football Playoff National Championship: Jan. 9 on ESPN in Tampa, Florida (its always on a Monday).THE PEOPLEThe selection committee consists of 12 people: Texas Tech athletic director Kirby Hocutt (chair); Wisconsin AD Barry Alvarez; former Southern Miss coach Jeff Bower; former Central Michigan coach Herb Deromedi; former NCAA executive Tom Jernstedt; former Vanderbilt coach Bobby Johnson; Arkansas AD Jeff Long; Oregon AD Rob Mullens; Clemson AD Dan Radakovich; Condoleezza Rice; retired sports reporter Steve Wieberg; and former coach Tyrone Willingham. Former Michigan coach Lloyd Carr had to step down due to health reasons.You can find more detailed bios of the committee here. Two committee members are assigned as monitors for each conference.?Their duties include: ? Six weekly top-25 rankings, beginning Nov. 1 and ending on Dec. 4. ? Selecting the top four teams for the playoff, ranking and assigning them to semifinal sites. ? Selecting the highest-ranked champion from the Group of 5 (MAC, Mountain West, American, Sun Belt, Conference USA) for a New Years Six bowl.Nine of the 12 committee members are affected by the CFPs recusal policy, which prohibits a committee member from voting for a team they or an immediate family member receive compensation from or have a professional relationship with. You can find the full recusal list here.THE PROCESSThe selection committee meets at the Gaylord Texan Resort in Grapevine, Texas, every Monday and Tuesday, starting Oct. 31 this year. They each have a computer to vote on, and they debate and rank the teams in groups of six or eight. They each come prepared with their own preliminary top 30 but only rank 25.They are guided by these criteria (not weighted) when choosing their top four teams: ?Championships won ?Strength of schedule ?Head-to-head competition ?Comparative outcomes of common opponents (without incenting margin of victory)THE WEEKLY RANKINGSEach week, starting on Nov. 1, the committee will unveil its top-25 rankings on ESPNs College Football Playoff: Top 25. There will be weekly updates, culminating with the final rankings on Dec. 4. And oh yeah, the second ranking just happens to fall on election night.? Tuesday, Nov. 1, 7 p.m. ET, ESPN ? Tuesday, Nov. 8, 7 p.m. ET, ESPN ? Tuesday, Nov. 15, 9 p.m. ET, ESPN ? Tuesday, Nov. 22, 7 p.m. ET, ESPN ? Tuesday, Nov. 29, 7 p.m. ET, ESPN ? Sunday, Dec. 4, 12 p.m. ET, ESPNTHE CFP MATCHUPSThe committee doesnt try to avoid regular-season rematches in the semifinals: Its No. 1 vs. No. 4, and No. 2 vs. No. 3. They will, however, try to avoid rematches in the other New Years Six bowls.The highest-ranked team from the Group of 5 conferences is guaranteed a spot in a New Years Six bowl.Both teams for the Capital One Orange Bowl, Rose Bowl Game Presented by Northwestern Mutual and Allstate Sugar Bowl are contracted outside the playoff arrangement (Big Ten and Pac-12 to the Rose Bowl; SEC and Big 12 to the Sugar Bowl; and ACC to the Orange Bowl against the highest-ranked team available from the SEC, Big Ten and Notre Dame). If a conference champion qualifies for the playoff, the bowl losing that team chooses a replacement from that conference. When those bowls host the semifinals and their contracted conference champs do not qualify, the displaced champion(s) will play in a different New Years bowl. The other New Years Six game is the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic.New Years Six schedule: ? Capital One Orange Bowl, Dec. 30, 8 p.m., ET, ESPN ? Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic, Jan. 2, 1 p.m. ET, ESPN ? Rose Bowl Game presented by Northwestern Mutual, Jan. 2, 5 p.m., ESPN ? Allstate Sugar Bowl, Jan. 2, 8 p.m. ET, ESPNTHE HISTORY2014 Rose Bowl Game presented by Northwestern Mutual: Oregon 59, Florida State 20 Allstate Sugar Bowl: Ohio State 42, Alabama 35College Football Playoff National Championship: Ohio State 42, Oregon ?202015 Capital One Orange Bowl: Clemson 37, Oklahoma 17 Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic: Alabama 38, Michigan State 0College Football Playoff National Championship: Alabama 45, Clemson 40THE FUTURE2017-18 Playoff semifinals:?Allstate Sugar Bowl & Rose Bowl Game Presented by Northwestern Mutual College Football Playoff National Championship: Atlanta, Ga.2018-19 Playoff semifinals:?Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic & Capital One Orange Bowl College Football Playoff National Championship:?Santa Clara, Calif.2019-20 Playoff semifinals:? Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl & Fiesta Bowl College Footblal Playoff National Championship: New Orleans, La. Jakub Zboril Bruins Jersey . Philadelphia is 2-0 against the Senators this season and scored five goals in each victory. The Flyers recorded a 5-0 win in Ottawa on Nov. 12 and then earned a 5-2 home decision on Nov. 19. The Flyers have claimed three straight and four of the last five encounters with the Sens overall and Philly has won two in a row and three of its past four tests in Canadas capital city. Jake DeBrusk Bruins Jersey .ca look back at each of the Top 10 stories of 2013. Today, we look back at Boston Strong - a citys recovery from tragedy. http://www.thebostonbruinshockey.com/jaroslav-halak-hockey-jersey/ . As the crowd erupted, Davis knocked the ball off the glass and back into his hands. With 1:14 to go in overtime, Davis sixth block also became his 17th rebound. That, along with his 32 points -- which tied a career high -- proved too much for Denver to overcome, and the Pelicans held on for their third straight victory, 111-107 on Sunday night. Jeremy Lauzon Jersey . Numbers Game looks into the Canadiens securing the services of Thomas Vanek in a trade with the New York Islanders. The Canadiens Get: LW Thomas Vanek and a conditional fifth-round pick. Patrice Bergeron Bruins Jersey . Fred Couples, captain of the U.S. side, put it all into perspective. "We know whos in charge," he said. Industry voters determine the Eclipse Awards for thoroughbred racings annual divisional championships and Horse of the Year. As weve seen from this weeks election, surprising things can happen during a voting process.Yet even with that in mind, the vote for Horse of the Year 2016 almost seems a fait accompli in favor of California Chrome. This is somewhat surprising, considering California Chrome was beaten for the first time this year in last weeks Breeders Cup Classic, North Americas most important horse race. Although the strength of California Chromes 2016 campaign would certainly make him worthy of being Horse of the Year once again (dont forget, he was Horse of the Year at 3 in 2014), I do not believe the recipient of this award should be the given that it appears to be.There are only two real candidates for 2016 Horse of the Year, and they are California Chrome and Arrogate, the 3-year-old colt who beat California Chrome by a very significant half-length in the Classic.Right here, let me state that I have not yet decided which of these standouts will get my Horse of the Year vote. But I will say my deliberation on this matter is not a case of indecisiveness or intransigence. Im being deliberate because I see the strength and legitimacy of both candidacies, which apparently puts me in the minority.Despite his defeat in the Breeders Cup Classic, California Chrome remains the clear favorite for Horse of the Year, as evidenced by the fact that he retained the top spot in this weeks National Thoroughbred Racing Association weekly poll. It is worth noting that the people who vote in the NTRA poll are some of the same people who will vote for the Eclipse Awards. California Chrome, who has led this poll all year, attracted 30 first-place votes this time and amassed 442 total points. Arrogate, who was fifth in last weeks poll, received 16 first-place votes and 418 total points to move up to second in the poll.The primary reason why California Chrome retained his position atop the NTRA poll, not to mention his standing of first place in the hearts and minds of so many racing fans, is his body of work this year, which is compelling by every possible measure. California Chrome was dominant this year in such major events as the Dubai World Cup, Pacific Classic and Awesome Again. He also won three other stakes races, and his close second in the Classic was a fine effort.No one can dispute that California Chromes overall record in 2016 dwarfs Arrogates. Arrogate started in only two stakes races this year. But he was a 13-1/2 length winner of the Travers, our most important 3-year-old race next to the Triple Crown events, delivering the type of explosive performance that one sees only once in a great while. And he followed that up with his decisive win in the critically important Breeders Cup Classic.I am certainly aware that Horse of the Year is, after alll, an award honoring the best horse of the YEAR, not the best horse during the two days of the Breeders Cup.dddddddddddd That said, if I do vote for California Chrome for Horse of the Year, and I might, I wont be entirely comfortable with it. Heres why:From what we saw in the Breeders Cup Classic, there is a very, very strong possibility that Arrogate is better than California Chrome. Demonstrably better. And speaking only for myself, I know Ill have a hard time casting a Horse of the Year vote for a horse who lost the most important race of the year to a better horse, even if that was his only loss of the year.That is the root cause for my agonizing over this Horse of the Year vote, and the reason I dont quite understand why it seems so clear to favor California Chrome for other people.Anyone who watched the Breeders Cup Classic knows that Arrogate was clearly better than California Chrome. There can be no debate on this.California Chrome, who had performed like a monster all year, had complete control of a pace in the Breeders Cup Classic that was totally unremarkable, especially considering the class of horse involved. Heck, the pace in the Classic was slower through the first six furlongs than the pace 2-year-olds posted earlier in the day in the Breeders Cup Juvenile, and that faster pace in the Juvenile held together.In other words, California Chrome had everything his own way in the Classic, on a Santa Anita track he adores and at a 1-1/4 mile distance he can do in his sleep. And Arrogate, who was at a huge disadvantage from a tactical standpoint having to run down an opponent who was loose on an easy, uncontested lead, and who was also the top-ranked horse in the WORLD, still came and got him.And it wasnt like Arrogate got the best of a tiring California Chrome because that was not the case. The 119 Beyer Speed Figure California Chrome earned for finishing second in the Classic was the highest of his prolific career. There was a yawning chasm in the Classic of almost 11 lengths back to the third finisher, a telling indication that the first two finishers both performed sensationally. California Chrome didnt slow down. Arrogate just did the kind of running into an adverse setup at a late point in one of the worlds best races that you almost never see. Ever.For Arrogate, the Breeders Cup Classic and Travers make for a total of only two stakes starts. That is a light resume. I get that. But those races are special events. And Arrogates brilliant performances in those two races was all the proof necessary to recognize that he is an exceptional race horse.So Im taking my time with my Horse of the Year 2016 vote. Body of work versus possibly superior superstar performer is not an easy matter to resolve. For me, anyway. ' ' '