The 2020 New Era Pinstripe Bowl will not be played this season due to complications from COVID-19, the bowl game organizers announced on Friday.
The game, which was set to be the 11th edition of the contest, was canceled due to “…recent increase in coronavirus cases, which has led to the imposition of various travel restrictions and the cancellation of many college football games, including those in the Big Ten and ACC Conferences.”
The game was scheduled to feature teams from the ACC and Big Ten squaring off at Yankee Stadium in Bronx, N.Y., on Tuesday, Dec. 29, 2020.
“The priority of the Yankees, New Era Pinstripe Bowl, Big Ten and ACC is the safety of players, coaches and staff, and this decision is consistent with that approach,” a statement from the New Era Pinstripe read. “We look forward to hosting the New Era Pinstripe Bowl with an enthusiastic crowd filling Yankee Stadium in 2021.
The 2020-21 college football bowl schedule is now down to 36 games overall, including the College Football Playoff National Championship. Seven other bowl games had already been canceled: Bahamas Bowl, Celebration Bowl (FCS), Fenway Bowl, Hawaii Bowl, RedBox Bowl, SDCCU Holiday Bowl, and Quick Lane Bowl.
The Las Vegas Bowl is tentative and a decision on the status of the contest should be announced soon.
Bowl Season is currently set to kickoff on Saturday, Dec. 19 with the Tropical Smoothie Café Frisco Bowl at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas. The game will feature two teams from either the American, Conference USA, MAC or Mountain West.
On Friday, Jan. 1, 2021, the two College Football Playoff semifinal games will take place. Hosts this season are the Rose Bowl Game in Pasadena, Calif., and the Allstate Sugar Bowl in New Orleans, La. The semifinal games will kickoff at 5:00pm ET and 8:45pm ET, respectively.
The College Football National Championship concludes the college football season on Monday, Jan. 11, 2021 at 8:00pm ET. The two playoff semifinal winners will meet at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla.
I had read that the Las Vegas Bowl was late to announce, in part, because they couldn’t find an available TV time slot. Pinstripe did not have a great time slot, but this one is now open.