College Football Playoff Salutes Houston Host Committee, Looks Ahead to Atlanta

The morning after Michigan won its first national championship since 1997, the College Football Playoff saluted host Houston while also officially putting Atlanta on the clock for next season in the first of an expanded 12-team playoff field.

Blake Corum ran for 134 yards and two fourth-quarter touchdowns as Jim Harbaugh and the top-ranked Wolverines — undeterred by suspensions and a sign-stealing case that shadowed the program — completed a three-year surge to a national title by beating No. 2 Washington 34-13. The Wolverines ran for 303 yards against Washington (14-1) and their rugged defense held Michael Penix Jr. and the Huskies’ prolific passing game to one touchdown while intercepting the Heisman Trophy runner-up twice.

Harbaugh lifted the championship trophy on stage with CFP Executive Director Bill Hancock, who has been with the organization since 2012 and is retiring in February 2025. Hancock will be succeeded by Air Force Lieutenant General Richard M. Clark as the organization prepares to expand the number of teams that will play in the year-end tournament to 12. The CFP delayed reducing the number of spots reserved for conference champions from six to five in the upcoming 12-team format, though the change is expected to be in place next season.

Hancock on Tuesday thanked the Houston host committee and those from the Harris County-Houston Sports Authority, including executive director Janis Burke and host committee chairman Chris Massey.

“They just stepped up and made it a really, really special time for us,” Hancock said. “We’re going to miss them. … Houston has a small-town spirit that carries over to this big city. I’ve never seen anything like it in a big city. You all should be really proud of that.”

Burke paid tribute to Hancock, saying when Houston was awarded the 2024 game “we certainly didn’t know that it would be Bill Hancock’s last time hosting as the executive director of College Football Playoff. So we wanted to make it special when we heard that. We really put in extra efforts. Bill and his wife, Nicki, have been such great friends, and I’m really going to miss them. But what a legacy, Bill, you left. And I hope that this time in Houston, this last one for you, was special because it sure was for us.”

Massey said as part of the leadup to Monday’s title game, they had over 1,700 registered participants for a Trophy Trot 5K through downtown and over 100,000 were involved in at least one of the activities throughout the city, including Fan Fest at the George R. Brown Convention Center. The host committee also had 4,000 teachers registered for an Extra Yard for Teachers Summit through the Houston Loves Teachers program, which connects with area school districts to provide classroom resources, professional development, classroom renovations and more.

“Chris started as an intern many years ago with me, and I’m proud like a mother looking at him,” Burke said. “Although we are coworkers and I don’t look at him as a son in that regard, I’ve watched him grow and I know that his future is really bright in the sports industry.”

It was Houston’s first time hosting the CFP title game and comes less than a year after hosting the NCAA Tournament Men’s Final Four, also at NRG Stadium. Burke, a Michigan native who got to see her hometown team win on Monday, said “hopefully it is just the first of many. We hope that you will come back.”

After being in Los Angeles’ SoFi Stadium in 2023 and Houston in 2024 — both games somehow had rainy weather outside of the venues — the CFP will head to Atlanta in 2025 before Miami in 2026.

“We’re so thankful to be back here again at this press conference to prepare for 2025 as the first city to repeat as a host for this great event,” said Dan Corso of the Atlanta Sports Council on Tuesday morning. “2025 is going to be a remarkable event for us in Atlanta, working closely with the CFP. We do not take lightly the value of hosting the event a second time. This event continues to grow and get bigger and bigger, as you’ve seen this weekend. And our city continues to grow and get bigger and bigger and ready to accommodate events like this … The (2025) game date will be January 20, 2025, which, as you know, is MLK Day. An important day in this country and especially an important day in Atlanta. We look forward to building that into our planning.”