HARRIS COUNTY - HSA

Houston to host 2024 college football playoff national championship

Seth Livingston
Melanie Hauser
Nov 1, 2017, 3:53 pm
The 2024 College Football Playoff National Championship will be held at NRG Stadium. NRG Park/Facebook

Melanie Hauser writes for The Harris County - Houston Sports Authority Check out the website here.

Harris County Houston Sports Authority Press Release

EMBARGOED UNTIL: Wednesday, November 1, 2017, 2:20 pm CONTACT: Jules Rice, Harris County – Houston Sports Authority jrice@houstonsports.org or 713-308-5918

Houston to Host 2024 College Football Playoff National Championship

The College Football Playoff (CFP) announced today that Houston will host the College Football Playoff National Championship in 2024. “Having hosted a Super Bowl and a World Series this year alone, and NCAA basketball playoffs and championships in recent years, Houston and Harris County are now uniquely prepared to play host to one of the nation’s most exciting and closely watched sports events – the 2024 College Football Playoff National Championship,” said Harris County Judge Emmett. “So thank you to all the people who helped make this possible, and let the countdown to 2024 begin!” There are an anticipated 72,015 fans expected to attend the College Football Playoff National Championship, which will be held at NRG Stadium January 8, 2024. “It is a very exciting day for everyone in our community,” said Janis Burke, chief executive officer for the Harris County – Houston Sports Authority. “This was truly a team effort, and we could not have secured this bid without the support of Harris County, the City of Houston, NRG Stadium and Houston First. We are looking forward to welcoming college football’s finest in 2024.” “There is no better city than Houston to host the 2024 CFP. Our world-class venues, hotels, restaurants, and citizens are ready to welcome fans from around the country for this premiere sporting event,” said Mayor Sylvester Turner, City of Houston. “Houston is one of the most venue-rich cities in the country with a great, modern stadium, multiple convention centers/arenas and a downtown park that will make for a terrific festival setting for our attendees,” said Bill Hancock, executive director of the CFP. “The community has demonstrated its mettle for college sports by hosting two outstanding Final Fours and very successful Super Bowls.” The CFP postseason determines the national champion of the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, the highest level of college football in the United States. This will be the tenth national championship game of the CFP era. The first game was played at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas on January 12, 2015.

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Houston now focused on postseason

Altuve and Correa homer, Astros drop final regular-season game

Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images

With no playoff impact at stake if the Astros won or lost the game, Houston took Sunday's final regular-season game as a chance to get their lineup a few more at-bats before shifting focus to Tuesday's first game of the post-season. Here is a quick recap of the game against the Rangers:

Final Score: Rangers 8, Astros 4.

Record: 29-31, second in the AL West.

Winning pitcher: Wes Benjamin (2-1, 4.84 ERA).

Losing pitcher: Chase De Jong (0-1, 14.73 ERA).

Houston's main bats get a final tune-up

Knowing they'd only have a couple of at-bats to work with, some of Houston's big bats took advantage, starting with Jose Altuve. He crushed a pitch in the top of the first, a solo homer to put the Astros in front 1-0. After the Rangers tied the game 1-1 in the bottom of the second, Altuve started the third with a walk before moving to third base on a Michael Brantley single, which improved Brantley's season average to .300.

Aledmys Diaz would pick up the RBI on a groundout to score Altuve, putting Houston back in front 2-1. In Correa's last at-bat in the top of the fourth, he extended the lead to 3-1 with a solo home run of his own.

Rangers hand Astros a loss to end the regular season

After getting the early run against Chase De Jong, the Rangers would put together a big inning against him in the fourth. After two one-out singles, Rougned Odor would give Texas their first lead of the day on a three-run homer to make it 4-3.

De Jong would continue to struggle in the inning, getting just one more out while loading the bases, prompting a move to the bullpen to bring in Nivaldo Rodriguez to try and eat up more innings. The Rangers greeted him with a two-RBI single to extend their lead to 6-3 before ending the fourth. Odor would hit his second home run of the game in the bottom of the fifth, a solo shot to make it a four-run lead at 7-3.

Rodriguez allowed another run in the bottom of the seventh, making it 8-3. Diaz, who drove in a run earlier, would account for another RBI in the top of the eighth, getting Houston's third solo homer of the day. That would make it an 8-4 game, which would go final as the Rangers would win the regular season's last game.

Up Next: Houston's first game of the playoffs will be on Tuesday, with the start time and opponent TBD while the rest of today's games wrap up, and the schedule is announced. Regardless, the Astros are expected to begin that best-of-three series with Zack Greinke (3-3, 4.03 ERA).

astros recap astros score astros vs rangers mlb mlb recap astros

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