IRVING, Texas – The College Football Playoff (CFP) today announced the pregame entertainment for the 2022 College Football Playoff National Championship to be held Monday, January 10, at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana. Nine-time Grammy nominee Natalie Grant will perform “The Star-Spangled Banner” prior to kickoff of the national championship game. A five-time Gospel Music Association Female Vocalist of the Year, Grant has remained one of Christian music‘s top-selling artists with 42 Dove Award nominations and multiple No. 1 records and albums on the Billboard charts. Most recently, Grant launched her newest album No Stranger, which set a 20-year milestone and marked the biggest first-week debut of her career en route to becoming 2020’s highest-selling album debut in her genre. An advocate for social justice, Grant is also the co-founder of Hope For Justice, an international non-profit organization with 32 offices spanning 10 countries that works to end modern-day slavery. In advance of Grant’s performance, the Nation’s Colors will be presented by a Joint Service Color Guard from the Military Department of Indiana’s Ceremonial Unit, including Indiana and Kentucky members of the Army, Marines, Navy, Air Force, Space Force and Coast Guard. During the national anthem, a giant American flag will be unfurled by local host committee volunteers, including teachers from across Indiana. As part of the CFP’s salute to the armed forces, the pregame ceremony will include a live feed from U.S. troops deployed overseas watching the national championship game. Continuing a CFP tradition, drummers from the participating team bands will play side-by-side as the color guard is introduced. 12-year-old Kaylen Brown, from Indianapolis, Indiana, will perform the national anthem in American Sign Language. Brown is currently a sixth grade honor student at the Indiana School for the Deaf where she is also a member of the middle school basketball team. As part of the CFP Foundation’s Extra Yard for Teachers (EYFT) initiative, the 2020 and 2021 Teachers of the Year from each U.S. state and territory will be honored on the field during the pregame celebration. This is an opportunity for fans to applaud these educators for their hard work and dedication and furthers the EYFT mission of elevating the teaching profession. Pregame festivities inside Lucas Oil Stadium will begin at 7:30 p.m. Eastern time. Game coverage begins at 8 p.m. ET, featuring the winner of the Playoff Semifinal at the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic against the winner of the Playoff Semifinal at the Capital One Orange Bowl. Celebrating a college football tradition, the marching bands of each participating team will be featured performers on the field at halftime. Pregame, halftime and postgame pageantry will be produced by Michael T. Fiur Productions. For additional information on the College Football Playoff, including the 2022 CFP National Championship, visit collegefootballplayoff.com and join the social conversation by using the hashtag #CFBPlayoff.
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About the College Football PlayoffThe College Football Playoff matches the No. 1 ranked team vs. No. 4, and No. 2 vs. No. 3 in semifinal games that rotate annually among six bowl games – the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic, PlayStation Fiesta Bowl, Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, Capital One Orange Bowl, Allstate Sugar Bowl and Rose Bowl Game presented by Capital One Venture X. This season’s Playoff Semifinals will take place Friday, December 31, 2021, at the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic and the Capital One Orange Bowl. The College Football Playoff National Championship will be Monday, January 10, 2022, at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana.
