Expanded College Football Playoff dates, bowl assignments officially released for 2024, 2025 seasons
As the College Football Playoff gets ready to expand, the new schedule has been released. The CFP announced the dates and bowl assignments of the 2024 and 2025 installments.
The CFP recently announced its new scheduling format, including campus site games for the first round and bowl settings for the quarterfinals and beyond. In the announcement, the committee confirmed semifinal games will be played during the week to avoid conflicts with the NFL.
The new schedule sees the 2024 CFP start Dec. 20 with one game in the evening and three more games on Dec. 21 — one in the early afternoon, another in the late afternoon and an evening matchup to end the day. Following a 10-day break, the quarterfinals will start with one game Dec. 31 and three matchups Jan. 1, 2025 in the same time slots.
Here’s what that will look like:
2024
First Round — on campus:
Friday, Dec. 20, 2024: One game (evening)
Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024: Three games (early afternoon, late afternoon and evening)
Quarterfinals
Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024: Vrbo Fiesta Bowl
Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025: Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl, Rose Bowl Game, Allstate Sugar Bowl
Semifinals
Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025: Capital One Orange Bowl
Friday, Jan. 10, 2025: Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic
College Football Playoff National Championship
Monday, Jan. 20, 2025: Mercedes Benz Stadium, Atlanta, Ga.
2025
First Round — on campus
Friday, Dec. 19, 2025: One game (evening)
Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025: Three games (early afternoon, late afternoon and evening)
Quarterfinals
Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025: Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic
Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026: Capital One Orange Bowl, Rose Bowl Game and Allstate Sugar Bowl
Semifinals
Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026: Vrbo Fiesta Bowl
Friday, Jan. 9, 2026: Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl
College Football Playoff National Championship
Monday, Jan. 19, 2026: Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens, Fla.
More on the expanded College Football Playoff
The CFP initially approved its plans to expand from four teams to 12 by 2026, but the timeline was sped up after the Rose Bowl signed an agreement to allow for early expansion. The Rose Bowl committee wanted to keep its 5 p.m. ET time slot on New Year’s Day, but ultimately signed the deal to pave the way for the new format starting with the 2024-25 season.
Even with the new format, there will still be CFP games played on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day, and the national championship will still take place on a Monday.