The first 12-team College Football Playoff tournament will begin Dec. 20, 2024, a Friday, with a prime-time first-round game hosted by the higher-seeded team.
The answer, at least for the first two years of the 12-team playoff’s existence: It can’t, at least not entirely, and it will require some midweek games to get out of the NFL’s way as much as possible.
Three more games will follow the next day, though if the NFL continues with its recent scheduling patterns, those first-round College Football Playoff games will go up against Week 16 NFL regular season contests. The NFL has been scheduling Week 16 games on Saturdays for years, and in 2019, the last time Week 16 didn’t brush up against Christmas, there were NFL games at 1 p.m. Eastern, 4:30 p.m. Eastern and 8:15 p.m. Eastern on the Saturday of Week 16.
There won’t be any NFL conflicts for the first College Football Playoff quarterfinals, which will be played at neutral sites on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day . But because the NFL already has claimed the second weekend in January for its six first-round playoff games, the first College Football Playoff semifinals of the expansion era will have to be played on the evenings of Jan. 9 and 10, a Thursday and Friday in 2025.
The first College Football Playoff championship game of the expansion era is scheduled for Jan. 20, 2025, like previous instances a Monday night. Because of expansion, the title game will be played two weeks later than in previous CFP iterations.The same scheduling patterns — and same NFL conflicts — will persist in the 2025 season. After that, college football seems likely to move up its season by a week, beginning the weekend before Labor Day.
The expanded playoffs will consist of the six conference champions ranked highest by the selection committee plus the six highest-ranked other teams. The four highest-ranked conference champions will be seeded Nos. 1-4 and receive a bye into the quarterfinals, with the other eight teams playing one another in the first round at campus sites.
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
College Football Playoff Releases Schedules for 2024 and 2025 SeasonsThe College Football Playoff has finalized bowl dates and time slots for the 2024 and 2025 seasons, which will feature a 12-team playoff for the first time in the sport's history.
Read more »
College Football Playoff schedule to include 12 teams, New Year's Day tripleheadersThe College Football Playoff released on Tuesday a schedule for the 12-team format that will be used in the 2024 and 2025 seasons, which will feature New Year's Day quarterfinal tripleheaders but no games played on Saturday.
Read more »
Rose Bowl to host College Football Playoff quarterfinals on New Year’s Day in 2025, 2026The 12-team format will feature one New Year’s Eve quarterfinal and a New Year’s Day tripleheader the first two years. The first Jan. 1 tripleheader will be held at the Peach, Rose and Sugar Bowls.…
Read more »
College Football Playoff dates set for 2024, 2025The new College Football Playoff format includes on-campus games in the first round, and incorporates the New Year’s Six bowls for the quarterfinals and semifinals. The first round and semifinals will include some Thursday and Friday games.
Read more »
Here's What the 12-Team College Football Playoff Will Look LikeThe schedule for the first two expanded College Football Playoffs has been released. Here’s what the 12-team format will look like:
Read more »
Why former BYU football captain Payton Wilgar was ‘torn’ in his decision to leave collegeFormer BYUfootball captain Payton Wilgar wondered if he could have helped his NFL draft stock by playing another year in college, but he says he's at peace with his choice.
Read more »