College Football Playoff Schedule Set, There Will Be Head to Head Dates with NFL
STILLWATER – The CFP Board of Managers and Executive Director Bill Hancock have been busy. As everybody knows, everybody that loves college football, the CFP is expanding after this upcoming season where in the 2024 season and beyond the playoffs will include 12 schools and an expanded format that rewards the top six ranked conference champions and will include byes for four teams. The other eight will compete in first round games on campus sites before heading to neutral sites for the semifinals.
As has been in past CFP Championship Games the final two teams will got a neutral site for a “Super Bowl like” atmosphere for the championship.
Here is the schedule for this upcoming season:
Semifinals
January 1, 2024
Rose Bowl
Sugar Bowl
Championship Game,
Jan 8, 2024
NRG Stadium (Houston)
Here is the schedule for the CFP in the 2024 season:
First Round (On-Campus)
Friday, December 20, 2024: One Game (evening)
Saturday, December 21, 2024: Three Games (early afternoon, late afternoon and evening)
Quarterfinals
Tuesday, December 31, 2024: Vrbo Fiesta Bowl (evening)
Wednesday, January 1, 2025:
Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl (early afternoon)
Rose Bowl Game (late afternoon)
Allstate Sugar Bowl (evening)
Semifinals
Thursday, January 9, 2025 - Capital One Orange Bowl (evening)
Friday, January 10, 2025 - Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic (evening)
CFP National Championship
Monday, January 20, 2025 - Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, Georgia
Here is the schedule for the CFP in the 2025 season:
First Round (On-Campus)
Friday, December 19, 2025: One Game (evening)
Saturday, December 20, 2025: Three Games (early afternoon, late afternoon and evening)
Quarterfinals
Wednesday, December 31, 2025: Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic (evening)
Thursday, January 1, 2026: Capital One Orange Bowl (early afternoon), Rose Bowl Game (late afternoon) and Allstate Sugar Bowl (evening)
Semifinals
Thursday, January 8, 2026: Vrbo Fiesta Bowl (evening)
Friday, January 9, 2026: Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl (evening)
CFP National Championship
Monday, January 19, 2026: Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens, Florida
Exact kickoff times for each game will be announced later.
This schedule is highly organized and has all the touches of the executive director Bill Hancock. In both seasons, the three first round games on campus sites will go against a slate of late regular season Saturday NFL games. An interesting battle of NFL vs. college CFP interest.
“We are pleased to be able to announce these game dates today,” said Hancock. “We appreciate the efforts of all the parties involved in finalizing this schedule. This is the next significant step in bringing clarity to the launch of the 12-team playoff format in 2024. We still have a lot of work ahead of us, but this is an important milestone along the way.”
The exact selection and seeding process is as follows.
The field of 12 teams will be comprised of the six conference champions ranked highest by the selection committee (no minimum ranking requirement), plus the six highest-ranked other teams. The ranking of the teams will continue to be done by a selection committee whose size, composition, and method of selection will remain substantially unchanged from the current arrangement. The four highest-ranked conference champions will be seeded one through four and each will receive a first-round bye. The other eight teams will play in the first round with the higher seeds hosting the lower seeds either on campus or at other sites designated by the higher-seeded institution.
Oklahoma State has yet to compete in the CFP, but is one of the primary reasons the CFP exists after replacing the BCS Championship. The cause was Oklahoma State missing the BCS in 2011 when a rematch of Alabama and LSU played for the title.
Oklahoma State just missed the CFP in 2021 when they lost by inches to Baylor in the Big 12 Championship Game. The Cowboys will hope to find a way soon into the expanded CFP.