College football fans can start to make their plans for December and the postseason.
The dates, kickoff times and broadcast partners for the 2024 College Football Playoff were announced Wednesday. This year marks the first season with the 12-team field. The national championship game will be played at 7:30 p.m. (ET) on Monday, Jan. 20 in Atlanta and will be broadcast by ESPN.
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The opening-round games will be played Dec. 20-21 with one game on Friday, Dec. 20 and three games on Saturday, Dec. 21. The Dec. 20 game will kick off at 8 p.m. and will be broadcast by ABC and ESPN. The Dec. 20 games will kick off at noon (TNT), 4 p.m. (TNT) and 8 p.m. (ABC and ESPN).
The quarterfinals will be played with one game on Tuesday, Dec. 31 and three games on Wednesday, Jan. 1. The Fiesta Bowl will kick off at 7:30 p.m. on Dec. 31 (ESPN). Jan. 1 will include the Peach Bowl at 1 p.m. (ESPN), the Rose Bowl at 5 p.m. (ESPN) and the Sugar Bowl at 8:45 p.m. (ESPN).
| Round | Date | Time (ET) | Network |
|---|---|---|---|
First round | Dec. 20 | 8 p.m. | ABC, ESPN |
First round | Dec. 21 | Noon | TNT |
First round | Dec. 21 | 4 p.m. | TNT |
First round | Dec. 21 | 8 p.m. | ABC, ESPN |
Quarterfinals (Fiesta) | Dec. 31 | 7:30 p.m. | ESPN |
Quarterfinals (Peach) | Jan. 1 | 1 p.m. | ESPN |
Quarterfinals (Rose) | Jan. 1 | 5 p.m. | ESPN |
Quarterfinals (Sugar) | Jan. 1 | 8:45 p.m. | ESPN |
Semifinals (Orange) | Jan. 9 | 7:30 p.m. | ESPN |
Semifinals (Cotton) | Jan. 10 | 7:30 p.m. | ESPN |
Championship | Jan. 20 | 7:30 p.m. | ESPN |
The semifinals will be played on Thursday, Jan. 9 and Friday, Jan. 10 at the Orange Bowl and the Cotton Bowl. The Orange Bowl will be played at 7:30 p.m. on Jan. 9 (ESPN) while the Cotton Bowl will be played at 7:30 p.m. on Jan. 10 (ESPN).
OFFICIAL RELEASE: The College Football Playoff has announced dates, kick times and broadcast information for the 2024-25 playoff, the first year of the expanded 12-team format.
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— College Football Playoff (@CFBPlayoff) June 5, 2024
What the schedule means
It’s fascinating to finally see the CFP official game layout, including the kickoff times for each bowl. For the structure formerly christened as the New Year’s Six, every bowl got what it wanted. Four of the games will air in prime time, and the Rose Bowl landed in its traditional slot to watch the Jan. 1 sunset in the third quarter over the San Gabriel Mountains. The Peach Bowl kicks off New Year’s Day, and then Atlanta hosts the national title game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Jan. 20.
It is notable that the Playoff semifinals will be played on separate days (Orange on Jan. 9, Cotton on Jan. 10) and air in primetime. In the four-team Playoff, the CFP stacked the semifinals atop one another.
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The opening weekend on Dec. 20-21 will feature two head-to-head first-round matchups against the NFL, which ESPN happily subleased to TNT. ABC and ESPN will simulcast the first CFP game ever on a campus site on Friday night, then another one in prime time on Saturday. TNT picks up the noon and 4 p.m. games on Saturday, which goes against heavy NFL matchups Houston at Kansas City (1 p.m. NBC) and Pittsburgh at Baltimore (4:30 p.m., Fox). It is the only weekend when the CFP has a scheduling conflict with the NFL. — Dochterman
Who are the CFP favorites?
According to BetMGM, Georgia (+325) and Ohio State (+375) are the clear favorites to win the national championship, followed by Texas (+700), Oregon (+1000) and Alabama (+1400). — Shirley
Required reading
(Photo: Carmen Mandato / Getty Images)