College Football Playoff National Championship Kickoff Time Adjusted

Not a fan of college football’s late start to the national championship game? Get ready for some relief.

ESPN, which will broadcast the College Football Playoff national championship game this season, announced Thursday that the kickoff for the big game will be 7:30 p.m. ET on Jan. 9, 2023, at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California.

In previous years, the long-awaited finale to the college football season started at or after 8 p.m. ET. With the game being played on the west coast, it likely means fans within the central and eastern time zones can cheer for their respective teams and not be up past midnight.

With a new start time, the only thing left to figure out is which four teams among the pool of college’s football best will earn the coveted spots to compete for the title? Will Georgia run it back? Will Alabama earn its revenge against its SEC rival? Can Michigan return after a historic ‘21 season or will Ohio State enter the conversation? Then, there is Clemson, a program looking to restore itself among college football’s elite after having played in four CFP title games in the last seven seasons.

Georgia, Alabama, Michigan, Ohio State and Clemson entered this week as the top five teams in the Associated Press Top 25 college football poll.