College Football Playoff Announces Expanded Schedule For 2024, 2025

The 2023 college football season will represent the last season for the current College Football Playoff format. Since its inception in 2014, the CFP has consisted of the top four programs as decided by a playoff committee. The limited field of just four teams routinely creates a debate among college football fans and analysts about whether or not the committee is getting it right from year to year.

In order to remedy that issue, the CFP is set to expand from four teams to twelve teams after the 2023 season. On Tuesday, the committee released the schedule for the next two years, including dates for the 2024 and 2025 playoff season.

𝗢𝗙𝗙𝗜𝗖𝗜𝗔𝗟: The #CFBPlayoff has announced the game dates and bowl assignments for the 2024 and 2025 college football seasons. The new dates are the next step in the transition to a 12-team playoff format set to begin in 2024.

Full release » https://t.co/kR9rUE3cOK

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— College Football Playoff (@CFBPlayoff) May 2, 2023

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) and 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

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

Bill Hancock, the Executive Director of the College Football Playoff, says that finalizing the playoff schedule for the 2024 and 2025 seasons represented a big milestone in the evolution of the playoff itself.

"We are pleased to be able to announce these game dates today. 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."