On Wednesday, the College Football Playoff announced the dates, times, and network assignments for the first edition of the expanded playoff, taking place this December and January.
The four first-round games take place on Friday, December 20, and Saturday, December 21. The one Friday game takes place at 8 p.m. ET and will air on ABC and ESPN. Those two networks also air the final first-round game in primetime on Saturday. The two afternoon games on Saturday, airing at noon ET and 4 p.m. ET, will air on TNT as part of a previously announced sublicensing agreement between Warner Bros. Discovery and Disney. Those two games will also go head-to-head with NFL games on NBC and Fox.
The four quarterfinals are all airing on ESPN. One, the Fiesta Bowl, takes place at 7:30 p.m. ET on Tuesday, December 31. The other three will take place on New Year’s Day, January 1. The Peach Bowl airs at 1 p.m., followed by the Rose Bowl in its traditional 5 p.m. window and the Sugar Bowl at 8:45 p.m.
The semifinals will also both air on ESPN at 7:30 p.m. ET. The Orange Bowl airs on Thursday, January 9 and the Cotton Bowl takes place on Friday, January 10.
Finally, the national championship game airs at 7:30 p.m. ET on Monday, January 20 on ESPN, two weeks later than this season’s title game.
Here’s the full schedule.
- First Round: Friday, December 20, 8 p.m. ET ABC/ESPN
- First Round: Saturday, December 21, noon ET TNT
- First Round: Saturday, December 21, 4 p.m. ET TNT
- First Round: Saturday, December 21, 8 p.m. ET ABC/ESPN
- Quarterfinal (Fiesta Bowl): Tuesday, December 31, 7:30 p.m. ET ESPN
- Quarterfinal (Peach Bowl): Wednesday, January 1, 1 p.m. ET ESPN
- Quarterfinal (Rose Bowl): Wednesday, January 1, 5 p.m. ET ESPN
- Quarterfinal (Sugar Bowl): Wednesday, January 1, 8:45 p.m. ET ESPN
- Semifinal (Orange Bowl): Thursday, January 9, 7:30 p.m. ET ESPN
- Semifinal (Cotton Bowl): Friday, January 10, 7:30 p.m. ET ESPN
- National Championship: Monday, January 20, 7:30 p.m. ET ESPN
With the schedule stretching this far into the NFL Playoffs (the title game takes place the day after the NFL’s Divisional round), I’m curious how that will impact attention and viewership for the College Football Playoff. It’s one thing to compete with late-season NFL games for attention, but it’s something completely different to compete with playoff games for the attention of fans and the media at large.
