The new 12-team College Football Playoff will debut this month as the road begins to crown the national champion. The expansion from four teams to 12 opens up more opportunities for teams to compete in a larger, more competitive field.
The change in format prescribed automatic bids to the five highest-ranked conference champions. Among these five programs, the four highest-ranked conference champions received a significant advantage with first-round byes, allowing them to advance directly to the quarterfinals. The teams that earned seeds No. 5 through No. 12 will compete in win-or-go-home first-round games. These matchups were determined based on rankings by the CFP committee, with the higher-seeded team hosting the game.
The winners of the first-round games advance to the quarterfinals on New Year’s weekend, where they will face one of the following top-seeded teams: Big Ten champion Oregon, which holds the No. 1 overall seed; SEC champion Georgia, the No. 2 seed; Mountain West champion Boise State, which is the No. 3 seed; and Big 12 champion Arizona State, rounding out the top four as the No. 4 seed.
The quarterfinal winners will face off in the semifinals the following weekend, before the final two square off for the CFP national championship.
The College Football Playoff national championship game will take place on Monday, Jan. 20, 2025 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
The CFP championship game will be televised by ESPN.
The College Football Playoff first round is scheduled for Friday, Dec. 20 and Saturday, Dec. 21. ABC and ESPN will televise two of the four games, while TNT will broadcast the other two games.
Fans looking to cut the cord can also stream the action with a Fubo subscription.
All times Eastern
FRIDAY, DEC. 20
SATURDAY, DEC. 21
The four quarterfinal games will be played on New Year’s weekend at the site of four bowl games, with one game on Dec. 31 and three on Jan. 1.
All times Eastern
TUESDAY, DEC. 31
WEDNESDAY, JAN. 1
The semifinal games will be played Jan. 9 and Jan. 10 at the site of two bowl games.
All times Eastern
THURSDAY, JAN. 9
FRIDAY, JAN. 10
We occasionally recommend interesting products and services. If you make a purchase by clicking one of the links, we may earn an affiliate fee. USA TODAY Network newsrooms operate independently, and this doesn’t influence our coverage.
