College Football Playoff announces full 2024-25 schedule, kickoff times, TV designations

The College Football Playoff has released the kickoff times for games in the first-ever 12-team playoff during the 2024-25 season.

The playoffs this season will feature a brand new format, one that will expand the field to 12 teams and allow for on-campus games during the opening round of action. Four games will be played on campus.

Those games will begin on Dec. 20 and conclude a day later on Dec. 21. One game will occur on the first day, followed by three the following day. That same format will hold for the playoff quarterfinals, which will begin about a week and a half later.

At that point games will move to traditional bowl locations, with the Fiesta, Peach, Rose and Sugar Bowls hosting the quarterfinal action in 2024-25.

The semifinal round will be hosted by the other two New Year’s Six bowls, on Jan. 9 and 10. The Orange Bowl will host the first semifinal, followed by the Cotton Bowl a day later.

The national title game will take place on Jan. 20, about a week and a half after the semifinals.

You can view the dates, kickoff times and television designations for the playoff games below.

College Football Playoff Kickoff Times, TV Designations

Playoff First Round

Friday, Dec. 20 – 8 p.m. ET, ABC/ESPN
Saturday, Dec. 21 – 12 p.m. ET, TNT
Saturday, Dec. 21 – 4 p.m. ET, TNT
Saturday, Dec. 21 – 8 p.m. ET, ABC/ESPN

Playoff Quarterfinals

Tuesday, Dec. 31 – 7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN
VRBO Fiesta Bowl
Wednesday, Jan. 1 – 1 p.m. ET, ESPN
Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl
Wednesday, Jan. 1 – 5 p.m. ET, ESPN
Rose Bowl Game
Wednesday, Jan. 1 – 8:45 p.m. ET, ESPN
Allstate Sugar Bowl

Playoff Semifinals

Thursday, Jan. 9 – 7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN
Capital One Orange Bowl
Friday, Jan. 10 – 7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN
Goodyear Cotton Bowl

National Championship
Monday, Jan. 20 – 7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN

The College Football Playoff format is changing

Change is on the horizon for the College Football Playoff and ESPN’s Heather Dinich provided fans with a forecast of what’s to come earlier this year. During an appearance on The Paul Finebaum Show, Dinich reported how the CFP selection committee will pick teams for the 12-team CFP.

“It’s going to be really fun,” Dinich said. “What college football fans need to get ready for is how different the seeding is going to look from the selection committee’s Top 25. What I mean by that is, let’s just say you have Georgia as the No. 1 seed and Alabama as the No. 2 seed, hypothetically.

“If Georgia wins the SEC, Alabama at No. 2 in the seeding is going to drop to No. 5 because the four highest-ranked conference champions are going to be seeded one through four and earn first-round byes. It’s a different method of what the bracket is going to look like, so that’s important.”

Thus, the importance of winning your conference is underscored. In any case, the new format promises plenty of intrigue.