College Football on TNT coming soon as part of an agreement with ESPN

College Football on TNT. How does that sound? Weird, right? Well, it is coming soon. Today, ESPN and TNT Sports announced a new partnership in which TNT will sublicense College Football Playoffs games. Beginning next season, TNT will broadcast two first-round CFP games for the next five years. Additionally, TNT will broadcast two quarterfinal games starting in 2026 through 2028.

ESPN will present the remaining games across its platforms, including the CFP National Championship Game, as the new 12-team playoff format debuts.

TNT’s College Football Playoff partnership with ESPN comes as the network is on the verge of losing its NBA rights to NBC in 2025-26. Before the “Inside The NBA” band breaks up, I hope we get a football broadcast with Shaq and Charles Barkley. I’d watch them call a Penn State-Oregon game next season.

Key dates for the 2024-25 CFP schedule:

• CFP First Round, Dec. 20-21
• CFP Quarterfinals:
  • Vrbo Fiesta Bowl, Dec. 31
  • Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, Jan.1
  • Rose Bowl Game Presented by Prudential, Jan. 1
  • Allstate Sugar Bowl, Jan. 1
• CFP Semifinals:
  • Capital One Orange Bowl, Jan. 9
  • Goodyear Cotton Bowl, Jan. 10
• CFP National Championship Game, Jan. 20 (Atlanta, Ga.)

College Football Playoff 12-Team Bracket

First Round (on-campus games)

1. Game 1: No. 5 Seed vs. No. 12 Seed
2. Game 2: No. 6 Seed vs. No. 11 Seed
3. Game 3: No. 7 Seed vs. No. 10 Seed
4. Game 4: No. 8 Seed vs. No. 9 Seed

Quarterfinals (bowl games)

1. Game 5: No. 1 Seed vs. Winner of Game 4
2. Game 6: No. 2 Seed vs. Winner of Game 3
3. Game 7: No. 3 Seed vs. Winner of Game 2
4. Game 8: No. 4 Seed vs. Winner of Game 1

Semifinals (bowl games)

1. Game 9: Winner of Game 5 vs. Winner of Game 8
2. Game 10: Winner of Game 6 vs. Winner of Game 7

National Championship

• Game 11: Winner of Game 9 vs. Winner of Game 10