On Tuesday, the College Football Playoff released a schedule for the 12-team format that will be used in the 2024 and 2025 seasons, and it will feature New Year’s Day tripleheaders but no quarterfinal games played on Saturday.
CFP executive director Bill Hancock said last week after the board of managers had met in Dallas that the calendar had been decided upon. The final piece was placing games and sites on the dates.
For the 2024 season, the first-round games played at campus sites are slated to start with one game Friday, Dec. 20. Three more games will be played on campuses on Saturday, Dec. 21.
The quarterfinals are scheduled to be held at bowl sites on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. The Fiesta Bowl will be played the night of Tuesday, Dec. 31. The Peach, Rose and Sugar bowls will host quarterfinal games, played in that order, on Jan. 1.
The 2024 semifinals are set for Thursday night, Jan. 9, 2025, at the Orange Bowl and Jan. 10 at the Cotton Bowl. The championship game is scheduled for Jan. 20, a Monday, at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
The CFP schedule for the 2025 season includes opening rounds set for Friday, Dec. 19, and Saturday, Dec. 20.
The Cotton Bowl is set to be a quarterfinal on New Year’s Eve. The New Year’s Day tripleheader will be at the Orange, Rose and Sugar bowls.
The semifinals are scheduled for the Fiesta Bowl on Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, and the next day at the Peach Bowl. The championship game is set for Monday, Jan. 19, in Miami Gardens, Florida.
This coming season will be the last in which the CFP uses a four-team format.