The college football bowl games for 2024-25 will be announced on Sunday, including the College Football Playoff 12-team bracket and schedule.
Below we will live blog the bowl games and pairings as they are announced on Selection Day. The College Football Playoff 12-team field will be announced first beginning at 12:00pm ET on ESPN.
The inaugural 12-team playoff field will feature four first round games at the campus site of the higher seed. One game is scheduled for Friday, Dec. 20, with the remaining three the following day on Saturday, Dec. 21.
CFP Quarterfinal matchups begin on New Year’s Eve with the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl on Tuesday, Dec. 31. The remaining three contests will be played on New Year’s Day, Wednesday, Jan. 1, at the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl, Rose Bowl Game, and Allstate Sugar Bowl.
Bowl games hosting the College Football Playoff Semifinals this season are the Capital One Orange Bowl on Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025 and the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic on Friday, Jan. 10, 2025.
This season’s College Football Playoff National Championship will be played at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Ga., on Monday, Jan. 20, 2025.
For the complete list of games with date, time, and TV, check out our College Football Bowl Schedule and our College Football Playoff Schedule. Below we will live blog the playoff and bowl announcements and selections as they are announced.
FOOTBALL SCHEDULES
BOWL SCHEDULE UPDATES
NOON: Good afternoon, everyone! I’m back for year number 13 — or whichever number this is now — of finding out alongside all of you the destinations for everyone. If you’d rather not listen to everyone talk about the same six teams for four hours, let’s just hang out here!
A number of bowls have already been decided, which you can view over on our bowl schedule (linked above). We may break down some of those as we go along.
The bracket reveal is “moments away,” so we’ll have updates as they are provided.
12:13pm: While we’re flying around the country and listening to reports from all these different places, Brett McMurphy reports SMU is in the Playoff and Alabama is not. We’ll see how accurate this report is — or isn’t — in a few minutes.
12:20pm: Terrible Survivor references and arguments over three teams from the SEC being too few? This is not going to be a great afternoon. Playoff reveal in one minute — allegedly.
12:22pm: Here we go.
- Oregon gets the 1 seed after going 13-0 and winning the Big Ten.
- Georgia gets the 2, surprising no one.
- Boise State gets the 3, as the dramatic music continues to swell.
- Arizona State gets the 4 and the final bye after winning the Big 12.
- Clemson gets the 12th — and final — seed and will go on the road. If they win, they will face Arizona State in the quarterfinals.
The following will be first-round games at campus sites:
#12 (16) Clemson (10-3) at #5 (3) Texas (11-2) – winner plays Arizona State (Peach) – 4pm ET 12/21, TNT
#11 (10) SMU (11-2) at #6 (4) Penn State (11-2) – winner plays Boise State (Fiesta) – 8pm ET 12/21, ESPN/ABC
#10 (8) Indiana (11-1) at #7 (5) Notre Dame (11-1) – winner plays Georgia (Sugar) – Noon ET 12/21, TNT
#9 (7) Tennessee (10-2) at #8 (6) Ohio State (10-2) – winner plays Oregon (Rose) – 8pm ET 12/20, ESPN/ABC
1:13pm: Nothing announced in the last hour, except for the biases of everyone responsible for “analyzing” this on a certain network. We should start seeing an influx of bowl announcements shortly.
One thing of note — if you were watching, Saban likely told you the future of this whole thing. He mentioned the “top 30” schools playing each other in a “different” situation and everyone else being left to fend for themselves. Of course, if you’re a smart football fan — and if you’re here, you’re a smart football fan — you likely already realized this was the eventual direction.
1:45pm: While we’re (still) waiting, let’s look back at the bowl matchups outside the playoff that have already been revealed.
- Celebration: Jackson State vs. SC State (12/14, noon, ABC/ESPN)
- Salute to Veterans: South Alabama vs. Western Michigan (12/14, 9pm, ESPN)
- Frisco: Memphis vs. West Virginia (12/17, 9pm, ESPN)
- Boca Raton: Western Kentucky vs. James Madison (12/18, 5:30pm, ESPN)
- Cure: Ohio vs. Jacksonville State (12/20, noon, ESPN)
- Hawai’i: USF vs. San Jose State (12/24, 8pm, ESPN)
- Bahamas: Buffalo vs. Liberty (1/4/25, 11am, ESPN2)
Some pretty fun matchups in there. There will also be several teams wrecked by the transfer portal — Liberty was the first — in that grouping.
1:51pm: NIU and Fresno State will do battle in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl (12/23, 2:30pm, ESPN) in Boise. One more down, 25-plus to go.
2:02pm: More announcements!
- LA Bowl: Cal vs. UNLV (12/18, 9pm, ESPN)
- 68Ventures: Arkansas State vs. Bowling Green (12/26, 9pm, ESPN)
- Arizona: Colorado State vs. Miami (OH) (12/28, 4:30pm, The CW)
2:35pm: Some more game drops:
- Myrtle Beach: Coastal Carolina vs. UTSA (12/23, 11am, ESPN)
- Texas: Baylor vs. LSU (12/31, 3:30pm, ESPN)
2:40pm: After all the drama, arguing, and other frivolities, South Carolina found out it will take on Illinois in the Citrus Bowl (12/31, 3pm, ABC). Miami and Iowa State will play in the Pop Tarts Bowl (12/28, 3:30pm, ABC).
2:45pm: And more…
- Alamo: Colorado vs. BYU (12/28, 7:30pm, ABC)
- Military: East Carolina vs. NC State (12/28, 5:45pm, ESPN)
2:55pm: Texas Tech will battle an SEC foe in the Liberty Bowl (12/27, 7pm, ESPN). Duke will square off with Ole Miss (see below) in the Gator Bowl (1/2/25, 7:30pm, ESPN).
2:59pm: A couple more:
- Duke’s Mayo: Virginia Tech vs. Minnesota (1/3/25, 7:30pm, ESPN)
- Pinstripe: Boston College vs. Nebraska (12/28, noon, ABC/ESPN)
- Holiday: Washington State vs. Syracuse (12/27, 8pm, FOX)
3:09pm: The New Mexico Bowl gets its teams, as TCU and Louisiana will square off in the game (12/28, 2:15pm, ESPN). Rutgers and Kansas State will do battle in the Rate Bowl (12/26, 5:30, ESPN). USC will play Texas A&M in the Las Vegas Bowl (12/27, 10:30pm, ESPN).
3:18pm: Michigan will head to the ReliaQuest Bowl (12/31, noon, ESPN) against an SEC team that the almighty conference gods will deliver from the mountain sometime after 4pm (3:34pm update: Bama!). The GameAbove Bowl (12/26, 2pm, ESPN) will feature Pitt and Toledo.
3:30pm: The Gasparilla Bowl (12/20, 3:30pm, ABC) will feature Florida and Tulane.
3:38pm: Welcome to El Paso, Louisville and Washington! The Cards and Huskies will play in the Sun Bowl (12/31, 2pm, CBS).
3:42pm: UConn and North Carolina will play in the Fenway Bowl (12/28, 11am, ESPN).
3:47pm: Ole Miss and Duke will attempt to slay each other in the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl (1/2/25, 7:30pm, ESPN).
3:54pm: Our long national nightmare is nearly over. Missouri and Iowa will go to Nashville for the Music City Bowl (12/30, 2:30pm, ESPN). North Texas and Texas State go to the First Responder Bowl (1/3/25, 4pm, ESPN).
4:04pm: Navy and Oklahoma will play in the Armed Forces Bowl (12/27, noon or 3:30pm, ESPN). Vanderbilt and Georgia Tech will meet kind of halfway — if you take the scenic route — in the Birmingham Bowl (12/27, noon or 3:30pm, ESPN).
4:13pm: Our final matchups go to Memphis, as the Liberty Bowl gets Arkansas and Texas Tech (12/27, 7pm, ESPN) and Shreveport, with Marshall taking on Army in the Independence Bowl (12/28, 9:15pm, ESPN).
And that’ll do it for your friendly local Jokey Jokemaker! Thanks for hanging out with me today and all season! Best of luck to your teams in the postseason, and a joyous holiday season to you all!