The College Football Playoff has announced the 2025-26 schedule, kickoff times, and TV designations for the second year of the expanded 12-team format.
The College Football Playoff quarterfinals begin on New Year’s Eve (Wednesday, Dec. 31) with the CFP Quarterfinal at the Goodyear Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas, at 7:30pm ET on ESPN.
Quarterfinal round action continues on New Year’s Day, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026, with games at the Capital One Orange Bowl in Miami Gardens, Fla. (noon ET, ESPN), Rose Bowl Game in Pasadena, Calif. (4:00pm ET, ESPN), and Allstate Sugar Bowl in New Orleans, La. (8:00pm ET, ESPN).
The College Football Playoff Semifinals this season will be played on consecutive weeknights in January. The Vrbo Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, Ariz., is up first on Thursday, Jan. 8, followed by the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl in Atlanta, Ga., on Friday, Jan. 9. Both games will be televised by ESPN at 7:30pm ET.
The College Football National Championship concludes the college football season on Monday, Jan. 19, 2026. The two playoff semifinal winners will meet at Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium and the game will be televised by ESPN at 7:30pm ET.
The College Football Playoff begins on Friday, Dec. 19, 2025 with one First Round game, followed by the remaining three First Round games on Saturday, Dec. 20. Kickoff times and TV designations for those games will be announced at a later date.
Check out the complete schedule for the 2025-26 College Football Playoff below:
FIRST-ROUND GAMES
Friday, Dec. 19, 2025
CFP First Round Game – TBA
Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025
CFP First Round Game – TBA
CFP First Round Game – TBA
CFP First Round Game – TBA
QUARTERFINAL ROUND GAMES
Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025
Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic – 7:30pm, ESPN
Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2026
Capital One Orange Bowl – 12pm, ESPN
Rose Bowl Game – 4pm, ESPN
Allstate Sugar Bowl – 8pm, ESPN
SEMIFINAL ROUND GAMES
Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026
Vrbo Fiesta Bowl – 7:30pm, ESPN
Friday, Jan. 9, 2026
Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl – 7:30pm, ESPN
Monday, Jan. 19, 2026
CFP National Championship – 7:30pm, ESPN
Hard Rock Stadium – Miami Gardens, Fla.
College Football Playoff Schedule
2025-26 College Football Playoff Schedule set pic.twitter.com/FmY2rNOBLp
— FBSchedules.com (@FBSchedules) April 22, 2025
I would greatly appreciate it that Z-Man to PLEASE stop doing racist Mason-Dixon CFP playoff format & I did not like the way he discriminated all teams from South & will not tolerate you being a bigot.
Also Z-Man CFB still rule the South & they have passionate Fans just like everybody else & you need treat everybody like they are equal.
Hmm so they moved the Rose Bowl kickoff time up an hour?
I think historically it was a 1 PM or 1:30 PM start, now in recent years it’s been 2 PM.
1 PM is much better since it won’t push the Sugar Bowl start time back too much, and the game will end when it’s still sunny out.
Evan I am a fan of 1:00PM local time kickoff of Rose Bowl.
Personally I think 1:30 would have been a little better. Sunset in Pasadena on January 1 is 4:54 PM, and given that CFB games are roughly 3:30 long, it would put the end of the game right as the sun goes down. That way, the Sugar Bowl can still start before 7:30 PM Central Time.
Evan Do not mind having minor split opinions on Kickoff times for Rose Bowl have zero concerns over it.
Have a safe & happy day Evan.
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Why can’t ABC broadcast the games for us regular people to enjoy
Many Networks like ABC do not want late evening programming like local News, Jimmy Kimmel & Nightline to run behind schedule because with sports telecast running past 11:00PM ET/10:00PM ET & there are other viewers besides you Karl.