The College Football Playoff has officially set game dates for the expanded 12-team playoff that begins following the 2024 season.

The new format includes on-campus games in the first round, and incorporates the New Year’s Six bowls for the quarterfinals and semifinals. As previously reported, the first round and semifinals will include some Thursday and Friday games in order to avoid conflict with the NFL.

The top four teams in the Playoff rankings will receive a bye until the quarterfinals. In the first round, the No. 5 seed will host No. 12, No. 6 will host No. 11, No. 7 will host No. 10 and No. 8 will host No. 9.

“We are pleased to be able to announce these game dates today,” said Bill Hancock, Executive Director of the College Football Playoff. “We appreciate the efforts of all the parties involved in finalizing this schedule. This is the next significant step in bringing clarity to the launch of the 12-team playoff format in 2024. We still have a lot of work ahead of us, but this is an important milestone along the way.”

The 2023 college football season will be the last to operate under the current four-team playoff format, which has been in place since 2014. The semifinals take place Jan. 1 at the Rose Bowl and Sugar Bowl, with the national championship game set for Jan. 8 at NRG Stadium in Houston.

Here are the game dates for the 2024-25 playoff (kickoff times and broadcast information will be released at a later date.):

First round (on-campus)

Friday, Dec. 20: one game (evening)

Saturday, Dec. 21: three games (early afternoon, late afternoon and evening)

Quarterfinals

Tuesday, Dec. 31: Tuesday, December 31, 2024: Vrbo Fiesta Bowl (evening)

Wednesday, Jan. 1: Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl (early afternoon), Rose Bowl Game (late afternoon) and Allstate Sugar Bowl (evening)

Semifinals

Thursday, Jan. 9: Capital One Orange Bowl (evening)

Friday, Jan. 10: Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic (evening)

CFP National Championship

Monday, Jan. 20: Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, Georgia

—

Here are the game dates for the 2025-26 playoff (kickoff times and broadcast information will be released at a later date.)::

First round (on-campus)

Friday, Dec. 19: one game (evening)

Saturday, Dec. 20: three games (early afternoon, late afternoon and evening)

Quarterfinals

Wednesday, Dec. 31: Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic (evening)

Thursday, Jan. 1: Capital One Orange Bowl (early afternoon), Rose Bowl Game (late afternoon) and Allstate Sugar Bowl (evening)

Semifinals

Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026: Vrbo Fiesta Bowl (evening)

Friday, Jan. 9, 2026: Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl (evening)

CFP National Championship

Monday, Jan. 19: Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens, Florida