College Football Playoff Confirms Dates For First Round In 2024
The College Football Playoff will expand to 12 teams in 2024, and the first-round games will be played on Friday, December 20, 2024, and Saturday, December 21, 2024, CFP commissioner Bill Hancock said to reporters on Thursday.
The first round will feature one game on Friday and three games on Saturday.
Bill Hancock confirms that the first round of the 2024 expanded playoff will be third week of December with one game Friday and three Saturday against the NFL. Semifinals will be on midweek to avoid NFL Wild Card weekend.
— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) April 27, 2023
College Football Playoff 2024 Schedule
After the first round, the quarterfinals will likely be played during the week to avoid competition with the NFL. Three games are expected to be played on January 1, 2025, and one game will be played either on December 31, 2024, or January 2, 2025.
The semifinals will be played on weeknights to avoid competition with the NFL’s Wildcard Weekend. Those games will be played on Thursday, January 9, 2025, or Friday, January 10, 2025.
The College Football Playoff Championship will be played on Monday, January 20, 2025, in Atlanta.
First-round games will be played on the home field of the higher seeds or at another site picked by the higher seeds. The quarterfinals and semifinals will be played in bowl games on a rotating basis, similar to how the 4-team CFP works.
In 2024, the Fiesta Bowl, Peach Bowl, Rose Bowl, and Sugar Bowl will host the quarterfinals, while the Cotton Bowl and Orange Bowl will host the semifinals.
2024 College Football Playoff Expands To 12-Teams
CFP has distributed this to media. It’s last year’s rankings plugged into a 2024 expanded field pic.twitter.com/I8xrwdMoMj
— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) April 27, 2023
The 2023 College Football Playoff will be the last edition to include four teams. Starting in 2024, the CFP will expand to 12 teams.
In the 12-team playoff, seeds 5-12 will play in the first round, while seeds 1-4 will receive a bye. The winners will move on to play in the quarterfinals. Then, those winners move into the final four before crowning a champion in the National Championship.
To recap:
2024 College Football Playoff Schedule
- First round (at higher seeds): Friday, December 20 (one game) and Saturday, December 21 (three games)
- Quarterfinals (at bowl sites): Wednesday, January 1 (three games) and Tuesday, December 31/January 2 (one game)
- Semifinals (at bowl sites): Thursday, January 9 and/or Friday, January 10 (two games)
- Championship (Atlanta): Monday, January 20
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