What to know about the 2024-25 College Football Playoff

Metro Creative Services

The college football landscape has changed dramatically in recent years. Conference realignments and name, image and likeness (NIL) deals have transformed a sport once steeped in tradition into something far less recognizable.

College football fans know that the changes have not affected the excitement on the field, as much ballyhooed matchups lived up to the hype and surprises dominated seemingly every fall Saturday. And one particularly notable change figures to add even more excitement to the 2024-25 season, which will conclude with a new and expanded playoff format.

What is the biggest change about the 2024-25 playoff format?

The College Football Playoff has been in place for 11 years, but this is the first year when the playoff will feature a 12-team format. Critics of the playoff have long argued for an expanded field, feeling that the once-standard, four-team field shortchanged smaller schools and annually left deserving teams from powerful conferences on the outside looking in. Such calls should end this season, when 12 teams will compete for a shot to win a national championship.

How can teams qualify for the College Football Playoff?

The NCAA notes that the new 12-team College Football Playoff field will include the five highest-ranked conference champions, each of whom will receive automatic bids. The other seven playoff spots will go to the seven highest-ranked remaining teams. The four highest-ranked teams in the field will receive a first-round bye.

When do the playoffs begin?

The expanded format means the Playoff, which in recent years has begun on New Year’s Eve, will begin on the weekend of Dec. 20-21. The opening first round game will begin at 8 p.m. EST on Friday, Dec. 20, and will air on ABC/ESPN. The first round continues with three games on Dec. 21, with the first airing at noon on TNT Sports and the second, also airing on TNT Sports, beginning at 4 p.m. The final game of the first round will be broadcast on ABC/ESPN on Saturday, Dec. 21, at 8 p.m. The higher-seeded teams will play host for the first round.

Teams that advance beyond the first round will get a 10-day break before the quarterfinals begin with the Fiesta Bowl at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 31. The new year then begins with three quarterfinals games on Jan. 1. The Peach Bowl kicks off the day at 1 p.m., and the Rose Bowl (5 p.m.) and the Sugar Bowl (8:45 p.m.) will host the final two quarterfinal games. All four quarterfinals games will air on ESPN.

The semifinal round will kick off with the Orange Bowl on Thursday, Jan. 9, at 7:30 p.m. The Cotton Bowl hosts the second semifinal on Friday, Jan. 10, at 7:30 p.m. Both games will air on ESPN.

The college football season will then wrap up Monday, Jan. 20, at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. The national championship game kicks off at 7:30 p.m. and will air on ESPN.

College football is never short on excitement. This season’s expanded playoff format figures to deliver even more exciting action between Dec. 20 and Jan. 20.