2026-27 College Football Playoff Schedule is locked in. Four First Round games spread across two days. Four Quarterfinals split between a Wednesday and New Year’s Day. And a National Championship set for Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. The matchups themselves are still six months from being decided, but the full college football playoffs schedule is now complete.
2026-27 College Football Playoff Schedule
Four First Round Games, No Matchups Yet
The College Football Playoff Schedule 2026-27 opens with a single game on Friday, December 18, followed by three more on Saturday, December 19.
- Friday, Dec. 18 – 8:00 PM ET (ESPN)
- Saturday, Dec. 19 – 12:00 PM ET (ABC/ESPN)
- Saturday, Dec. 19 – 3:30 PM ET (TNT/truTV/HBO Max)
- Saturday, Dec. 19 – 7:30 PM ET (TNT/truTV/HBO Max)
Every First Round game is hosted on campus at the higher seed’s home stadium. Which teams play where will not be known until the final rankings and field are set on December 6. The college football playoffs schedule places all four opening games inside a 24-hour window, giving the first weekend of the playoffs a true tournament feel.
The Quarterfinals Split a Bowl Week
An eleven-day gap separates the First Round from the Quarterfinals.
- Wednesday, Dec. 30 – Vrbo Fiesta Bowl (State Farm Stadium, 7:30 PM ET)
- Friday, Jan. 1 – Goodyear Cotton Bowl (AT&T Stadium)
- Friday, Jan. 1 – Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl (Mercedes-Benz Stadium)
- Friday, Jan. 1 – Rose Bowl Game (Rose Bowl Stadium)
The remaining three Quarterfinals are all bunched onto New Year’s Day itself. None of the three currently has a confirmed kickoff time or network assignment. That New Year’s Day tripleheader remains one of the signature features of the expanded college football playoff format.
The Semifinals Move to Mid-January
CFP National Championship 2027 preparations effectively begin two weeks after the Quarterfinals. The Semifinals take over two traditional New Year’s bowls on back-to-back nights:
- Thursday, Jan. 14 – Capital One Orange Bowl (Hard Rock Stadium, 7:30 PM ET)
- Friday, Jan. 15 – Allstate Sugar Bowl (Caesars Superdome, 7:30 PM ET)
Both games kick off at 7:30 p.m. ET.
The National Championship Closes the Season in Las Vegas
The season’s final game lands on a Monday night:
- Monday, Jan. 25, 2027 – CFP National Championship
- Venue: Allegiant Stadium, Las Vegas, NV
- Kickoff: 7:30 PM ET on ABC/ESPN
This will be the first time Allegiant Stadium hosts the title game in the current rotation. The full College Football Playoff Schedule 2026-27 now runs from mid-December through late January, giving the sport its longest and most structured postseason window yet under the 12-team format.
