College football

2026–27 College Football Playoff schedule: dates and TV

The 12-team postseason begins Dec. 18, 2026, and concludes with the national championship in Las Vegas on Jan. 25, 2027.

Ben Carter

Behind the scenes

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The 2026–27 College Football Playoff will use a 12-team bracket for the third consecutive season, according to the NCAA’s published schedule.

The bracket, seeds and first-round matchups are scheduled to be announced Sunday, Dec. 6. The first-round games are set for Dec. 18 and 19, 2026, with four games at campus sites.

First round opens Dec. 18

The schedule lists one first-round game for Friday, Dec. 18, at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN. Three more games are scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 19: at noon ET on ABC and ESPN, at 3:30 p.m. ET on TNT, truTV and HBO Max, and at 7:30 p.m. ET on the same TNT, truTV and HBO Max outlets.

The NCAA schedule identifies the four first-round games as campus-site contests. Matchups and seeds will be announced with the bracket on Dec. 6.

Bowl games set quarterfinal and semifinal dates

The quarterfinal round begins Wednesday, Dec. 30, with the Fiesta Bowl at 7:30 p.m. ET on TNT, truTV and HBO Max. Three more quarterfinals are scheduled for Friday, Jan. 1, 2027: the Cotton Bowl, Rose Bowl and Peach Bowl. The schedule does not list broadcast times for those Jan. 1 games.

The Orange Bowl semifinal is set for Thursday, Jan. 14, at 7:30 p.m. ET on TNT, truTV and HBO Max. The Sugar Bowl semifinal follows Friday, Jan. 15, at 7:30 p.m. ET on ABC and ESPN.

Championship returns to Las Vegas

The national championship game is scheduled for Monday, Jan. 25, 2027, at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. Kickoff is listed for 7:30 p.m. ET, with ABC carrying the game.

Newsroom

All listed times are Eastern. The schedule and broadcast information are from the NCAA’s 2026–27 College Football Playoff schedule.

Byline

Ben Carter

Behind the scenes

Editorial transparency · How this story was created

This article was prepared by the automated Ranko newsroom using tournament data recorded on Ranko Universe at the time of generation. Subsequent updates or corrections may not yet appear here.

This report summarises the results and standings available when it was prepared.

AI-generated editorial illustration. Not a photograph or an official game screenshot.