Now that the college football regular season has come and gone and the conference champions have been crowned, the attention turns to the postseason with a loaded slate of bowl games set to grace our television sets this holiday season.
There may not be a more anticipated season in college football history. In addition to the usual schedule of bowl games, this year ushers in the first season of the 12-team College Football Playoff era. What was once tabbed the New Year's Six will now be part of the new playoff system after the first-round games have been played at home sites.
Fresh off a win in the SEC Championship Game, Georgia (11-2) earned the No. 2 seed with Mountain West champion Boise State (12-1) and Big 12 champion Arizona State (11-2) rounding out the top four seeds -- all conference title holders receiving first-round byes as part of the new 12-team format.
Clemson (10-3), the lone Power Four champion not to receive a bye, picked up the No. 12 seed and will open the first round playing at No. 5 seed Texas (11-2). All first-round games will be held at the sites of the lower-seeded teams placed higher in the final CFP Rankings.
Rounding out the first-round matchups, No. 8 seed Ohio State (10-2) will host No. 9 seed Tennessee (10-2), No. 6 seed Penn State (11-2) welcomes No. 11 seed SMU (10-2) and No. 7 seed Notre Dame (11-1) will see No. 10 seed Indiana (11-1) come to town.
Quarterfinal and semifinal games will be held at traditional New Year's Six bowl sites. The Rose Bowl will host Oregon and the winner of Tennessee-Ohio State, the Sugar Bowl gets Georgia and the winner of Indiana-Notre Dame, the Fiesta Bowl hosts Boise vs. the winner of SMU-Penn State and the Peach Bowl draws Arizona State vs. either Texas or Clemson.
in the semifinals, the Orange Bowl hosts the winners from the Georgia-Boise State side of the bracket. The Cotton Bowl will host whichever teams emerge from the Oregon-Arizona State side.
As part of bowl season, CBS will continue its run broadcasting the Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl. Kickoff is set for 2 p.m. ET on Dec. 31 in El Paso, Texas.
Below is a detailed look at the complete schedule for the 2024-25 college football season, including dates, locations and TV channels. All times are Eastern.
College Football Playoff
| Date | Bowl | Time (TV) | Matchup |
|---|---|---|---|
Jan. 20 | National Championship | 7:30 (ESPN) | Semifinal winners |
Jan. 10 | Cotton (CFP Semifinal) | 7:30 p.m. (ESPN) | TBA vs. TBA |
Jan. 9 | Orange (CFP Semifinal) | 7:30 p.m. (ESPN) | TBA vs. TBA |
| Jan. 1 | Sugar (CFP Quarterfinal) New Orleans | 8:45 p.m. (ESPN) | (2) Georgia vs. Indiana/Notre Dame winner |
| Jan. 1 | Rose (CFP Quarterfinal) Pasadena, Calif. | 5 p.m. (ESPN | (1) Oregon vs. Tennessee/Ohio State winner |
| Jan. 1 | Peach (CFP Quarterfinal) Atlanta | 1 p.m. (ESPN) | (4) Arizona State vs. Clemson/Texas winner |
| Dec. 31 | Fiesta (CFP Quarterfinal) Glendale, Ariz. | 7:30 p.m. (ESPN) | (3) Boise State vs. SMU/Penn State winner |
| Dec. 21 | CFP First Round | 8 p.m. (ABC & ESPN) | (9) Tennessee at (8) Ohio State |
| Dec. 21 | CFP First Round | 4 p.m. (TNT) | (12) Clemson at (5) Texas |
| Dec. 21 | CFP First Round | Noon (TNT) | (11) SMU at (6) Penn State |
| Dec. 20 | CFP First Round | 8 p.m. (ABC & ESPN) | (7) Notre Dame 27, (10) Indiana 17 |
Other bowl games
| Date | Bowl | Location | Time (TV) | Matchup |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan. 4 | Bahamas | Nassau, Bahamas | 11 a.m. (ESPN2) | Buffalo vs. Liberty |
| Jan. 3 | Duke's Mayo | Charlotte, NC. | 7:30 p.m. (ESPN) | Minnesota vs. Virginia Tech |
| Jan. 3 | First Responder | Dallas | 4 p.m. (ESPN) | North Texas vs. Texas State |
| Jan. 2 | Gator | Jacksonville, Fla. | 7:30 p.m. (ESPN) | Duke vs. Ole Miss |
| Dec. 31 | Texas | Houston | 3:30 p.m. (ESPN) | Baylor vs. LSU |
| Dec. 31 | Citrus | Orlando, Fla. | 3 p.m. (ABC) | South Carolina vs. Illinois |
| Dec. 31 | Sun | El Paso, Tx. | 2 p.m. (CBS) | Louisville vs. Washington |
| Dec. 31 | ReliaQuest | Tampa | 12 p.m. (ESPN) | Michigan vs. Alabama |
| Dec. 30 | Music City | Nashville, Tenn. | 2:30 p.m. (ESPN) | Missouri vs. Iowa |
| Dec. 28 | Independence | Shreveport, La. | 9:15 p.m. (ESPN) | Army vs. Louisiana Tech |
| Dec. 28 | Alamo | San Antonio. | 7:30 p.m. (ABC) | BYU vs. Colorado |
| Dec. 28 | Military | Annapolis, Md. | 5:45 p.m. (ESPN) | NC State vs. ECU |
| Dec. 28 | Arizona | Tucson, Az. | 4:30 p.m. (CW Network) | Colorado State vs. Miami (OH) |
| Dec. 28 | Pop-Tarts | Orlando, Fla. | 3:30 p.m. (ABC) | Miami vs. Iowa State |
| Dec. 28 | New Mexico | Albuquerque, New Mexico | 2:15 p.m. (ESPN) | TCU vs. Louisiana |
| Dec. 28 | Pinstripe | Bronx, NY | 12 p.m. (ABC) | Boston College vs. Nebraska |
| Dec. 28 | Fenway | Boston | 11 a.m. (ESPN) | North Carolina vs. UConn |
| Dec. 27 | Las Vegas | Las Vegas | 10:30 p.m. (ESPN) | USC vs. Texas A&M |
| Dec. 27 | Holiday | San Diego | 8 p.m. (FOX) | Syracuse vs. Washington State |
| Dec. 27 | Liberty | Memphis, Tenn. | 7 p.m. (ESPN) | Texas Tech vs. Arkansas |
| Dec. 27 | Armed Forces | Fort Worth, Texas | Noon or 3:30 p.m. (ESPN) | Oklahoma vs. Navy |
| Dec. 27 | Birmingham | Birmingham, Ala. | Noon or 3:30 p.m. (ESPN) | Georgia Tech vs. Vanderbilt |
| Dec. 26 | 68 Ventures | Mobile, Ala. | 9 p.m. (ESPN) | Arkansas State vs. Bowling Green |
| Dec. 26 | Rate | Phoenix | 5:30 p.m. (ESPN) | Rutgers vs. Kansas State |
| Dec. 26 | GameAbove Sports | Detroit | 2 p.m. (ESPN) | Pitt vs. Toledo |
| Dec. 24 | Hawai'i | Honolulu | 8 p.m. (ESPN) | South Florida 41, San Jose State 39 (5OT) |
| Dec. 23 | Potato | Boise, Idaho | 2:30 p.m. (ESPN) | Northern Illinois 28, Fresno State 20 (2OT) |
| Dec. 23 | Myrtle Beach | Conway, SC | 11 a.m. (ESPN) | UTSA 44, Coastal Carolina 15 |
| Dec. 20 | Gasparilla | Tampa | 3:30 p.m. (ESPN) | Florida 33, Tulane 8 |
| Dec. 20 | Cure | Orlando, Fla. | 12 p.m. (ESPN) | Ohio 30, Jacksonville State 27 |
| Dec. 19 | New Orleans | New Orleans | 7 p.m. (ESPN2) | Sam Houston 31, Georgia Southern 26 |
| Dec. 18 | LA | Inglewood, Calif. | 9 p.m. (ESPN) | UNLV 24, Cal 13 |
| Dec. 18 | Boca Raton | Boca Raton, Fla. | 5:30 p.m. (ESPN) | James Madison 27, Western Kentucky 17 |
| Dec. 17 | Frisco | Frisco, Texas | 9 p.m. (ESPN) | Memphis 42, West Virginia 37 |
| Dec. 14 | IS4S Salute to Veterans | Montgomery, Ala. | 9 p.m. (ESPN) | South Alabama 30, Western Michigan 23 |
| Dec. 14 | Celebration | Atlanta | 12 p.m. (ABC) | Jackson State 28, South Carolina State 7 |
