ATHENS — Georgia fans might want to take note of the dates for the expanded College Football Playoffs as they plan the next few family events and vacations.
The two-time defending Bulldogs will be looking for a three-peat in the final year of the four-team model for the College Football Playoff this season before shifting to an expanded field of 12 following the 2024 season.
The dates for the 12-team playoffs, which will include a first round featuring home games for some teams, have been set:
2024 Season
First Round (On-Campus)
• Friday, December 20, 2024: One Game (evening)
• Saturday, December 21, 2024: Three Games (early afternoon, late afternoon and evening)
Quarterfinals
• Tuesday, December 31, 2024: Vrbo Fiesta Bowl (evening)
• Wednesday, January 1, 2025: Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl (early afternoon),
• Rose Bowl Game (late afternoon) and Allstate Sugar Bowl (evening)
Semifinals
• Thursday, January 9, 2025: Capital One Orange Bowl (evening)
• Friday, January 10, 2025: Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic (evening)
CFP National Championship
• Monday, January 20, 2025: Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, Georgia
2025 Season
First Round (On-Campus)
• Friday, December 19, 2025: One Game (evening)
• Saturday, December 20, 2025: Three Games (early afternoon, late afternoon and evening)
Quarterfinals
• Wednesday, December 31, 2025: Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic (evening)
• Thursday, January 1, 2026: Capital One Orange Bowl (early afternoon), Rose Bowl Game (late afternoon) and Allstate Sugar Bowl (evening)
Semifinals
• Thursday, January 8, 2026: Vrbo Fiesta Bowl (evening)
• Friday, January 9, 2026: Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl (evening)
CFP National Championship
• Monday, January 19, 2026: Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens, Florida
As a refresher, the 12-team playoff will consist of the six conference champions ranked highest by the CFP committee in addition to the six highest-ranked other teams.
The top four ranked conference champions will receive first-round byes, and then the other eight ranked teams will play the first-round games on campuses, with the higher seed hosting.
Here’s last year’s CFP rankings, and how a 12-team CFP Playoff field would have looked:
CFP rankings
(* indicates conference champion)
1. Georgia*
2. Michigan*
3. TCU
4. Ohio State
5. Alabama
6. Tennessee
7. Clemson*
8. Utah*
9. Kansas State*
10. USC
11. Penn State
12. Washington
13. Florida State
14. Oregon State
15. Oregon
16. Tulane*
How 12-team CFP Playoff would have looked in 2022
First-round byes:
(Of the six-highest ranked conference champs who quality for the playoffs, the four highest ranked get byes while the other two play first-round games seeded by their ranking)
1. Georgia
2. Michigan
3. Clemson
4. Utah
First-round games:
(Remaining eight teams in field, with higher seed hosting)
No. 5 seed TCU plays host to No. 12 seed Tulane
No. 6 seed Ohio State plays host to No. 11 seed Penn State
No. 7 seed Alabama plays host to No. 10 seed USC
No. 8 seed Tennessee plays host to No. 9 seed Kansas State
Georgia coach Kirby Smart said as far back as the end of the 2020 season that he was in favor of the 12-team playoff.
Of course, the Bulldogs had already scheduled aggressively in anticipation of the field expanding from four to eight with future home-and-home series against UCLA (2025-2026), Florida State (2027-2028), Clemson (2029-2030) and Ohio State (2030-2031).
“I would be in favor of saying let’s go to 12 …. maybe the first four get a bonus or a bye or something like that,” Smart said more than two years ago.
“If they did that, somebody within that back five, six, seven, eight is going to win a national championship at some point. That’s giving everybody a realistic shot.”
