The College Football Playoff

A true post season tournament consisting of four first round games, four quarterfinal games, two semifinal games, and a National Championship.

2025-26

Quarterfinals

Wednesday
December 31, 2025

Rose bowl Prudential logo

Thursday
January 1, 2026

Bracket

Semifinals

Thursday
January 8, 2026

Friday
January 9, 2026

National Championship
Miami

Monday
January 19, 2026

FIRST ROUND

Four Campus | Local Site Games

One game on Friday, Dec 19, 2025

Three games on Saturday, Dec 20, 2025

A look at the cfp bracket

The CFP Selection Committee

  • A 13-member Selection Committee ranks the top 25 college football
    teams weekly starting in late October/early November.
  • This committee decides the rankings of the final 12 teams in the College Football Playoff.

The 12-team CFP consists of four first-round games, four quarterfinal games, two semifinal games, and a National Championship.

ESPN and WBD Sublicense Agreement

  • 2025-2026 College Football Season
    TNT Sports will air two CFP First Round games

  • 2026/2027, 2027/2028 and 2028/2029
    TNT Sports will air two CFP First Round Games, two CFP Quarterfinal Games, and one CFP Semifinal Game

Beyond the 2025-2026 CFP, ESPN announced a new media rights deal with ESPN as the Home of the College Football Playoff through the 2031 season.

The 12-team College Football Playoff will move to a straight seeding model this fall, rewarding the selection committee's top four teams with the top four seeds and a first-round bye.

CFP Game Sites

  • The CFP First Round Games : Take place at either home field or another site selected by the higher seed

  • The CFP Quarterfinal and CFP Semifinal Games: Will be played at the previous New Year’s Six Bowl Games.

  • 2025-2026 College Football Playoff: the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl and the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl will be CFP Semifinal games. The Allstate Sugar Bowl, Capital One Orange Bowl, Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic, and Rose Bowl Game presented by Prudential will be CFP Quarterfinal games.

ESPN and CFP New Media Rights Deal

  • The 2025-2026 season marks the end of ESPN’s current College Football Playoff media rights deal.

  • The new deal between the two entities will start with the 2026/2027 season and continue through 2031/2032 season

Future Schedule of CFP National Championship Games

Airing on and

  • 2026: Miami Gardens, Florida (Hard Rock Stadium)
  • 2027: Las Vegas, Nevada (Allegiant Stadium)
  • 2028: New Orleans, Louisiana (Caesars Superdome)
  • 2029: Tampa Bay, Florida (Raymond James Stadium)

New Seeding Model

  • Bracket will now be seeded based on final CFP Selection committee rankings, rewarding the highest ranked teams and setting up more competitive games

  • Top four teams will receive top four seeds and first round bye regardless of conference affiliation or conference championship

  • The five highest ranked conference championship will still make the CFP

is the home of the College Football Playoff and all surround coverage

ESPN covers the CFP from top to bottom, across all platforms all season long. Key programming and content includes, but is not limited to the following:

Championship Drive: Top 25

Wednesday show starting in mid-October that looks back at the weekend of games while also talking all things CFP

College Football Playoff: Top 25

Weekly CFP rankings release show starting mid-October through the last week of the regular season, where ESPN reveals the CFP Selection Committee’s official rankings

College Football Playoff Selection Day

Full day of College Football coverage with the main CFP Selection Day show releasing the final CFP bracket and rankings

Inside the CFP

An all access look behind the 12 teams’ journey through the College Football Playoff, airing on ESPN+

CFP Game Coverage

From College GameDay, to the games, to the postgame shows and more, ESPN has wall-to-wall coverage surrounding all CFP games across all platforms

Championship Monday

Full day of studio coverage leading into the most anticipated game of the year, coming from on-site at the CFP National Championship site

Premium CFP Social and Digital Coverage

ESPN’s digital and social platforms cover the CFP all season long with top tier content such as CFP specific digital live shows, CFP rankings analysis, All Access content from CFP games, CFP game highlights, and more

Current Official Sponsors

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A pre-built fund made up of the CFP Sponsorship fee and additional dollars that can be used to support marketing and activation costs for the sponsor around the CFP.

Any use of the activation fund must be mutually agreed to by Disney Advertising and Sponsor. Examples of how this can be used may include but is not limited to:
  • Activation costs related to CFP Events (including Sponsorship Fees/Rights)
  • CFP Championship Weekend hospitality initiatives,
    Activation build-out
  • Disney CreativeWorks costs
  • ESPN talent costs 

In order to secure a College Football Playoff Official Sponsorship, a brand must pay a CFP Sponsorship Fee. 

The fee will provide a brand Official Sponsor status and access to CFP Sponsor benefits such as, CFP Marketing Rights and IP, on-site activation space across CFP Championship Weekend public events, inclusion in ESPN’s Championship Weekend signage plan, tickets and hospitality, CFP multimedia sponsorship opportunities, and more.

A pre-built fund that can be used to support marketing and activation costs for the sponsor around the College Football Playoff.