2026 College Football Playoff Schedule Revealed with Dates, Times, TV Info ahead of CFB Season

A new College Football Playoff champion will be crowned Jan. 25.

The CFP, along with broadcast partners TNT Sports and ESPN, announced the dates and kickoff times for the 11 postseason games for the 2026-27 college football campaign on Monday. It all builds toward the national championship game, which will take place at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on Jan. 25 at 7:30 p.m. ET:

The format of the CFP for the upcoming season should be a familiar one for college football fans with the first-round games taking place on campus of the team with the better seed before the bowl games come into play for the quarterfinal and semifinals.

There will once again be a 12-team field following last season's format, but there is nothing but uncertainty after that.

Full Miami (FL) Hurricanes - Indiana Hoosiers Highlights

03:55

After all, the 12-team format is only set to be in place through the 2026-27 season. CFP expansion has been a dominant topic hovering over the sport for months, and the end result will surely be more teams fighting for a national title than even the 12 in the current bracket.

Ross Dellenger of Yahoo Sports reported last month the American Football Coaches Association voted in support of a 24-team CFP when it recommended "the maximum number of participants" to college leaders.

The AFCA also voted to discontinue conference championship games as part of that expansion.

Dellenger explained the Big Ten has supported a 24-team model with the SEC supporting a 16-team model, which is notable since both sides must agree for an official format to be adopted. The back and forth has continued throughout the offseason with no solution yet to be reached.

For now, the CFP will remain at 12 teams for the upcoming season. It will be the third consecutive season with a 12-team bracket with Ohio State and Indiana taking home the last two national titles in such a format.

Monday's announcement highlighted that Indiana's national title game victory over Miami last season was seen by 30.1 million viewers, which was the most-watched college football game since Ohio State defeated Oregon in the national title game in January 2015.