The inaugural season of the 12-team College Football Playoff will commence with a first-round match on December 20 and conclude with the championship game a month later in Atlanta.
The CFP has unveiled its complete schedule on Wednesday. The four first-round games will take place on December 20 and 21. ABC and ESPN will broadcast games on Friday and Saturday nights at 8 p.m. EST, while TNT will air the afternoon games on December 21 at 12 p.m. and 4 p.m. The afternoon games will coincide with two NFL matchups, Houston-Kansas City at 1 p.m. and Baltimore-Pittsburgh at 4:30 p.m.
According to Mike Mulvihill, Fox’s president of insights and analytics, both audiences can be accommodated. Fox will air the Ravens-Steelers game against the CFP late afternoon games.
“I believe that the NFL and college football can coexist on that date. I anticipate both events will receive good ratings,” he stated.
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The locations for the four first-round games, which will be held on college campuses, will be announced on December 8. TNT has secured rights to broadcast a pair of games through a sublicense with ESPN.
ESPN’s $7.8 billion agreement with the CFP, announced in March, permitted the sublicensing of games to other networks. The financial details of the sublicense were not disclosed.
The quarterfinals, semifinals, and championship game will be shown on ESPN.
The top four conference champions will receive byes in the first round. The quarterfinals will kick off on December 31 with the Fiesta Bowl at 7:30 p.m. New Year’s Day will start with the Peach Bowl at 1 p.m., followed by the traditional Rose Bowl at 5 p.m. and the Sugar Bowl at 8:45 p.m.
The semifinals are set for the Orange Bowl on January 9 and the Cotton Bowl on January 10, both starting at 7:30 p.m. The championship game will take place on January 20 in Atlanta.
ESPN will announce its schedule for most bowl games on Thursday.
