Last month we reported that EA Sports has a deal in place that allows them to use the new 12 team college football playoff structure in EA Sports College Football 25.
At that point it we still didn’t know how exactly it would work with incorporating various bowl games in a 4 round tournament. We now have more details.
The playoffs for the 2024 and 2025 college football seasons will use this schedule:
2024 Season
First Round
The first round will be played at the higher seeds’ stadium.
- 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)
Championship
- Monday, January 20, 2025: Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, Georgia
2025 Season
First Round
The first round will be played at the higher seeds’ stadium.
- 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)
Championship
- Monday, January 19, 2026: Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens, Florida
Based on this schedule, you can see that the playoff committee did a decent job of incorporate the different Bowls into a schedule that makes sense.
For example, we’ll still get the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day as the sun goes down in the late afternoon.
We know that EA Sports has secured the rights to the College Football Playoffs and all 10 FBS conferences, but we don’t yet know if deals are in place with the various high profile bowl games and stadiums.
We’ll get more details on that as the EA Sports College Football 25 release date gets closer.
