College Football Playoff 2026-27 Schedule — First Round Dec. 18-19, Title Game Jan. 25 in Las Vegas
The 2026-27 CFP opens with four first-round games at campus sites Dec. 18-19, then quarterfinals Dec. 30-Jan. 1, semifinals Jan. 14-15, and the title game Jan. 25 at Allegiant Stadium, Las Vegas.
★Only the first round is played on campus
The four **first-round games are played at campus sites on December 18-19, 2026** — the higher-seeded team hosts, so these are the only playoff games held at a school's own stadium.[1][2]
★Everything after that moves to neutral bowl venues. The **quarterfinals run December 30 through January 1**, the **semifinals are January 14-15 at the Orange Bowl and Sugar Bowl**, and the **title game is January 25 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas**. ★If you are planning to attend, the campus round is the only one where the location depends on who wins.[1][2]
★The two-week gap that surprises people
★There is a **two-week gap between the quarterfinals and the semifinals** — quarterfinals end **January 1**, semifinals do not begin until **January 14**. The playoff stretches across **more than five weeks in total, December 18 to January 25**.[1][2]
★That gap is why the CFP calendar does not look like a normal single-elimination bracket. A team that wins on January 1 waits nearly a fortnight before playing again, and the championship comes a further ten days after the semifinals.[1][2]
★What is not confirmed here
★Reporting describes a **12-team field with straight seeding** and a **Selection Day of December 6**, but we could not verify the seeding and automatic-bid rules on the College Football Playoff's own website — its pages did not return readable text.[1][2]
★So the **dates and venues above are confirmed by two independent outlets**, while the **bracket mechanics should be treated as reported, not verified**. For the authoritative format, check the CFP's own announcement when it is accessible.[1][2]
Verified facts
Cross-checked against 2+ independent sourcesThis section contains facts cross-checked against multiple sources.
The 2026-27 College Football Playoff begins with four first-round games played at campus sites on December 18-19, 2026.[1][2] 2 sources
The CFP quarterfinals are scheduled for December 30, 2026 through January 1, 2027, with the Fiesta Bowl among the quarterfinal sites.[1][2] 2 sources
The CFP semifinals are scheduled for January 14-15, 2027, at the Orange Bowl and the Sugar Bowl.[1][2] 2 sources
The national championship game is scheduled for January 25, 2027 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.[1][2] 2 sources
The playoff spans from December 18, 2026 to January 25, 2027.[1][2] 2 sources
Reported, not confirmed
Not cross-checked — do not read as factFrom here on: claims and speculation that are not cross-checked.
Reports describe the 2026-27 bracket as a 12-team field using straight seeding, with Selection Day on Sunday, December 6, 2026. The seeding and automatic-bid rules could not be confirmed on the College Football Playoff's own site, whose pages did not render readable text; treat the bracket mechanics as reported rather than verified here.[1][2] single-source ×2 · Press reporting (CFP official site not machine-readable)
Timeline
- Model
- claude-opus-5
- Time
- 09/08/2026, 07:50
- Tokens
- 9,000
- Sources
- 2 sources adopted
- Model
- claude-opus-5 (ESPN・FOX の原文で日程と会場を確認、シード規則は未確認のため claims に分離)
- Time
- 09/08/2026, 07:50
- Tokens
- 9,000
- Verdict
- Passed
Show revision history (2)
| 09/08/2026, 09:00 | First authored (claude-opus-5) | Created |
| 09/08/2026 | New document. Schedule and venues confirmed against two independent outlets; the CFP's own site did not render readable text, so seeding and automatic-bid rules are recorded as reported rather than verified. | Updated |
Frequently asked
When does the 2026-27 College Football Playoff start?
The first round is December 18-19, 2026, with four games played at campus sites.[1][2]
When and where is the national championship game?
Which playoff games are played on campus?
Only the first round. The quarterfinals, semifinals and championship are all at neutral bowl venues.[1][2]