College Football Playoff schedule skips New Year’s Eve games for 2026-27 season

Get your calendars ready, college football fans. The College Football Playoff (CFP), ESPN, and TNT Sports have officially unveiled the broadcast schedule and kickoff times for the 2026-27 postseason. While ESPN has served as the home of the CFP since 2015, this season marks a major shift as the network enters the first year of an expanded package that features five games sublicensed to TNT Sports.

The Road to the Title

The excitement kicks off with the First-Round matchups, which will be hosted on campus sites. We will find out exactly where those games are taking place on Selection Day, Sunday, Dec. 6. Fans looking to catch the action on ESPN networks can stream everything via the ESPN App, while the first-round games slated for TNT and truTV will be available to stream on HBO Max.

Quarterfinals and Beyond

The tournament intensity ramps up in the quarterfinal round as the action moves to the Fiesta Bowl, Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, Cotton Bowl Classic, and the Rose Bowl Game. This year also marks a historic milestone, as TNT Sports will broadcast a CFP Semifinal for the first time as part of its partnership with ESPN and Warner Bros. Discovery.

Building on Momentum

The stakes couldn't be higher following a massive year for the sport. The previous CFP final, which saw Indiana take home the trophy, drew a staggering 30.1 million viewers. That showdown stood as the most-watched college football game since January 2015, the second most-watched title game in the history of the CFP era, and the No. 2 cable telecast on record.

Stay tuned to 205focus.com for all your latest CFP coverage.