Commissioner Bill Hancock Announces Schedule For Expanded CFB Playoff Games

SALT LAKE CITY – College Football Playoffs commissioner Bill Hancock gave an exciting update on the 12-team expanded CFB Playoff on Thursday.

The first-round playoff games will come in the third week of December, the same week as the NFL Playoff’s Wild Card games.

Bill Hancock confirms that the first round of the 2024 expanded playoff will be third week of December with one game Friday and three Saturday against the NFL. Semifinals will be on midweek to avoid NFL Wild Card weekend.

— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) April 27, 2023

To avoid competing with the NFL viewership, the games will likely be played on Friday and Saturday.

The quarterfinals will be played just after the new year on January 1.

Three quarterfinals for 2024, as expected, are to be played on New Year’s Day and one will be played on New Year’s Eve or Jan. 2. Hancock says “that’s the direction” things are heading but it is not finalized.

— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) April 27, 2023

New College Football Playoff Format

An article from Sports Illustrated outlines what the 12-team tournament may look like.

The following points were approved by members of the CFP Board of Managers:

• The 12 teams will be the six conference champions ranked highest by the selection committee (no minimum ranking requirement), plus the six highest-ranked teams not included among the six highest-ranked conference champions.
• The ranking of the teams will continue to be done by a selection committee whose size, composition, and method of selection will remain substantially unchanged. The Management Committee will modify the selection protocol as required by the change to the playoff structure.
• The four highest-ranked conference champions will be seeded one through four and each will receive a first-round bye.
• The other eight teams will play in the first round with the higher seeds hosting the lower seeds either on campus or at other sites designated by the higher-seeded institution (No. 12 at No. 5, No. 11 at No. 6, No. 10 at No. 7, and No. 9 at No. 8.)
• The model allows for first-round games to be played on either the second or third weekend in December in a way that best accommodates the format and the participating teams, with at least 12 days between the conference championship games and the first-round games. The Management Committee would make the final determination of the calendar.
• Subject to reaching an agreement with bowls, the four quarterfinal games and two Playoff Semifinal games would be played in bowls on a rotating basis.
• The national championship game will continue to be played at a neutral site.
• Subject to reaching agreement with bowls, the four highest-ranked conference champions will be assigned to quarterfinals bowls on selection day in ranking order, and in consideration of current contract bowl relationships if those bowls are selected for the rotation. For example, if the Pac-12 champion were ranked No. 1, the Big Ten champion were ranked No. 3, and the Rose Bowl were a quarterfinal site, the Pac-12 champion would be assigned to the Rose Bowl and the Big Ten champion would be assigned elsewhere.
• With the four highest-ranked champions assigned to quarterfinal games in bowls, the opponent from first-round game winners will be assigned by the selection committee based on the bracket.
• The higher seeds would receive preferential placement in the Playoff Semifinal games.
• First-round games will not have title or presenting sponsors and existing venue signage will remain in place. The CFP will control the video boards.

Chandler Holt is a Digital Sports Producer for KSLSports.com, specializing in all things basketball and football. Follow Chandler on Twitter at @ChandlerHoltKSL.

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