CFP National Championship 2025: date, start time, location and everything you need to know

The road to the national college champion in the NCAA circuit is underway, which will be defined in the game for the 2025 College Football Playoff National Championship. It is an unusual date for what we knew as the collegiate championship, which was defined in the first days of January

However, the NCAA expanded the schedule for this knockout tournament to include 12 teams. This caused the dates for the national championship game to be moved back by about 10 days

Related:

Classification of teams in the College Football Playoff 2024-25

The title will be contested by 12 teams, chosen by the CFP selection committee, with its final ranking released on Sunday, December 8.

The five highest-ranked conference champions and seven other teams will participate. The four highest-ranked conference champions will have a bye week and will play directly from the quarter-final round. The remaining teams will play a one-game playoff at the stadium of the higher-ranked team. The winners will face in neutra territories from quarterfinals and beyond.

1. Oregon Ducks
2. Georgia Bulldogs
3. Boise State Broncos
4. Arizona State Sun Devils
5. Texas Longhorns
6. Penn State Nittany Lions
7. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
8. Ohio State Buckeyes
9. Tennessee Volunteers
10. Indiana Hoosiers
11. SMU Mustangs
12. Clemson Tigers

First round

• Indiana 17 – 27 Notre Dame
• SMU 10 – 38 Penn State
• Clemson 24 – 38 Texas
• Tennessee 17 – 42 Ohio State

Quarterfinals

• Fiesta Bowl: Boise State vs. Penn State | 7:30 p.m. ET | Tuesday, Dec. 31
• Peach Bowl: Arizona State vs. Texas | 1 p.m. ET | Wednesday, Jan. 1
• Rose Bowl: Oregon vs. Ohio State | 5 p.m. ET | Wednesday, Jan. 1
• Sugar Bowl: Georgia vs. Notre Dame | 8:45 p.m. ET | Wednesday, Jan. 1

Semifinals

• Orange Bowl: Penn State/Boise State winner vs Notre Dame/Georgia winner | 7:30 p.m. ET | Thursday, Jan. 9
• Cotton Bowl: Texas/Arizona State winner vs Ohio State/Oregon winner | 7:30 p.m. ET | Friday, Jan. 10

The College National Championship Game is scheduled for January 20 at 19:30 ET/16:30 PT.

The College National Championship Game will take place at the spectacular Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia, which will host Super Bowl LXII in 2028.

This venue was already the venue for the national championship in 2018, when Alabama defeated Georgia in overtime. It is a state-of-the-art stadium, opened in 2017 and is home to the Atlanta Falcons (NFL) and a Atlanta United FC (MLS). It also hosted the Super Bowl in 2019.

The broadcast of the 2025 CFP National Championship game will be on ESPN and streaming via ESPN.com and ESPN+.

Unlike the Super Bowl, in the NCAA football final there are no artists to liven up the halftime show, although there is entertainment.

The cheapest ticket for the national championship game costs $1,158. Tickets for seats in the lower bowl of Mercedes-Benz Stadium start at $1,560.

At 26.5 inches tall and 35 pounds, the oblong-shaped trophy tapers into a full-size football flattened at the top. Made of 24-carat gold, bronze and stainless steel, the trophy represents a four-strand soccer ball, representing the teams competing in the playoffs.

Teams advancing to the final national championship game will recive around $23 million.