Was thinking about this earlier, and trying to figure out what next year's bowl/CFP schedule will look like, and how they're going to fit all of these games in. Here's the CFP schedule, for reference:
2024 Season
First of all, the 2024 & 2025 season calendars are strange, due to the early Labor Day/late Thanksgiving structure (that also results in 2 bye weeks during the season). In 2024, the conference championship games will be Dec. 7, then (typically) the Army-Navy game is unopposed on Dec. 14. Then the first round CFP games are the following weekend (one Friday night 12/20, the other three Saturday 12/21). So when in the world are they going to fit in all of the other random lower and mid-tier bowl games? Those would typically start that weekend of 12/21, but I'd be shocked if they put games like the Myrtle Beach & New Orleans Bowls up against the first round CFP games. They likely won't play any (or many) bowl games on Sunday, Dec. 22 (against NFL), and then Christmas is on the following Wednesday. Then the CFP Quarterfinals are on Tuesday, 12/31 and Wednesday, 1/1. I guess they're just going to cram as many games as possible into 12/23 and 12/24, and then go super-heavy from 12/26-12/31 (before the CFP QF that night). I can't imagine "normal" NYD games like the Citrus & Outback bowls going up against CFP games, so I would guess they'll move. I'm guessing some bowl games will be played between 1/2-1/4 (Thursday-Saturday), even though they're after NYD. They used to do this pretty regularly until a few years ago, in fact. Will be interesting to see, and will likely result in fewer games with exclusive viewing windows.
One other thing to keep in mind- 4 highly-ranked teams will have their seasons end on 12/20 or 21, which takes 4 teams out of the "normal bowl inventory". You thought some bad teams made bowls before- now they're going to have to find at least 4 more (likely 6-6 or even 5-7) teams to take a few more open slots.
CFP LINK: https://collegefootballplayoff.com/news/2023/5/2/24-25-dates.aspx
2024 Season
- First Round (On-Campus)
- 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)
- CFP National Championship
- Monday, January 20, 2025: Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, Georgia
First of all, the 2024 & 2025 season calendars are strange, due to the early Labor Day/late Thanksgiving structure (that also results in 2 bye weeks during the season). In 2024, the conference championship games will be Dec. 7, then (typically) the Army-Navy game is unopposed on Dec. 14. Then the first round CFP games are the following weekend (one Friday night 12/20, the other three Saturday 12/21). So when in the world are they going to fit in all of the other random lower and mid-tier bowl games? Those would typically start that weekend of 12/21, but I'd be shocked if they put games like the Myrtle Beach & New Orleans Bowls up against the first round CFP games. They likely won't play any (or many) bowl games on Sunday, Dec. 22 (against NFL), and then Christmas is on the following Wednesday. Then the CFP Quarterfinals are on Tuesday, 12/31 and Wednesday, 1/1. I guess they're just going to cram as many games as possible into 12/23 and 12/24, and then go super-heavy from 12/26-12/31 (before the CFP QF that night). I can't imagine "normal" NYD games like the Citrus & Outback bowls going up against CFP games, so I would guess they'll move. I'm guessing some bowl games will be played between 1/2-1/4 (Thursday-Saturday), even though they're after NYD. They used to do this pretty regularly until a few years ago, in fact. Will be interesting to see, and will likely result in fewer games with exclusive viewing windows.
One other thing to keep in mind- 4 highly-ranked teams will have their seasons end on 12/20 or 21, which takes 4 teams out of the "normal bowl inventory". You thought some bad teams made bowls before- now they're going to have to find at least 4 more (likely 6-6 or even 5-7) teams to take a few more open slots.
CFP LINK: https://collegefootballplayoff.com/news/2023/5/2/24-25-dates.aspx
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