Triple header twist sets up unforgettable New Year's Day for 2026 College Football Playoff

The 2025 College Football Playoff was the first year of the expanded 12-team format. Unfortunately for Georgia football, this new format did not result in any success as the Bulldogs were bounced out of the playoff by Notre Dame in their first game in the quarterfinals.

That however does not take away from how successful of an event the CFP was last year as the addition of the four first round games on campuses was awesome to see. The obvious goal each year for Georgia is to earn the coveted first round bye by winning the SEC, but that won't happen every season. So it is just a matter of time until Georgia gets to play a first round game in Sanford Stadium.

The 2025 playoff however was not perfect as there were some timing issues that caused games to overlap. The College Football Playoff and ESPN noticed this and made some adjustments to address this in an announcement made on Tuesday.

Key 2026 College Football Playoff Information

No information about the first round games has been announced yet, but the CFP and ESPN did announce dates and start times for the quarterfinal, semifinal and National Championship rounds.

The CFP quarterfinals will have just one game on New Year's Eve with a lineup of three straight games on New Year's Day. It's the New Year's Day matchups that saw a slight adjustment in start times (now scheduled for noon, 4 pm and 8pm) to decrease the chance of them overlapping. From there the semifinals will take place on Jan. 8 and 9 with the National Championship game on Jan. 19.

CFP Executive Director Rich Clark explained why they are adjusting the New Year's Day start times in a statement on Tuesday.

“This New Year’s Day schedule adjustment is the result of a thoughtful collaboration between the CFP, ESPN, the Capital One Orange Bowl, the Rose Bowl Game presented by Prudential, and the Allstate Sugar Bowl,” said Rich Clark, executive director of the College Football Playoff. “All three bowls shifting their start times allows us to place each game in an ideal window on New Year’s Day and provide the optimal viewing experience. New Year’s Day and college football are synonymous with each other, and these changes only strengthen that relationship.”

Georgia and Kirby Smart are never a guarantee to make the College Football Playoff, but more often than not they will be included in the 12-team field. So UGA fans no longer have to worry about any game cutting into Georgia's broadcast window with the adjustment to these start times.

Now all that's left for Georgia to do is have another great season which hopefully will result in a deeper run in the playoff next year.