Kickoff Times, TV Schedule Announced for College Football Playoff

After an extremely successful season, the Missouri Tigers are in the running for the 2024-25 College Football Playoff, especially with its new 12-team format.

Dec 29, 2023; Arlington, Texas, USA; Missouri Tigers head coach Eliah Drinkwitz hoists the Field Scovell Trophy following their 14-3 win over the Ohio State Buckeyes in the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic at AT&T Stadium. / Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA

At the beginning of this past season, the Missouri Tigers were nowhere near the consensus radar of College Football Playoff contenders, let alone an appearance in the top 25. However, they finished with an 11-2 record, their best since 2014, and ended the season with a No. 8 overall rank in the polls after a Cotton Bowl victory over Ohio State.

Earlier in the season, it was confirmed that the College Football Playoff's 4-team format would turn to 12. In other words, Mizzou would've made the CFP this past season if this was the format.

Under the new format, the four highest-ranked conference champions will be the top seeds and will receive a first round bye, while teams seeded 5-through-12 will play each other in the first round on the home field of the higher-ranked team. Those matchups would be No. 12 at No. 5, No. 11 at No. 6, No. 10 at No. 7 and No. 9 at No. 8.

On Wednesday, the CFP announced kickoff times and the TV schedule for each of the first round games, plus the quarterfinal, semifinal and National Championship.

2024-25 College Football Playoff Schedule / Obtained from the CFP X/Twitter

The inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff will begin with the first CFP First Round game on Friday, December 20 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC and ESPN. First round action will continue on Saturday, December 21, as TNT Sports will present games at noon and 4 p.m., while ABC and ESPN will broadcast the third-game of Saturday's triple-header at 8 p.m. Each of the four first round games will be played on campuses to be announced on Selection Day, December 8.

ESPN will present each of the four Playoff Quarterfinals, the two Playoff Semifinals and the 2025 CFP National Championship, slated for Monday, January 20 at Atlanta's Mercedes-Benz Stadium. This marks the first time the CFP National Championship has returned to a city for a second game, after Atlanta hosted the title contest in 2018.

The SEC leads all conferences in CFP appearances as they've had at least one member make all 10. Missouri is also aiming for an SEC Championship next season, but even if it doesn't make that game, it'll still have a shot to qualify under this new 5-7 format as there's no limit on conference participants.