College Football Playoff rankings show schedule: TV channel, time
Rankings make or break teams in college football.
And while the AP Top 25 rankings and Coaches Poll help us understand where the top teams stand up to now, the one that really matters is the official College Football Playoff poll created by the committee.
Here's a look at the CFP committee's schedule for releasing the 2022 rankings.
College Football Playoff Rankings Schedule
All times Eastern, all on ESPN network and fuboTV (Try for free)
CFP rankings release No. 1 — Tuesday, Nov. 1 at 7-8 p.m. Recap: The first College Football Playoff top 25 rankings
CFP rankings release No. 2 — Tuesday, Nov. 8 at 7-8 p.m. Recap: The second College Football Playoff rankings
CFP rankings release No. 3 — Tuesday, Nov. 15 at 9-9:30 p.m. Recap: The third College Football Playoff rankings
CFP rankings release No. 4 — Tuesday, Nov. 22 at 7-8 p.m. Recap: USC, Clemson trending up in fourth College Football Playoff rankings
CFP rankings release No. 5 — Tuesday, Nov. 29 at 7-7:30 p.m. Recap: Michigan, USC surge in fifth CFP top 25 rankings
Selection Day — Sunday, Dec. 4 at 12-4 p.m.
College Football Playoff Rankings Criteria
College Football Playoff selectors create top 25 rankings based on their evaluation of teams’ performance on the field.
The committee employs several metrics to select the best teams.
- Strength of schedule
- Head-to-head game results
- Results vs. teams in top 25 rankings
- Results vs. common opponents
- Conference championships
College Football Playoff electors also use advanced analytics to gauge teams’ play, but those numbers don’t play a formal role in the committee creating its top 25 rankings.
College Football Playoff 2022-23 Schedule
Dec. 31, 2022 Fiesta Bowl
Dec. 31, 2022 Peach Bowl
Jan. 9, 2023 National Championship
This is the ninth year that college football has a playoff system, which replaced the former Bowl Championship Series (BCS) ahead of the 2014 season.
Ohio State won the first championship under the current system. Alabama (2015, ’17, ’20) and Clemson (2016 and ’18) are the only programs to win multiple titles in the playoff era.
Here's a rundown of every College Football Playoff to date.
2014
Rose Bowl — No. 2 Oregon 59, No. 3 Florida State 20
Sugar Bowl — No. 4 Ohio State 42, No. 1 Alabama 35
CFP National Championship — No. 4 Ohio State 42, No. 2 Oregon 20
2015
Orange Bowl — No. 1 Clemson 37, No. 4 Oklahoma 17
Cotton Bowl — No. 2 Alabama 38, No. 3 Michigan State 0
CFP National Championship — No. 2 Alabama 45, No. 1 Clemson 40
2016
Fiesta Bowl — No. 2 Clemson 31, No. 3 Ohio State 0
Peach Bowl — No. 1 Alabama 24, No. 4 Washington 7
CFP National Championship — No. 2 Clemson 35, No. 1 Alabama 31
2017
Rose Bowl — No. 3 Georgia 54, No. 2 Oklahoma 48 ( 2 OT)
Sugar Bowl — No. 4 Alabama 24, No. 1 Clemson 6
CFP National Championship — No. 4 Alabama 26, No. 3 Georgia (OT)
2018
Orange Bowl — No. 1 Alabama 45, No. 4 Oklahoma 34
Cotton Bowl — No. 2 Clemson 30, No. 3 Notre Dame 3
CFP National Championship — No. 2 Clemson 44, No. 1 Alabama 16
2019
Peach Bowl — No. 1 LSU 63, No. 4 Oklahoma 28
Fiesta Bowl — No. 3 Clemson 29, No. 2 Ohio State 23
CFP National Championship — No. 1 LSU 42, No. 3 Clemson 25
2020
Rose Bowl — No. 1 Alabama 31, No. 4 Notre Dame 14
Sugar Bowl — No. 3 Ohio State 49, No. 2 Clemson 28
CFP National Championship — No. 1 Alabama 52, No. 3 Ohio State 24
2021
Cotton Bowl — No. 1 Alabama 27, No. 4 Cincinnati 6
Orange Bowl — No. 3 Georgia 34, No. 2 Michigan 11
CFP National Championship — No. 3 Georgia 33, No. 1 Alabama 18
College Football Playoff Rankings History
Let's look at every final Top 4 College Football Playoff rankings, with the eventual national champion listed in bold.
2014-15
- Alabama
- Oregon
- Florida State
- Ohio State
2015-16
- Clemson
- Alabama
- Michigan State
- Oklahoma
2016-17
- Alabama
- Clemson
- Ohio State
- Washington
2017-18
- Clemson
- Oklahoma
- Georgia
- Alabama
2018-19
- Alabama
- Clemson
- Notre Dame
- Oklahoma
2019-20
- LSU
- Ohio State
- Clemson
- Oklahoma
2020-21
- Alabama
- Clemson
- Ohio State
- Notre Dame
2021-22
- Alabama
- Michigan
- Georgia
- Cincinnati