Packed college football bowl schedule: NFL conflicts, expanded playoff

The expansion of the College Football Playoff to 12 teams means there will be college games aplenty during the holidays and after New Year's Day in 2025.

And in a scheduling twist, college football will find its first-round playoff games on Dec. 21 going head-to-head with a pair of NFL Saturday games that could weigh on the AFC playoff picture -- the Houston Texans at Kansas City Chiefs and Pittsburgh Steelers at Baltimore Ravens.

The complete college bowl schedule was announced Thursday, with bowl season kicking off Dec. 14 with the Cricket Celebration Bowl in Atlanta and the Camellia Bowl in Montgomery, Ala., and culminating with the national championship game on Jan. 20 in Atlanta.

In between, there will be nearly four dozen college bowl games played, including four CFP first-round games on Dec. 20-21, one quarterfinal on Dec. 31, three quarterfinals on Jan. 1, and the Orange Bowl and Cotton Bowl moving from their traditional holiday week time slots to Jan. 9 and 10, respectively, to host semifinal games.

Eight of those games will be played on Dec. 28 alone, giving football fans an extra holiday-week treat.

Below is the complete bowl schedule, without a listing for the Holiday Bowl. That game has yet to be scheduled. All times are Eastern.

--Dec. 14

Celebration Bowl, noon, ABC

Camellia Bowl, 9 p.m., ESPN

--Dec. 17

Boca Raton Bowl, 5:30 p.m., ESPN

Frisco Bowl, 9 p.m. ESPN

--Dec. 18

LA Bowl, 9 p.m., ESPN

--Dec. 19

New Orleans Bowl, 7 p.m., ESPN2

--Dec. 20

Cure Bowl, Noon, ESPN

Gasparilla Bowl, 3:30 p.m., ESPN

CFP first-round game, 8 p.m., ABC/ESPN

--Dec. 21

CFP first-round game, noon, TNT

CFP first-round game, 4 p.m., TNT

CFP first-round game, 8 p.m., ABC/ESPN

--Dec. 23

Myrtle Beach Bowl, 11 a.m., ESPN

Potato Bowl, 2:30 p.m., ESPN

--Dec. 24

Hawaii Bowl, 8 p.m., ESPN

--Dec. 26

Detroit Bowl, 2 p.m., ESPN

Guaranteed Rate Bowl, 5:30 p.m., ESPN

68 Ventures Bowl, 9 p.m., ESPN

--Dec. 27

Armed Forces Bowl, noon or 3:30 p.m., ESPN

Birmingham Bowl, noon or 3:30 p.m., ESPN

Liberty Bowl, 7 p.m., ESPN

Las Vegas Bowl, 10:30 p.m., ESPN

--Dec. 28

Fenway Bowl, 11 a.m., ESPN

Pinstripe Bowl, noon, ABC

New Mexico Bowl, 2:15 p.m., ESPN

Pop-Tarts Bowl, 3:30 p.m., ABC

Arizona Bowl, 4:30 p.m., The CW

Military Bowl, 5:45 p.m., ESPN

Alamo Bowl, 7:30 p.m., ABC

Independence Bowl, 9:15 p.m., ESPN

--Dec. 30

Music City Bowl, 2:30 p.m., ESPN

--Dec. 31

ReliaQuest Bowl, noon, ESPN

Sun Bowl, 2 p.m., CBS

Citrus Bowl, 3 p.m., ABC

Texas Bowl, 3:30 p.m., ESPN

Fiesta Bowl, 7:30 p.m., ESPN (CFP quarterfinal)

--Jan. 1

Peach Bowl, 1 p.m., ESPN (CFP quarterfinal)

Rose Bowl, 5 p.m., ESPN (CFP quarterfinal)

Sugar Bowl, 8:45 p.m., ESPN (CFP quarterfinal)

--Jan. 2

Gator Bowl, 7:30 p.m., ESPN

--Jan. 3

First Responder Bowl, 4 p.m. ET, ESPN

Duke's Mayo Bowl, 7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN

--Jan. 4

Bahamas Bowl, 11 a.m., ESPN2

--Jan. 9

Orange Bowl, 7:30 p.m., ESPN (CFP semifinal)

--Jan. 10

Cotton Bowl, 7:30 p.m., ESPN (CFP semifinal)

--Jan. 20

National championship game, 7:30 p.m., ESPN

--Field Level Media