When and where is the 2025 CFP National Championship Game? Date, time and place

It’s so close college football fans can almost taste it, but the College Football Playoff National Championship Game is almost here. The first year of the 12-team CFP hasn’t been what many expected, especially with the only undefeated team in the country entering the Playoff, the Oregon Ducks, leaving without a single win.

That said, just like basketball’s March Madness, it’s impossible not to get carried away by the drama and excitement of the 12-team CFB Playoff. While one can debate whether the volatility of a larger field in college football truly identifies the best team for the entire season, it actually gives us a deserving champion, even if it largely means we’re getting hot at the right time.

But the CFP National Championship Game was the playoff game for all 12 teams that made the playoffs. However, fans of the remaining teams can’t help but wonder when and where their team will play next, so let’s take a look at everything you need to know about natty.

The College Football Playoff National Championship Game will be played on Monday, January 20, 2025. The game is set for kickoff at 7:30 p.m. ET, and the main broadcast will be presented on ESPN, although the likes of ESPN2, ABC, ESPNU and many other networks in the family under the mother ship will also have alternate broadcasts.

With the expansion of the CFP to 12 teams for this season, the national championship game is much later than it has been in previous years, more than a week later. We’ve usually seen the title game played on the second Monday in January. However, the second week was the date of the two semifinal games of the playoffs, giving the teams still alive 11 and 10 days, respectively, to recover before playing for a championship.

The CFP National Championship Game will be played at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, GA on January 20th. While it may feel like the umpteenth time we’ve seen the Playoff-era title game played in Atlanta, this is actually only the second time the NM game itself has been played inside the Falcons. The first time was back in the 2017-18 CFP when the Alabama Crimson Tide behind the heroics of Tua Tagovailoa beat the Georgia Bulldogs, 26-23, in overtime.

After the game in Atlanta this season, the CFP National Championship Game will then head to Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, FL for the 2025-26 Playoff and then Allegiant Stadium in Paradise, NV for natty 2026-27.

As of this writing, the participants for the national championship game have not been determined, but only four teams remain in the College Football Playoff. The Notre Dame Fighting Irish were set to take on the Penn State Nittany Lions in the Orange Bowl in the first of two semifinals. In the other game for the Cotton Bowl, the Ohio State Buckeyes take on the Texas Longhorns. In the first year of the 12-team format, many fans were shocked to see that none of the top four seeds that received a bye made the quarterfinals and lost in their first games in the CFP.