The CFP announces dates and locations and its not great

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There is a common angst among college football fans with the College Football Playoff, the length of the grind and for teams like Notre Dame, they’ve had to adjust much of what they do to get to the end.

Last season, the Irish and Ohio State, and this year with Indiana and Miami, saw their seasons conclude almost two months after the regular season ended. The hope was that the CFP committee would make some adjustments to the schedule, but as we found out on Tuesday, that won’t be the case.

According to multiple sources, the quarterfinal games for 2026 will be played on Dec. 30th and Jan. 1st, and then just over two weeks later the semifinals will be played. The scheduled is very similar for the 2027 season as well, and it just doesn’t feel like college football.

As Josh Pate pointed out, Saturday, Nov. 14th is the midpoint of the “season” which is crazy to think about. There is no need for such a large gap, and I personally hate that these games aren’t played on Saturday’s. Sure, contending with the NFL isn’t a great idea, but college football has plenty of history playing on Saturday’s. The long layoffs are unnecessary as well, as players are accustomed to just a week to prepare for the next game.

Hopefully some changes will be made going forward, but for at least the next two seasons, the CFP schedule will be long and drawn out.

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This article originally appeared on Fighting Irish Wire: The CFP announces dates and locations for ‘26 & ‘27 and its not great

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