With the college football regular season over, one question remains; when are the 2023 College Football Playoffs? We’ve got all the answers that you could ever need, to questions that you might not know you had, as the Georgia Bulldogs attempt to win consecutive titles for the first time in the College Football Playoff era.
When Are the 2023 College Football Playoffs?
The semifinals of the 2022-2023 College Football Playoff will both take place on the same date, Saturday, Dec. 31, 2022. The winners will meet in the 2023 College Football National Championship on Monday, Jan. 9, 2023. Kickoffs for the two semifinal games are set for 4 p.m. ET and 8 p.m. ET, with the title game set for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff.
Where Are the 2023 College Football Playoffs?
For this season, the semifinals will be held at the Fiesta Bowl and Peach Bowl in alignment with the rotation agreed upon when the College Football Playoff was created in 2012. The 2023 College Football National Championship will be held at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California.
The 2023 National Championship marks the first time college football will be played in the home of the Los Angeles Rams, Los Angeles Chargers, and the venue for Super Bowl 56.
The first of the two semifinals for the 2023 College Football Playoff takes place at the Fiesta Bowl. Held at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona — the home of the Arizona Cardinals — since 2007, the Fiesta Bowl has been on the College Football Playoff rotation since 2014. It previously held the CFP semifinal in 2016 and 2019.
The second matchup in the 2023 College Football Playoff will be held at the Peach Bowl. Previously hosted at Grant Field, Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, and the Georgia Dome, Mercedes-Benz Stadium has been the home of the Peach Bowl since 2016. Similar to the Fiesta Bowl, the Peach Bowl was previously the venue for the College Football Playoff semifinal in 2016 and 2019.
Which Teams Are in the 2023 College Football Playoff?
When the 2023 College Football Playoff semifinals begin on Dec. 31, which teams will be in action? There have been nearly 1,600 games in the 2022 college football season, and after six weeks of wrangling, the four teams that will do battle for a right to play in the 2023 CFB National Championship were set with the revealing of the final College Football Playoff rankings.
The defending national champion Georgia Bulldogs are the No. 1 ranked team in the nation, and take up their place in the Peach Bowl on Dec. 31, 2022. Kirby Smart’s team went undefeated through the regular season for the second consecutive season and booked their spot in the playoffs by obliterating LSU in the SEC Championship Game.
Facing off against Georgia in the Peach Bowl will be the Ohio State Buckeyes, who were only assured of a place in the 2023 College Football Playoff when the USC Trojans lost in the Pac-12 Championship Game. Although they’ve been a regular piece of the College Football Playoff puzzle, the Buckeyes have never played in the Peach Bowl since its inception in 1968.
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When the TCU Horned Frogs take to the Fiesta Bowl field, they’ll do so for the first time in the College Football Playoff era. Despite losing in the Big 12 Championship to Kansas State, Sonny Dykes’ team finished the season third in the College Football Playoff rankings.
The Michigan Wolverines will contest in the College Football Playoff in consecutive seasons, after becoming back-to-back Big Ten champions for the second time this millennium. The Wolverines last played in the Fiesta Bowl in 1986, beating Nebraska 27-23. A win in the Fiesta Bowl would set up a rematch with either their bitter rival or the team that comprehensively beat them in last year’s College Football Playoff.
