College Football Playoff opens with 1 game Dec. 19 and 3 more on Dec. 20; TV and kickoff times set

IRVING, Texas (AP) — The College Football Playoff will open with one first-round game on Dec. 19 and three more on Dec. 20, CFP administrators announced Tuesday.

The Friday night game will start at 8 p.m. EST and be televised by ABC and ESPN, as will the noon game on Saturday. TNT, truTV and HBO Max will carry the 3:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. games on Saturday. Each of the first four games will be played on campuses of the higher-seeded teams.

The quarterfinals begin at the Cotton Bowl on New Year’s Eve at 7:30 p.m. The other quarterfinals are New Year’s Day at the Orange Bowl at noon, Rose Bowl at 4 p.m. and Sugar Bowl at 8 p.m.

Semifinals are Jan. 8 at the Fiesta Bowl and Jan. 9 at the Peach Bowl, and the championship game is at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, on Jan. 19. All three of those games start at 7:30. ESPN will televise all quarterfinals and semifinals and the championship game.

The initial CFP rankings will be released Tuesday night.