As we sit here on Monday, January 19th and gear up for the 2025-26 College Football National Championship Game, the bad news is that the 2026-27 season’s game is scheduled to be played even later. One year from now, the 2027 College Football Playoff National Championship game is scheduled for Monday, January 25, 2027, at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada, marking the latest date the title game has ever been held.
The College Football Calendar is a Mess
A sport that saw the transfer portal close late last week, but now re-opens this week for players who are still on teams playing in the National Championship Game is exactly the kind bizarreness that only makes sense in college football.
The season needs to be shortened, not lengthened, with college football’s season best to be ending on January 1st, or the Saturday after the New Year. Then, the transfer portal can open for everyone on January 2nd, or the Monday following the Saturday, for a two-week window. This gives everyone the same window and allows players to make decisions prior to the spring semester beginning. I understand the education element of this dwindles every year, but it still does matter for most players to some degree, and it should.
Remove Conference Championship Weekend
The conference championship games are meaningless and dead. The fans don’t care like they used to, and if their team is going to make the Playoff, they may be saving their money for the two or three games they will need to book travel, airfare and tickets.
Here’s what this past season would look like under this hypothetical map.
Saturday, December 6th: First-Round CFP Games
Saturday, December 13th: OPEN date for Army-Navy
Saturday, December 20th: Second-Round CFP Games
Saturday, December 27th: Semifinal CFP Games
Saturday, January 3rd: National Championship Game
Monday, January 5th: Transfer Portal Opens
Monday, January 19th: Transfer Portal Closes
