2026 College Football Playoff National Championship

2026 College Football Playoff National Championship
12th College Football Playoff National Championship
Date	January 19, 2026
Season	2025
Stadium	Hard Rock Stadium
Location	Miami Gardens, Florida
United States TV coverage
Network	ESPN
Announcers	Chris Fowler (play-by-play), Kirk Herbstreit (analyst), Holly Rowe and Molly McGrath (sidelines)
International TV coverage
Network	ESPN Deportes Brazil: ESPN Brazil/Disney+ United Kingdom: Sky Sports
Announcers	ESPN Brazil: Matheus Pinherio (play-by-play), Weinny Eirado (analyst), Eduardo Zolin (analyst), and Giane Pessoa (rules analyst) ESPN Deportes Eduardo Varela (play-by-play), Pablo Viruega (analyst), Katia Castorena and Ciro Procuna (sidelines)
College Football Playoff National Championship  ← 2025   2027 →

The 2026 College Football Playoff National Championship will be a college football bowl game that is scheduled to be played on January 19, 2026, at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. The twelfth College Football Playoff National Championship will determine the national champion of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) for the 2025 season. It will be the final game of the 2025–26 College Football Playoff (CFP), and, aside from any all-star games afterwards, the culminating game of the 2025–26 bowl season. It will be televised nationally by ESPN.

Background

Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, the site of the College Football Playoff National Championship.

Host selection

On August 15, 2022, the CFP awarded the rights to host the 2026 championship to Hard Rock Stadium. ^[1] As Hard Rock Stadium hosted the 2021 CFP national championship, the 2026 game will make Miami Gardens the second city to host the CFP national championship twice, after Atlanta, which hosted the championship last year. The stadium is the regular host of the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League (NFL), the Miami Hurricanes, the University of Miami's NCAA Division I college football team, and the Orange Bowl.

The stadium was also the host of the Florida Marlins of Major League Baseball (MLB) until their move to LoanDepot Park in 2012. In addition, it hosted four BCS National Championship Games (2001, 2005, 2009, and 2013) and six Super Bowl games (XXIII, XXIX, XXXIII, XLI, XLIV, and LIV). It also hosted three matches during the 2024 Copa América including the final. In the future, it has been selected to host matches during the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup and the 2026 FIFA World Cup, including the third-place playoff match. ^{[2] [3]}

College Football Playoff

Main article: 2025-26 College Football Playoff

The game will be the twelfth in College Football Playoff history.

First round

Quarterfinals

Semifinals

Championship

Dec. 31 - Cotton Bowl, AT&T Stadium

Dec. 19 or 20 - On Campus

Jan. 8 – Fiesta Bowl, State Farm Stadium

Jan. 1 - Orange Bowl, Hard Rock Stadium

Dec. 19 or 20 - On Campus

Jan. 19 - Hard Rock Stadium

Jan. 1 - Rose Bowl, Rose Bowl Stadium

Dec. 19 or 20 - On Campus

Jan. 9 - Peach Bowl, Mercedes-Benz Stadium

Jan. 1 - Sugar Bowl, Caesars Superdome

Dec. 19 or 20 - On Campus

Teams

TBD

Game Summary

Scoring summary

2026 College Football Playoff National Championship

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
TBD	0	0	0	0	0
TBD	0	0	0	0	0

at Hard Rock Stadium Miami Gardens, Florida

• Date: January 19, 2026
• Game time: 7:30 p.m. EST
• Game weather: TBD
• Game attendance: TBD
• Referee: TBD
• TV announcers (ESPN): Chris Fowler (play-by-play), Kirk Herbstreit (analyst), Holly Rowe and Molly McGrath (sidelines)

Broadcasting

The game is planned to be televised in the United States on ESPN for the twelfth consecutive year, with Megacast coverage across numerous other channels in the ESPN family. In addition to the main national broadcast on ESPN, the Megacast coverage will feature Field Pass hosted by The Pat McAfee Show on ESPN2, the Command Center feed with multiple angles and live statistics on ESPNU, the Skycast on ESPNews, and a Spanish-language broadcast on ESPN Deportes. In Canada, the game will be televised on TSN. ESPN Radio will carry the national radio broadcast of the game and the WatchESPN website and mobile application will feature "Hometown Radio" feeds featuring each team's regular radio commentators.

Notes

TBD

See also

• College football national championships in NCAA Division I FBS

References

1. bhenderson (2022-08-15). "College Football Playoff National Championship Returns To Miami In 2026". Hard Rock Stadium. Retrieved 2024-09-12.
2. "FIFA names 12 stadiums set to stage historic FIFA Club World Cup 2025". FIFA . September 28, 2024. Retrieved December 1, 2024.
3. Molski, Max (February 5, 2024). "List of every 2026 FIFA World Cup match by host city". NBC10 Boston . Retrieved December 1, 2024.