Football fans will love the holiday schedule this year.
Week 16 of the NFL schedule could feature a Saturday game, which would be mixed in with the first round of the inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff. That is a new scheduling quirk that will lead to more football, which is never a bad thing.
The combination of NFL and college football is going to be quite the overloaded with the added postseason games – and it's going to create one of the best weekends of the year.
The College Football Playoff, however, will be going head to head with the NFL more often, a strategy that could have some interesting side effects for both sports.
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Will College Football Playoff conflict with NFL in Week 16?
Yes, the NFL has a double-header scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 21, in Week 16. The Texans play the Chiefs at 1 p.m. on NBC, and the Steelers and Ravens play on Fox at 4:30 p.m. Those are huge games on the schedule between playoff teams from last season that will be televised across the first-round CFP games.
Here is the schedule for that first round of the College Football Playoff.
| DATE | GAME | TIME | SITE | TV |
| Friday, Dec. 20 | First Round | Evening | Campus | ESPN |
| Saturday, Dec. 21 | First Round | Early afternoon | Campus | ESPN |
| Saturday, Dec. 21 | First Round | Late afternoon | Campus | ESPN |
| Saturday, Dec. 21 | First Round | Evening | Campus | ESPN |
How will the rest of the College Football Playoff impact Week 18 of NFL schedule?
Not at all. The quarterfinals of the College Football Playoff will be played on weekdays this year. The first game will be on New Year's Eve at the Fiesta Bowl. The other three round-of-eight games will be part of a triple-header on New Year's Day – a traditional spot for college football postseason games.
| DATE | GAME | TIME | SITE | TV |
| Tuesday, Dec. 31 | Vrbo Fiesta Bowl | TBD | Glendale, Ariz. | ESPN |
| Wednesday, Jan. 1 | Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl | 12 or 1 p.m. | Atlanta | ESPN |
| Wednesday, Jan. 1 | Rose Bowl Game | 5 p.m. | Pasadena, Calif. | ESPN |
| Wednesday, Jan. 1 | Allstate Sugar Bowl | 8:45 p.m. | New Orleans | ESPN |
The NFL typically plays all its Week 18 games on either Saturday or Sunday.
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NFL Wild Card games and CFP semifinals will create best football weekend of the year
Best football weekend of the year? It's right here. It could be eight postseason games between the college and NFL game over five days, an incredible schedule that should draw huge ratings for both sports.
A look at that schedule for 2024-25 based on the NFL's schedule of postseason games in 2023-24:
| DATE | GAME | TIME | SITE | TV |
| Thursday, Jan. 8 | Capital One Orange Bowl semifinal | TBD | Miami Gardens, Fla. | ESPN |
| Friday, Jan. 9 | Goodyear Cotton Bowl semifinal | TBD | Arlington, Texas | TBD |
| Saturday, Jan. 10 (tentative) | NFL Wild Card | TBD | TBD | TBC |
| Saturday, Jan. 10 (tentative) | NFL Wild Card | TBD | TBD | TBD |
| Sunday, Jan. 11 (tentative) | NFL Wild Card | TBD | TBD | TBD |
| Sunday, Jan. 11 (tentative) | NFL Wild Card | TBD | TBD | TBD |
| Sunday, Jan. 11 (tentative) | NFL Wild Card | TBD | TBD | TBD |
| Monday, Jan. 12 (tentative) | NFL Wild Card | TBD | TBD | TBD |
When is the 2024-25 CFP championship game?
This year's CFP championship game is at 7:30 p.m. ET on Monday, Jan. 20 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. That will be the day after the NFL Divisional playoffs – which run from Jan. 18-19 – are concluded.
