The college football calendar in December is creating more storylines off the field than on the field. The transfer portal, expanded College Football Playoff and coaching carousel have created an overlapping timeline for players and coaches trying to finish their existing seasons with their teams while planning ahead for the future. As the sport moves toward another expansion of the playoff and the portal seeing more entries every year, leaders within the sport have to find a solution to keep attention on the field while games are still being played.
Movement in the portal unofficially begins in earnest following the final games on Thanksgiving Weekend at the end of November, despite the official start date of January 2nd. Conference championship games, bowl games and the College Football Playoff will all take place over the following seven weeks, long after the game of musical chairs of the portal started. Players on teams participating in the playoff or major bowl games have to decide between finishing their seasons in their current spot, or moving on to their next destination before the current job is done.
In the current 12-team playoff format, along with the upcoming 16-team playoff format in 2027, the playoff features on-site games in the first round, followed by quarterfinal, semifinal and championship games at neutral sites. Fans of schools making deep runs in the playoff have to potentially plan for four trips within five weeks if they wish to follow their team reach the pinnacle of college football. Semifinal and championship games take place deep in to January, long after the holiday season ends, and even after the start of the next academic semester.
Getting a head start in roster construction in the transfer portal has added a third wrench into the college football calendar, forcing coaches like Lane Kiffin to ditch his current Ole Miss Rebels for his new team the LSU Tigers. I cannot blame Lane for leaving now to get a head start on crucial roster construction (that will make or break his 2026 LSU Tigers) but it feels wrong that he cannot see it through to the end with his 2025 Ole Miss Rebels.
On top of all of this, while often forgotten, these are college athletes. Players in the portal need to find their next spot in hopes of getting onto a new roster in time for the Spring Semester, where they can get settled at their new school and begin offseason workouts for their new teams.
Moving the Calendar Forward
The primary change that could ease the madness of December is moving the season forward into Mid-August. Most schools already have students on campus, and games like the Aer Lingus College Football Classic have taught us that fans aren’t scared to end their summers early to watch college football, even on another continent.
Example regular season calendar:
(using 2026 game dates)
- Week 0 – Aug 15
- Week 1 – Aug 23
- Week 2 – Aug 30
- Week 3 – Sep 6
- Week 4 – Sep 13
- Week 5- Sep 20
- Week 6 – Sep 27
- Week 7 – Oct 4
- Week 8 – Oct 11
- Week 9 – Oct 18
- Week 10 – Oct 25
- Week 11 – Nov 1
- Week 12 – Nov 8
- Week 13 – Nov 15
- Conf Title Games – Nov 21 & 22
By moving the season forward into Mid-August, the calendar allows for conference championship games to be completed prior to the Thanksgiving Holiday. This also allows for the playoff to begin in prime Thanksgiving Holiday television slots. All schools would be able to elect to begin in Week 0 if they prefer two bye weeks throughout the season, or begin in Week One, depending upon school start dates, state fair conflicts, or local climate concerns.
Example College Football Playoff calendar:
- First round – Nov 27, 28, 29 (Thanksgiving weekend at home sites)
- Quarterfinals – Dec 5-6 (home sites)
- Semifinals – Dec 13 (at two existing playoff neutral sites)
- Championship – Jan 1 (at Rose Bowl)
- Existing bowl games would take place Dec 20 – Jan 1
By moving the calendar forward, playoff games will begin on campuses during the Thanksgiving Holiday, which most campuses already do in the final week of the regular season. Moving Quarterfinal games to home sites allows for less travel for fans of teams who make it deep into the playoff, and have full venues for all games. Semifinal games could also take place on campus, however, the existing bowls would likely push back heavily, leading to this compromise. The semifinal round being complete by December 13th means all but two teams are done playing prior to finals week and preparations for the transfer portal and coaching carousel.
Finally, this calendar allows for the CFB Championship to take place at the Rose Bowl on January 1st every year in an ode to tradition during an era where seemingly all tradition has gone by the wayside.
Portal Calendar
- Portal Open – Jan 2
- Portal Close – Jan 16
This proposal has no change to the existing portal period, however all games will have been completed prior to the official opening, meaning players like Beau Pribula can finish the season with his Penn State Nittany Lions prior to making portal visits.
Other considerations – related to the schedule or otherwise to improve the issues above
- Have all schools start August 15th: this would allow for conference championship games to take place on November 15th, providing a break before the playoff.
- Eliminate conference championship games: Playoff seeding would go off of 12 regular-season data points and provide more flexibility of scheduling and bye weeks.
- Move conference championship games on campus: This reduces travel and allows for home fans to have one more game at home.
- Restructure non-playoff bowls: Eliminate conference ties and have a draft of bowl games every year after the playoff field is announced. In addition to this draft, create more bowl games in domed (or future domed) NFL stadiums in non-traditional “destination” sites for the sake of proximity to campuses (examples: Denver, Indianapolis, Minneapolis, St. Louis) for more ease of travel for fans.
- Realignment sanity: Go back to conference alignment that makes geographic sense for easier travel (Seriously, we wouldn’t need conference championship games if there were six or seven 10-team leagues — but I realize the toothpaste is out of the tube here)
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