When is the 2026 CFB National Championship?
The 2026 College Football Playoff National Championship is scheduled for Monday, January 19, 2026, with kickoff at 7:30 p.m. Eastern Time (ET).
On X, @CFBPlayoff highlighted that only a few possible College Football Playoff National Championship matchups remain and teased which pairing fans will ultimately see take the field in Miami’s 305 on January 19, 2026.
For many fans, that means a Monday night that looks suspiciously like a national holiday: screens pulled up at work, group chats buzzing, and dinner plans quietly rearranged around kickoff.
In local time, that is 5:30 p.m. MST, 4:30 p.m. PST, and 6:30 p.m. CT, so West Coast viewers may still be fighting traffic while the pregame show rolls.
It closes out the 2025–26 College Football Playoff as the final and biggest game of the season, the one that turns months of “what if” arguments into one very loud “told you so.”
Who Plays in the 2026 CFB National Championship?
The 2026 national title game will feature the winner of Indiana vs. Oregon and the winner of Ole Miss vs. Miami, with the exact matchup decided by the CFP semifinals on January 8–9.
On X, @CFBAlerts_ noted that with their Fiesta Bowl victory, Miami has now secured a spot in the 2026 CFB National Championship, where they will face the winner of the Oregon vs. Indiana matchup.
On one side of the bracket, No. 1 Indiana faces No. 5 Oregon in the Peach Bowl semifinal; on the other, No. 6 Ole Miss meets No. 10 Miami in the Fiesta Bowl, and all four fanbases are already dreaming up merch for a championship trip to Miami.
It is the kind of bracket that makes casual viewers pick sides based on stories underdog runs, first-time title hopes while long-time fans remember old bowl scars and swear they “just knew” this semifinal combo was coming.
Start Time for The 2026 CFB National Championship
2026 CFP National Championship kicks off at 7:30 p.m. ET on Monday, January 19, 2026. That prime-time window has become the usual slot, giving enough buildup for wall-to-wall pregame coverage without turning the finish into a midnight-only event for the East Coast.
For viewers planning around time zones, it lines up roughly as:
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7:30 p.m. ET
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6:30 p.m. CT
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5:30 p.m. MT
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4:30 p.m. PT
Many fans treat that day like a mini-Super Bowl: early grocery runs, phone batteries fully charged, and at least one friend insisting on getting to the watch party “by the anthem” like it is a superstition that actually matters.
Location of the 2026 CFB National Championship
The 2026 College Football Playoff National Championship will be played at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida.
The venue is home to the Miami Dolphins, Miami Hurricanes, and the Orange Bowl, and it previously hosted the CFP title game in 2021 when Alabama beat Ohio State, plus multiple Super Bowls.
The mix of warm January weather, big-game history, and a stadium built for major events makes Miami feel less like a neutral site and more like a destination weekend, where fans can hit the beach in the morning and walk into a high-stakes championship at night.
Where to Watch the 2026 CFB National Championship
The 2026 CFB National Championship will air live on ESPN at 7:30 p.m. ET, with streaming available on the ESPN app/ESPN+ and live TV services like YouTube TV and Fubo that carry ESPN.
Viewers who have cut the cord can still watch the game through these streaming platforms, many of which offer free trials around big events, as long as ESPN is included in their package.
For most fans, the setup ends up pretty simple and familiar: the main broadcast on ESPN in the living room, one eye on alternate camera angles or stats feeds on a phone or tablet, and a group chat arguing over every fourth-down call in real time.
Disclaimer: This information is based on the latest available schedules and reports and may change if organizers update kickoff time, teams, or broadcast details. Viewers are advised to confirm the final game time, matchup, channel, and streaming options with official College Football Playoff and broadcaster announcements on game week.
