CFP vs. NFL: New College Football Playoff Schedule Will Make Viewers Choose Between Quarterfinals, NFL Regular Season

The 2024 college football playoff will be here before you know it, and now we've got the first round dates. There is one problem though, the CFP will go up against the NFL in the first round.

The first round of the 2024 CFP, which will be determined by seeding, will start on the third weekend of December. Each first round game will be played at the home stadium of the lower seed, with the opening game slated for December 20th. The problem comes the following day, when three games will be played on the 21st, going up against NFL regular season.

Now, logic would tell us that the inaugural year of the college football playoff should take centerstage over the NFL, but there was no way of getting around a head-to-head scenario with the dates. The good news for college football executives is that will be the only weekend where the two worlds will collide.

The College Football Playoff. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

Thankfully, three out of four quarterfinal games will be played on New Years Day, while one will hold the NYE slot. Last year, it was Georgia, Ohio State, Michigan and TCU playing on New Years Eve, which should never happen in my opinion. The magnitude of these games should get the full attention of the sports world, not having to worry about missing that dreadful NYE's party you had to attend.

Now, things will certainly get interesting when it comes to the semifinals, as college football does not want to go up against Wild Card weekend in the NFL. To solve that problem, the CFP has decided to play its semifinals on January 9th or 10th, according to Ross Dellenger.

The championship game will be played on January 20th.

What The CFP Playoffs Would've Looked Like This Past Season

We all wondered what the seeding would've been if the playoffs had started this past season. It was all theoretical, but with enough chaos surrounding the 4-6 spot, it was up for debate. Well now we have our answer, thanks to the CFP plugging in their formula to give us a look towards the future.

According to the CFP committee, there would've been some upset fans around college football. In the quarterfinals, there would be four home games, with one massive rematch.

No.8 Tennessee vs. No.9 Kansas State

No.7 Alabama vs. No.10 USC

No.5 TCU vs. No. 12 Tulane

No. 8 Ohio State vs. No.11 Penn State

Those teams would've squared off for a chance to meet Georgia, Michigan, Clemson and Utah in the semifinals. How in the world would you make the 8th seeded team play the No.1 ranked overall Georgia Bulldogs? That makes zero sense. I don't really see much chaos on in the other brackets, but they'll need to tinker with that first semifinal.

The good news is that we are one more season away from the playoffs beginning, with conference expansion on the way as well. The SEC is loading up with Texas and Oklahoma, while the Big Ten is bringing on USC and UCLA.

But the main takeaway from today's news centers around the true matchup, which is the NFL and College Football.