However, for college football fans, the entrance into 2025 has been more of a challenge than in years past. Why? Because gone are the days when the national champion was decided on a single-digit January date.

It’s bowl season, which also means it’s bowl pick ’em season. Opt-outs, transfers and coaching decisions make predicting bowl games difficult, but several members of The Athletic ’s college football staff have made picks for every bowl game and the four first-round College Football Playoff games.

In the era of television, it's always been a bit of a challenge to fill up the stands at college bowl games. But now, it appears that it's difficult to fill out major stadiums even for College Football Playoff bowl games, especially when there is not a month or so of planning for fan bases to make the trek to the game.

The most important action of a historic college football bowl schedule kicks off today on New Year’s Day with the quarterfinal round of the College Football Pla

The first College Football Playoff semifinal is set as (8) Ohio State and (5) Texas will meet in the Cotton Bowl on Friday, Jan. 10 with a spot in the College Football Playoff National Championship on the line. This will be just the fourth meeting all-time, and the first since 2009, between two of the sport's most storied program.

What bowl games are playing out in college football Thursday? Here's what you need to know, including start times, how to watch and scores:

The College Football Playoff National Championship, No. 8 Ohio State (13-2) against No. 7 Notre Dame (14-1), is set. The game will held at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia on January 20, 2025.