The 2026 College Football Playoff Quarterfinal at the Allstate Sugar Bowl will be played on Thursday, January 1 at 7 p.m. Fans are reminded that this year's Allstate Sugar Bowl kickoff time is one hour earlier than past years.

This year marks the second year of the expanded 12-team College Football Playoff (CFP) format. This year's Allstate Sugar Bowl, the 92nd annual event, will serve as a Playoff Quarterfinal for the second straight year.

The field of 12 teams for the College Football Playoff will be comprised of the five conference champions ranked highest by the CFP Selection Committee, plus the seven highest-ranked at-large teams. The top four seeds will receive a first-round bye. The other eight teams will play in the first round with the higher seeds hosting the lower seeds either on campus or at other sites designated by the higher-seeded institution.

The 2025-26 postseason bracket will be released by the selection committee on Sunday, December 7 on ESPN.

The Allstate Sugar Bowl has established itself as one of the premier college football bowl games, having hosted 29 national champions, 110 Hall of Fame players, 55 Hall of Fame coaches and 21 Heisman Trophy winners in its 91-year history. In addition to football, the Sugar Bowl Committee annually invests over $1 million into the community through the hosting and sponsorship of sporting events, awards, scholarships and clinics. Through these efforts, the organization supports and honors thousands of student-athletes each year, while injecting over $2.5 billion into the local economy in the last decade.

For more information, visit www.AllstateSugarBowl.org.