Do CFP first round games count towards the bowl game record? What you should know

The 12-team College Football Playoff is here.

Over the next month, 12 of college football’s top teams will compete in a unique playoff format that ends with one of them winning the National College Football Playoff on Jan. 20 at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium. lifting the championship trophy. Benz Stadium.

Perhaps no addition to the CFP format this season is more dramatic than the addition of first-round games on campus.

Required reading:College Football Playoff Prediction: Ranking the 12 national championship contenders

The first round of the CFP begins Friday when No. 7 seed Notre Dame hosts No. 10 seed Indiana at Notre Dame Stadium. Saturday continues with a tripleheader that begins with No. 6 Penn State hosting No. 11 SMU at Beaver Stadium. Then No. 5 Texas hosts No. 12 Clemson at DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium before No. 8 Ohio State hosts No. 9 Tennessee in the nightcap at Ohio Stadium.

The winners of the first round games advance to the CFP quarterfinals in four New Year’s Six bowls against the top four seeds. From there, the quarterfinal winners advance to the semifinals of the Orange and Cotton Bowl before the 2025 CFP national championship game.

But one question arises about the four games that will take place on Friday and Saturday: Do their scores count toward the teams’ bowl game records?

Here’s what you should know:

NCAA statement on CFP first round games

Matt Holmes — the NCAA’s deputy director of media coordination and statistics — responded to an email query from the USA TODAY Network and said first-round games would count toward teams’ overall postseason tally.

“The results of the first round of the College Football Playoff will be incorporated into the results of previous bowl games or CFP national championship games and will be included in the overall postseason record of participating schools,” Holmes said.

This is consistent with the NCAA’s policy of counting bowl game statistics as part of official team and player statistics, a change that took effect prior to the 2002 college football season. (That in turn has led to one of the more interesting record chases this year, as Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty – who won’t play in a first-round game – is within striking distance of Barry Sanders’ official NCAA single-season rushing record, although in the latter case his bowl game does not count towards his total).

Do CFP first round games count as bowl games?

Among the teams that responded to an email inquiry from the USA TODAY Network, several said their first-round games would likely not count as bowl games.

Notre Dame, Tennessee and Ohio State all said their respective first-round games would not count as bowl appearances. Instead, spokespeople for the schools said the programs will likely establish an overall “postseason record” to reflect the expanded CFP.

Claire Cunningham, Notre Dame’s director of football communications, told the USA TODAY Network that the Fighting Irish’s postseason record will “likely” have two subcategories: bowl record and playoff record, the latter of which includes CFP first-round games. Bowl games in the CFP quarterfinals and semifinals would count toward both records.

Jerry Emig, assistant athletic director for football communications at Ohio State, said the team will “likely” set a new postseason record, which “now equals Ohio State’s record in all bowl games, conference championship games, CFP first-round games and CFP Championships would include games. Quarterfinals and semifinals games would count toward Ohio State’s bowl game record.

Tennessee Associate AD of Football Communications Bill Martin deferred the official decision to the NCAA, adding that the Volunteers’ Saturday game against Ohio State “would not necessarily be a ‘bowl appearance.’

Required reading:College football bowl game schedule: The entire postseason lineup through the playoffs

Ross Taylor, associate AD for football communications at Clemson, also moved to the NCAA. However, he told the USA TODAY Network that the team “tentatively intends to count Saturday’s CFP first-round game toward its records,” since the NCAA has counted all College Football Playoff contests to date (including CFP National Championship games, which do don’t do that). branded as Bowls) to his official bowl records.

John Bianco of Texas, senior associate AD for football communications, told the USA TODAY Network that the Longhorns’ athletic department will address the matter after the season ends.

Penn State, Indiana and SMU did not respond to requests for comment from the USA TODAY Network prior to publication of this article.

Required reading:Ohio State’s Ryan Day is facing disaster or his finest hour in the College Football Playoff

Why are there first-round games in the CFP in 2024?

For the first time in the College Football Playoff era, the CFP field will expand from four to 12 teams. With an expanded field and more teams competing for the CFP National Championship, on-campus first-round games were added to the format.

But unlike the quarterfinals and semifinals, these first-round matchups have no bowl game ties or affiliations because they are played on the campuses of the four highest overall teams.

However, they are still governed by the College Football Playoff – not the home teams.

CFP first round matchups

Here is a complete list of all first-round games in the 2024-25 College Football Playoff, including start times and television network information:

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Do CFP first round games count towards the bowl game record? What you should know

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