The Granddaddy of Them All will kick off a little earlier this New Year’s Day.
The 2026 Rose Bowl is set to start at 1 p.m. Pacific Time, not 2 p.m. as it has in years past, the College Football Playoff and broadcast partner ESPN announced Tuesday.
The other CFP games set for New Year’s Day — the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans and the Orange Bowl near Miami — are also kicking off at earlier times this season.
“This New Year’s Day schedule adjustment is the result of a thoughtful collaboration between the CFP, ESPN, the Capital One Orange Bowl, the Rose Bowl Game presented by Prudential, and the Allstate Sugar Bowl,” said Rich Clark, CFP executive director, in a news release. “All three bowls shifting their start times allows us to place each game in an ideal window on New Year’s Day and provide the optimal viewing experience. New Year’s Day and college football are synonymous with each other, and these changes only strengthen that relationship.”
As David Eads, CEO of the Tournament of Roses, also noted in the release, the Rose Bowl has long held its afternoon spot, but some games have run long, and with another playoff game scheduled to begin after the Rose Bowl, timing was an issue.
“The Pasadena Tournament of Roses is confident that the one-hour time shift to the traditional kickoff time of the Rose Bowl Game presented by Prudential will help to improve the overall timing for all playoff games on January 1,” said Eads. “A mid-afternoon game has always been important to the tradition of The Granddaddy of Them All, but this small timing adjustment will not impact the Rose Bowl Game experience for our participants or attendees. Over the past five years the Rose Bowl Game has run long on several occasions, resulting in a delayed start for the following bowl game and ultimately it was important for us to be good partners with ESPN and the College Football Playoff and remain flexible for the betterment of college football and its postseason.”
While Eads did not reference any specific game, he was most likely referring to the 2018 Rose Bowl, in which the Georgia Bulldogs bested the Oklahoma Sooners in double overtime, a process that took more than four hours. This year’s game, in contrast, took a relatively brisk 3 hours and 19 minutes.
