The 2026 Rose Bowl will kick off approximately an hour earlier than it traditionally has.
ESPN and the College Football Playoff announced that the three quarterfinal games on New Year’s Day will begin earlier than they did a season ago. The Orange Bowl will kick off at Noon ET, the Rose Bowl will begin at 4 p.m. ET and the Sugar Bowl will begin at 8 p.m. ET.
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In 2025, the Peach Bowl began at 1 p.m. ET, with the Rose Bowl at 5 p.m. ET and the Sugar Bowl originally scheduled for an 8:45 p.m. ET kickoff before it was delayed until Jan. 2 because of the New Year’s Eve terror attack in the French Quarter.
“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,” CFP executive director Rich Clark said in a statement. “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.”
The Rose Bowl’s time change may not seem significant at first glance. However, the bowl game’s time and date have been a longstanding college football tradition. With an approximately 2 p.m. PT kickoff, the sun sets against the San Gabriel Mountains in the second half of the game. Now, the sunset will likely happen late in the fourth quarter as the game concludes.
Seriously, the sunset is a big deal. That late third quarter sunset is a glorious sight, and a big reason why it took so long for the playoff to expand to 12 teams. The Rose Bowl likes having the second-half visuals for what’s typically the most-watched New Year’s Day bowl game. But the Sugar…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/college-football/article/rose-bowl-will-kick-off-an-hour-earlier-in-2026-as-part-of-college-football-playoff-kickoff-time-changes-181710810.html
Author : Nick Bromberg
Publish date : 2025-04-22 18:17:00
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