The New Year's Six, sometimes abbreviated as NY6, are the following NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) bowl games: the Rose Bowl, Sugar Bowl, Orange Bowl, Cotton Bowl, Peach Bowl, and Fiesta Bowl. These games are traditionally played annually on or around New Year's Day and represent six of the ten oldest bowl games played at the FBS level.
Since the 2024 season, the New Year's Six hosts the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds of the College Football Playoff (CFP). Twelve teams are selected and seeded, following the conclusion of regular-season play, for a single-elimination tournament. Eight teams meet in first-round games, played at campus sites. The four winners then advance to play four teams who received a bye; these quarterfinal games are played as four of the New Year's Six games. The four quarterfinal winners then advance to the semifinals, played as two of the New Year's Six games. The two semifinal winners then advance to the CFP National Championship.
For the 2014 through 2023 seasons, two of the New Year's Six games served as semifinal games in a four-team playoff, while teams appearing in the other four New Year's Six games were not eligible to appear in the national championship game. These six top-tier bowl games rotated the hosting of the two CFP semifinal games. The rotation was set on a three-year cycle with the following pairings: RoseâÂÂSugar, OrangeâÂÂCotton, and PeachâÂÂFiesta.
The National Championship game may be considered part of the New Year's Six, depending on context.
The Bowl Championship Series (BCS) was a selection system that created five bowl game match-ups involving ten of the top ranked teams in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of college football, including an opportunity for the top two teams to compete in the BCS National Championship Game. The system was in place for the 1998 through 2013 seasons and in 2014 was replaced by the College Football Playoff. The four-team playoffs consist of two semifinal games, with the winners advancing to the College Football Playoff National Championship. If New Year's Day falls on a Sunday, the traditional New Year's Day games are played on January 2 in deference to the National Football League's week 17 games.
In June 2012, the BCS conference presidents approved the College Football Playoff to replace the Bowl Championship Series. Three bowlsâÂÂRose, Sugar, and OrangeâÂÂbecause of their contracts with Power Five conferences, were selected to be part of the rotating semifinal playoff games, with three more bowls to be named. Because of issues about fairness and the Big East Conference's status as a BCS automatic qualifier, conference commissioners began to consider accommodating the Group of Five conferences with a seventh participating bowl. On November 12, 2012, in Denver, the conference commissioners granted the top Group of Five conference champion a guaranteed slot in one of the six premier bowls. In July 2013, the Cotton Bowl Classic, the Fiesta Bowl, and the Peach Bowl were selected as the other three rotating semifinal playoff bowls, ahead of the Holiday Bowl. Also, the conference commissioners selected AT&T Stadium as the first host of the College Football Playoff National Championship game, held on January 12, 2015.
When the playoff expanded to 12 teams beginning in 2024, the six bowls were designated as the quarterfinals and semifinals on a rotating basis. Four first-round games, added to the expanded playoff and to be held before the six bowls, are contested at campus sites.
Three of the bowls had traditional tie-ins with the specified conference champions in the years they were not hosting playoff games (2014âÂÂ2023):
When the conference champion is unavailable, the bowls invite the next-best team from that conference. The Cotton, Fiesta, and Peach Bowls have no conference tie-ins; as such, the best conference champion from the Group of Five will play in one of those bowls if it does not qualify for the CFP semifinal until 2024 when all games are part of the playoff and thus removes all conference tie ins.
Games are listed in chronological order, with final CFP rankings, and winâÂÂloss records prior to the respective bowl being played.
Source:
Source:
^ Denotes CFP Quarterfinal, + Denotes CFP Semifinal
Sun Belt Conference has never appeared in the New Year's Six. <br> * In 2020, Notre Dame played as part of the ACC due to COVID-19.