With the College Football Playoff National Championship between Notre Dame and Ohio State taking place on Monday night, excitement is at an all-time high. Featuring two of the most storied programs in college football history, the game promises to be a memorable showdown.
However, as thrilling as this season has been, certain decisions surrounding the sport continue to draw criticism—in this case, it's the timing of the title game itself.
One of the loudest voices in this discussion is Fox Sports analyst Joel Klatt, who didn’t hold back his frustration about the game being scheduled for Monday night.
"This is supposed to be the pinnacle of our sport," Klatt said. "The destination for every player, coach, and fan...yet somebody decided that playing the National Championship on a Monday night deep into the NFL playoffs was a good idea...the mismanagement of CFB has been egregious."
The choice of a Monday night slot with a 7 p.m. ET start time has baffled many, particularly as most college games traditionally take place on Saturdays. Save for Labor Day games during Week 1, college football rarely competes in this time slot.
Even USA Today columnist Dan Wolken echoed the sentiment, responding to a fan on X about the game's lack of "buzz."
"The buzz is exactly the same as it always is," Wolken wrote. "College football drops off the map after New Years. It feels different locally when one of your teams is involved, but I’ve been saying this for years—college can’t compete with the NFL playoffs in the attention economy."
Klatt didn’t stop at criticism. He offered a solution: "We should be playing the National Championship on Jan. 1 every year...OUR DAY...make it special."
For many fans and analysts alike, the idea of restoring New Year’s Day as college football’s premier showcase makes sense. Whether this sparks changes in future seasons remains to be seen, but the timing of the championship game has undoubtedly become part of the broader conversation about improving the sport.