College Football Bowl Season in Texas: Every 2026-27 Game, Date and Stadium
Texas hosts more postseason college football than any state in the country during the 2026-27 bowl season, from a mid-December kickoff in Frisco to a College Football Playoff quarterfinal on New Year's Day in Arlington. AT&T Stadium game day shuttle This guide lists every bowl game scheduled in the state with its verified date, venue and broadcast, then covers the travel logistics each stadium actually requires: where the venue sits, how far it is from the nearest major airport, and what game-day traffic does to the drive. DFW vs Dallas Love Field Arlington shuttle service
The schedule below comes from the official 2026-27 bowl calendar as published by the NCAA and FBSchedules. Matchups are set in early December, but the dates, venues and start times are locked now, which is everything a traveler needs to plan. DFW to Arlington shuttle
The Quick Answer: Every Texas Bowl Game on the 2026-27 Schedule
| Bowl game | Date | Venue and city | TV |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frisco Football Classic | Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2026 | Ford Center at The Star, Frisco | ESPN |
| Valero Alamo Bowl | Tuesday, Dec. 29, 2026 | Alamodome, San Antonio | ESPN |
| Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl | Thursday, Dec. 31, 2026 | Sun Bowl Stadium, El Paso | CBS |
| Kinder's Texas Bowl | Thursday, Dec. 31, 2026 | NRG Stadium, Houston | ESPN |
| Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic (CFP quarterfinal) | Friday, Jan. 1, 2027 | AT&T Stadium, Arlington | ESPN |
New Year's Eve is the busiest night of the season inside Texas: the Sun Bowl kicks off in El Paso in the early afternoon and the Texas Bowl follows in Houston in the evening, a thousand miles apart. Houston airports traveler guide The next night, the Cotton Bowl Classic hosts a College Football Playoff quarterfinal under the national spotlight. Dallas to Arlington shuttle
Frisco Football Classic: Dec. 15 at Ford Center at The Star
Bowl season in Texas opens early this year. The Frisco Football Classic is scheduled for Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2026, with a 9 p.m. Eastern kickoff (8 p.m. Central) at the Ford Center at The Star, the indoor facility at the Dallas Cowboys' Frisco headquarters. It is the earliest of the state's bowl games by two weeks, which makes it an easy add-on to a December trip to North Texas rather than a dedicated holiday journey. The venue sits in the middle of Frisco's mixed-use development about 25 miles north of downtown Dallas, so most visitors fly into DFW or Dallas Love Field and make the short trip up the Dallas North Tollway. Houston airport shuttle service
Valero Alamo Bowl: Dec. 29 at the Alamodome
The Alamo Bowl is set for Tuesday, Dec. 29, 2026, at 9 p.m. Eastern (8 p.m. Central) inside the Alamodome in downtown San Antonio. The dome sits at the edge of the city center, walking distance from the River Walk hotels most visitors stay in, which removes the usual game-day parking problem entirely. The travel decision in San Antonio is really about how you arrive: the airport is a ten-minute drive from downtown, and fans combining the game with a Hill Country or Austin leg of the trip often arrive by road instead. Austin sits about 79 miles from the Alamodome by road, a roughly 90-minute drive in normal conditions, and Dallas is about 275 miles south on I-35. Dallas to San Antonio shuttle
New Year's Eve Doubleheader: Sun Bowl and Texas Bowl on Dec. 31
Two bowl games share Dec. 31, 2026. The Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl kicks off at 2 p.m. Eastern (1 p.m. Central) at Sun Bowl Stadium in El Paso, carried nationally on CBS, with the early window letting out-of-town fans fly home the same night if they choose. The Kinder's Texas Bowl follows that evening at NRG Stadium in Houston, scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Eastern (6:30 p.m. Central) on ESPN. NRG sits just off the 610 Loop about nine miles from downtown Houston, a drive that normally runs under twenty minutes but slows sharply as fans converge two hours before kickoff. Visitors flying in for the Texas Bowl land at George Bush Intercontinental or Hobby, and the airport choice usually comes down to airline, not geography, since both serve the stadium side of the city. Austin to San Antonio shuttle
Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic: Jan. 1 CFP Quarterfinal at AT&T Stadium
The crown of the Texas schedule is the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic on Friday, Jan. 1, 2027, one of the College Football Playoff quarterfinals, at AT&T Stadium in Arlington. Because it is a playoff quarterfinal, this game draws the largest traveling crowds of the state's bowl slate, with fan bases arriving from across the country on Dec. 31 and Jan. 1. The stadium sits between Dallas and Fort Worth, about 14 miles from DFW Airport and roughly 19 miles from downtown Dallas, drives that run 25 to 30 minutes in normal conditions. That convenience is exactly what makes game-day planning matter: the lots around the stadium fill early for marquee events, and surface streets in Arlington concentrate nearly all of the arriving traffic into the same few corridors. Travelers comparing ground options for the quarterfinal can start with our AT&T Stadium to DFW shuttle overview of the corridor. DFW airport shuttle service
A practical pattern for playoff weekend is to stay in Dallas or Fort Worth rather than fight for Arlington parking, then arrive at the stadium without a car to park. Fans flying into DFW can review our DFW airport shuttle service, and those making the drive down I-35 or I-45 can line up the return leg in advance through our Dallas to Arlington shuttle page. DFW to Houston shuttle
Planning Notes for Bowl-Season Travel in Texas
Three details separate bowl travel from an ordinary weekend. First, dates cluster: Dec. 15, Dec. 29, Dec. 31 and Jan. 1 are the only game days, so flights and hotels across North Texas tighten on exactly those nights, and the Jan. 1 quarterfinal puts arrivals on New Year's Eve itself. Second, kickoff times straddle holidays: an 8 p.m. Central New Year's Eve start in San Antonio and a 6:30 p.m. start in Houston both mean a late-night exit from the stadium, which is the hour when rideshare availability is thinnest and pre-arranged pickups earn their keep. Third, weather is a wildcard across the whole slate: late December in the Panhandle and North Texas can swing from mild afternoons to freezing wind between morning and evening, so build slack into any connection through DFW or El Paso around game days.
Travelers stitching multiple games together, such as Houston on New Year's Eve followed by Arlington on New Year's Day, cover nearly 250 miles between venues, which makes the decision to fly Houston back through a hub or drive overnight a real one. Whatever the routing, locking the ground transportation before the matchup is announced removes the last unknown from the trip, since the dates and cities will not change even when the team names do.
Frequently Asked Questions
What bowl games are played in Texas for the 2026-27 season?
Five: the Frisco Football Classic on Dec. 15 in Frisco, the Valero Alamo Bowl on Dec. 29 in San Antonio, the Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl on Dec. 31 in El Paso, the Kinder's Texas Bowl on Dec. 31 in Houston, and the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic CFP quarterfinal on Jan. 1, 2027 in Arlington.
When is the 2026 Cotton Bowl?
The Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic is scheduled for Friday, Jan. 1, 2027, at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, serving as a College Football Playoff quarterfinal.
When is the Texas Bowl in 2026?
The Kinder's Texas Bowl is scheduled for Thursday, Dec. 31, 2026, at NRG Stadium in Houston, with a 6:30 p.m. Central kickoff on ESPN.
Where do bowl-game visitors fly into for Arlington games?
DFW International is about 14 miles from AT&T Stadium and Dallas Love Field is the alternative for Southwest itineraries; both put the stadium within a 30-minute drive in normal traffic.
How the College Football Playoff Format Works in 2026-27
Short answer: 12 teams make the field, the top four seeds earn first-round byes, and the other eight open the playoff at campus sites on Dec. 18-19, 2026. This is the 13th year of the College Football Playoff era and the third season under the expanded 12-team format. A selection committee ranks the top 25 FBS teams after each of the final six weeks of the regular season, and the top four ranked teams receive a first-round bye straight into the quarterfinals, per the CFP's published format.
From there the bracket runs through the sport's classic venues: quarterfinals on Dec. 30, 2026, and Jan. 1, 2027, at the Fiesta Bowl, Peach Bowl, Rose Bowl and Cotton Bowl; semifinals on Jan. 14-15, 2027, at the Orange Bowl and Sugar Bowl; and the national championship final on Monday, Jan. 25, 2027, at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Rose Bowl keeps its traditional New Year's Day afternoon quarterfinal slot for 2026 and 2027, a detail confirmed when the playoff announced its postseason dates.
The Complete 2026-27 Playoff Schedule Beyond Texas
Every round after Arlington's quarterfinal, in one table:
| Round | Date | Site |
|---|---|---|
| CFP first round (CFP1) | Dec. 18-19, 2026 | Campus sites at the higher-seeded university |
| Quarterfinals | Dec. 30, 2026 and Jan. 1, 2027 | Fiesta, Peach, Rose and Cotton (AT&T Stadium, Arlington) |
| Semifinals | Jan. 14-15, 2027 | Orange Bowl, Sugar Bowl |
| CFP National Championship | Jan. 25, 2027 | Allegiant Stadium, Las Vegas, Nevada |
Sources: NCAA and FBSchedules 2026-27 postseason listings.
What's New on the 2026-27 Bowl Calendar
Three changes are worth knowing before you book. The Xbox Bowl has been renamed the Frisco Football Classic — the same game that now opens Texas bowl season on Dec. 15 at the Ford Center. The Rate Bowl is now the Cactus Bowl. Elsewhere, the LA Bowl and the GameAbove Sports Bowl are no longer played, the Poinsettia Bowl returns after a decade away, and the Puerto Rico Bowl joins the lineup, according to FBSchedules' schedule tracking. For Texas travelers, the rename that matters is Frisco: the Dec. 15 game remains the state's earliest bowl, at the same mixed-use location at the Cowboys' headquarters.
Planning a Texas Bowl Trip: Three Routes That Work
The North Texas doubleheader
Base yourself in Dallas and catch both bookends of the state's slate — the Frisco Football Classic on Dec. 15 and the Cotton Bowl quarterfinal on Jan. 1 — in one stay. Frisco sits up the Dallas North Tollway; Arlington is an easy hop back down the Sam Rayburn Tollway and SH 360, and DFW Airport serves both venues. DFW to Arlington shuttle · Dallas to Arlington shuttle
The I-35 corridor
The Alamo Bowl on Dec. 29 pairs naturally with a Central Texas holiday. Austin fans make the roughly 90-minute drive down I-35, and anyone continuing between Dallas, Austin and San Antonio can ride the same corridor the whole way. Dallas to San Antonio shuttle · Austin to San Antonio shuttle
New Year's Eve: pick your city
The Sun Bowl in El Paso and the Texas Bowl in Houston share Dec. 31 but sit about a thousand miles apart along the I-10 and I-45 routes, so plan around one city rather than both. Houston visitors connect through George Bush Intercontinental or Hobby; El Paso visitors use El Paso International.
