New Year's Six

New Year's Six
A break in play during the 2017 edition of the Cotton Bowl Classic, one of the New Year's Six
In operation	2014–present
Preceded by	BCS (1998–2013) Bowl Alliance (1995–1997) Bowl Coalition (1992–1994)
Number of New Year's Six games	Six plus the National Championship game
Television partner(s)	ESPN (2014–present)
Most New Year's Six appearances	Ohio State (10)
Most New Year's Six wins	Alabama (9)
Most New Year's Six championships	Alabama (3)
Conference with most appearances	SEC (24)
Conference with most game wins	SEC (20)
Conference with most championships	SEC (6)
Last championship game	January 8, 2024
Current champion	Michigan

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 played annually on or around New Year's Day and represent six of the ten oldest bowl games played at the FBS level.

These six top-tier bowl games rotate the hosting of the two College Football Playoff (CFP) semifinal games, which determine the teams that play in the final College Football Playoff National Championship game.^[1] The rotation is set on a three-year cycle with the following pairings: Rose–Sugar, Orange–Cotton, and Peach-Fiesta. The National Championship game may be considered part of the New Year's Six, depending on context.

As of the 2024 season, the New Year's Six hosts the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds of the College Football Playoff.^[2] Twelve teams are selected and seeded, following the conclusion of regular-season play, for the single-elimination tournament. Eight teams meet in first-round games, played at campus sites. The four winners then advance to play the four highest-ranked conference champions, 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 a championship game.

For the 2014 through 2023 seasons, two of the New Year's Six games (selected annually on a rotating basis) 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.