I wonder how much friction this will create between ESPN and the NFL. For the 2021 season, the NFL has Saturday flex games for Week 15 (December 18) and Week 18 (January 8). If the Quarterfinals are played on New Year's Eve/Day, this is a huge problem for the semifinals.

This is likely a problem for the first round as well - I can't see even the P5 schools being thrilled to host a game on six or even five days' notice by using NFL Week 14 (Army/Navy week), especially if it would fall around the time of Fall Semester Commencement ceremonies, final exams, and possibly parents even picking up students from schools that don't permit freshmen to have cars on campus. Would college football allow the NFL to use the Saturday of Week 14, in exchange for freeing up the Saturday of Week 15?

I don't see a similar fix for the NFL with Week 18, unless if the NFL is willing to have a game kick off at 1 PM Eastern that Saturday, and let the CFP have the 4:30 and 8:00 PM timeslots. Or if the NFL insists on two games that day, the CFP could play earlier (Noon and 3:30 Eastern) and the NFL could play at 7:00 PM and 10:15 PM, with the second game being between two teams on the West Coast, like Chargers/Raiders or Seahawks/49ers).