And Then there were 8....
No better way to ring in 2026 than with 4 great matchups in the CFP Quarterfinals
As the sun is setting on 2025, the College Football Playoffs are heating up with 4 great quarterfinal matchups. Last year, the 4 teams that had a bye into the quarterfinals all went down to the teams who played in the 1st round. With the change in format this year, will we see different results? Let’s dive in….
#10 Miami (11-2) vs. #2 Ohio State (12-1)
Cotton Bowl Classic - Arlington, TX
Wednesday, Dec. 31 - 4:30pm PT on ESPN
2 of the winningest programs in college football since 1980 meet on a neutral field for the 1st time since the 2003 BCS National Championship Game in the Fiesta Bowl. The Buckeyes knocked off the defending national champion Hurricanes in that game 31-24 in double overtime to give Ohio State its first consensus national title since 1968. Of the 43 players that started that game, 37 of them were eventual NFL Draft picks including 18 first rounders. OSU star freshman Maurice Clarett ran for a pair of touchdowns in that game which is probably most remembered for a controversial pass interference call in the first overtime that extended the game. These programs most recently met in a home-and-home series in 2010 and 2011 with the home team winning both matchups.
Miami advanced to the quarterfinals with a 10-3 victory at Texas A&M in a game where offense was at a premium. 113 of the Hurricanes season-low 278 total yards came in the 4th quarter as Mario Cristobal’s team won a game with less than 300 total yards for the first time since 2023. Mark Fletcher Jr. ran for a career-high 172 yards which included a 56-yard dash in the 4th quarter to set up the game’s only touchdown. The defense meanwhile held A&M to their lowest point total in a decade and a seasonal-low 326 total yards. True freshman safety Bryce Fitzgerald had a pair of interceptions while All-American Rueben Bain had 3 sacks, 4 TFL and a blocked field goal. Miami is 1-9 against Top 5 teams since 2006 with the lone win in that span coming at home to #3 Notre Dame in 2017. Their last win over a Top 5 team on a neutral field came in the 2002 BCS National Championship Game in the Rose Bowl, blowing out #2 Nebraska 37-14.
Last year, Ohio State used a 1st round blowout of Tennessee as a string of 4 straight wins over Top 7 teams on their way to a national championship. This year they hope to avoid the fate of the 4 teams who lost last season after having a bye in the 1st round. The Buckeyes are coming off a loss to Indiana in the Big Ten Championship Game, snapping a 16-game win streak, as the Hoosiers held OSU to a season-low 10 points. Ohio State’s defense leads the nation with 8.2 PPG allowed and is the first team since World War II to hold 13 opponents to 16 points or less. Julian Sayin leads the country in completion percentage (78.4%) which would break the FBS single-season record of 77.5 set by Oregon’s Bo Nix in 2023. WR Carnell Tate had 9 catches of 40+ yards this season in just 10 games while RB Bo Jackson is 1 of 2 FBS true freshmen this season to top 1,000 yards rushing (North Texas’ Caleb Hawkins). This is the 3rd straight year for Ryan Day’s squad in the Cotton Bowl, including last year’s semifinal win over Texas, and is 3-1 all-time in AT&T Stadium.
#5 Oregon (12-1) vs. #4 Texas Tech (12-1)
Orange Bowl - Miami Gardens, FL
Thursday, Jan. 1 - 9am PT on ESPN
The Orange Bowl features a matchup of 2 programs that will meet for the 4th time ever with Oregon having won each of the previous 3. The most recent matchup came in 2023 when Dan Lanning’s squad went to Lubbock and came away with a 38-30 victory. The Red Raiders had a 27-18 lead heading into the 4th quarter but were outscored 20-3 in the final frame. That game featured 2 current NFL starting QBs in Oregon’s Bo Nix (Denver Broncos) and Texas Tech’s Tyler Shough (New Orleans Saints) who had transferred from the Ducks following the 2020 season. Lanning’s squad scored 10 points in the final 70 seconds to seal the win, including Jeffrey Bassa’s 45-yard INT return for a touchdown with 35 seconds left.
Oregon is making its first ever appearance in the Orange Bowl and is hoping for better luck in this year’s quarterfinals after the #1 Ducks were wiped out by eventual champion #6 Ohio State 41-21 in the Rose Bowl. Unlike last year, the Ducks played in the 1st round this year as they beat James Madison 51-34 in Eugene, a game they led 34-6 at halftime. Dante Moore led the Ducks on 5 straight touchdown drives to start the game but the Dukes put up a fight in the 2nd half - outgaining Lanning’s squad 312-154 in the 2nd half. In fact, JMU was the only team this season to put up more than 30 points this season and only team to gain more than 400 total yards (509). Moore has been on fire though the last 4 games, with 9 pass TD and 2 rush TD while averaging over 10 yards per attempt and a 75.9 completion percentage. Even with Dakorien Moore and Gary Bryant Jr. returning to action in the 1st round, WR Malik Benson shined again with his 2nd straight 100-yard game and 2 scores. Oregon has won their last 3 games against Top 5 opponents including their double overtime win at then #3 Penn State in September.
Not only is this Texas Tech’s first appearance in the College Football Playoff but its first in a New Year’s Six bowl since the playoff was created (they’ve played in 3 Cotton Bowls, most recently in 2009). The Red Raiders 12 wins this season are already a program record and are 1 of 4 schools in the last 125 years to have 12+ wins by 22+ points, winning their first outright conference championship since 1955. Just like Oregon, they rank in the Top 11 in both scoring offense and scoring defense and if the season ended today would be the first team since 1995 Nebraska to score more than 550 points (552) and allow 150 or less (142). Stanford transfer David Bailey is 2nd in the country with 13.5 sacks while Bednarik Award winner Jacob Rodriguez (who finished 5th in the Heisman voting) has an FBS leading 7 forced fumbles with 4 interceptions and even a pair of rushing touchdowns on offense. Cameron Dickey led the Big 12 with 14 rush TD and became the 1st Texas Tech underclassman since 1998 to top 1,000 rush yards in a season. Joey McGuire’s team will be looking for their first win over a Top 5 team since 2012 over #5 West Virginia and first Top 5 win outside of Lubbock since 2011 at Oklahoma.
#9 Alabama (11-3) vs. #1 Indiana (13-0)
Rose Bowl - Pasadena, CA
Thursday, Jan. 1 - 1pm PT on ESPN
While this Rose Bowl matchup is the first ever between these 2 schools, both head coaches have previous experience at the other school. Kalen DeBoer was Indiana’s Offensive Coordinator for one season in 2019 before becoming the head coach at Fresno State. Led by a young Michael Penix Jr., the Hoosiers topped 300 yards per game passing for just the 3rd time in the last 30 seasons. Curt Cignetti meanwhile was part of Nick Saban’s first coaching staff at Alabama as the team’s WR Coach & Recruiting Coordinator (2007-11), helping to bring in and develop stars like Julio Jones and Mark Ingram as they won the national title in 2009.
Alabama will be making its 9th ever appearance in the Rose Bowl and 2nd in the last 3 years after a 34-24 victory at Oklahoma in the 1st round. After trailing 17-0 early in the 2nd quarter, the Tide scored 27 straight points over the 2nd and 3rd quarters in a 34-24 victory. It matched the largest comeback in CFP history, the other also involving Oklahoma, as Georgia overcame a 31-14 1st half deficit in the 2018 Rose Bowl to win 54-48 in double overtime. It’s also the 3rd largest comeback in Alabama history. Kalen DeBoer’s squad was held to just 28 yards on the ground, only the 4th time in the last 30 years they’ve won a game with less than 30 yards rushing (although the other 3 all happened in Nick Saban’s final 3 seasons). Even with a star studded WR corps, it was true freshman Lotzier Brooks who caught both of Ty Simpson’s touchdown passes in that game, the first 2 TD of Lotzier’s career. Ryan Williams meanwhile has just 8 catches and 0 TD over the last 5 games. The Tide have only once before faced a Heisman winner in a bowl game following the ceremony, having beat Gino Torretta and #2 Miami in the 1992 Sugar Bowl to win the program’s 12th national title. Alabama has 11 wins all-time against AP #1 ranked teams, the most in FBS history.
Indiana’s historic season brings Curt Cignetti’s team to the Rose Bowl for only the 2nd time, having last been in the “Grandaddy of them all..’ just once before in 1968. The Hoosiers are looking to avoid the fate of last year’s #1 seed, the Oregon Ducks, who got run out of the Rose Bowl 41-21 by eventual national champion Ohio State. Indiana defeated this year’s OSU team in the Big Ten Championship 13-10 to win their 3rd ever Big Ten title and 1st outright championship since 1945. Heisman winner Fernando Mendoza already owns the school single-season record with 33 pass TD and currently sits 6th in the school’s record for passing yards in a season with 2,980 (just 593 from tying the record). After allowing 218 yards and 2 rushing TD to Old Dominion in Week 1, the Indiana defense held 11 of its final 12 opponents to under 100 yards (Penn State, 117) and only 3 total rushing TD in that span. After suffering an injury in the Big Ten title game, leading receiver Omar Cooper Jr. is expected to play but they do lose starting DE Stephen Daley, who led the Big Ten with 19.0 TFL, who was injured in the postgame celebration after beating Ohio State. The Hoosiers have not beaten an SEC team since upsetting #18 Missouri in 2014.
#6 Ole Miss (12-1) vs. #3 Georgia (12-1)
Sugar Bowl - New Orleans, LA
Thursday, Jan. 1 - 5pm PT on ESPN
For a 2nd straight year, the quarterfinals feature a regular season rematch. Last year in the Rose Bowl, Ohio State gained revenge from their loss to Oregon in Eugene. This year, Ole Miss will be seeking retribution for their only loss of the season. The Rebels took a 35-26 lead into the 4th quarter of that game before getting outscored 17-0 in the final frame. Georgia QB Gunner Stockton had his best game of this season, throwing for 289 yards and 4 scores with 0 interceptions while also rushing for 59 yards and a touchdown. Lane Kiffin’s squad meanwhile was held to 88 yards on the ground, the only time this season the Rebels did not break the century mark but did still have 4 rushing touchdowns. These 2 schools have split the last 4 matchups following a 10-game Georgia win streak but this will be their first meeting on a neutral field.
Ole Miss reached the quarterfinals after a convincing 41-10 win over Tulane, their first game without Lane Kiffin. Trinidad Chambliss was banged up in the 1st half of that victory but did return in the 2nd, finishing with 2 rushing scores and another through the air. Chambliss, who finished 8th in the Heisman voting, has topped 300 total yards in each of the last 4 games and has at least 1 pass TD in every start this season. Kewan Lacy has 7 straight games with a rushing TD with 13 scores in that span. Lacy’s 21 rush TD this season are the school’s single-season record and 2nd most in FBS this season. The Rebel defense allowed 421 yards but just 10 points thanks to 2 turnovers and holding the Green Wave to 0-4 on 4th down conversions. This is the Rebels’ 11th trip to the Sugar Bowl, 4th most all-time, going 6-4 in their 10 trips. Ole Miss has won their last 2 games against Top 5 opponents, including a win over then #4 LSU in September, after losing 10 straight from 2016 to 2023.
Georgia is coming off a fairly dominating performance in the SEC Championship Game with a 28-7 win over Alabama and avenge their only loss of the season. Gunner Stockton was extremely efficient in that game, completing 20-26 passes for just 156 yards but 3 touchdowns. The real story though was the Bulldogs defense, especially in relation to the 1st matchup. After allowing 397 yards and 5.2 yards per play in September, they held the Tide to a season-low 209 yards and 3.8 yards per play. They also held Alabama to -3 rushing yards, with help from 3 sacks for -23 yards, as only the 2nd time ever the Tide has been held to negative rushing yards and the first since losing to Missouri in the 1968 Gator Bowl (-45). The Dawgs defense has been lights out the last 4 weeks, allowing a combined 29 points and 128 rush yards with 9 sacks and 5 interceptions. Georgia has won 9 straight games, the 3rd longest active streak in FBS behind Indiana and Notre Dame, and owns the nation’s longest bowl streak at 29 consecutive seasons. Kirby Smart’s team has won back-to-back SEC titles for the first time since they won 3 straight from 1980-82 in Herschel Walker’s time in Athens. Georgia and Indiana are the only teams to be 3-0 against Top 10 opponents this season and the Bulldogs have won 16 of their last 20 against Top 10 teams since the 2021 Peach Bowl.
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Good rundown on the “Bowl” games. Looking forward to well played, exciting football. I’m going with Ohio State, Oregon, Indiana and GA. The Oregon game may be wild. Don’t expect Texas Tech to go easily.