NCAA
College football bowl games: Who plays today, Friday, January 9? Times and matchups
All eyes in the college football world will be fixed on Arlington (TX) as the Longhorns and Buckeyes vie for a place against Notre Dame in the final.
We now know the name of the first finalist in the College Football National Championship after the Penn State Nittany Lions fell short against Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the Orange Bowl contest played last night in Miami.
Notre Dame edged out a tightly fought contest with a 27-24 win and advance to the January 20 final in Atlanta where the await the winners of the Cotton Bowl final as Texas face Ohio State.
Texas-Ohio State: preview
Having ousted the No. 1 seed (Oregon) in the previous round in convincing fashion, the Ohio State Buckeyes are now the bookmakers’ favorites to be crowned 2024-25 national champions, as they face Texas Longhorns in Arlington in the second semi-final.
Making a fourth all-time appearance in the Cotton Bowl Classic, Ohio State is rated at -225 to -245 to beat Texas, a team making a record 23rd appearance in the Texas event.
The Longhorns (+185 to +195) are 11-time Cotton Bowl victors, most recently in 2003; meanwhile, the Buckeyes, who are appearing in the Cotton Bowl for the second straight year, have won the game twice, in 1987 and 2017.
The Cotton Bowl Classic will be the fourth all-time matchup between Ohio State and Texas. As things stand, the Longhorns leads the head-to-head series 2-1, having won the teams’ most recent meeting, a 24-21 victory in 2009.
Despite all the tipsters siding with Ohio State, Texas were delivered a late boost with the news that starting right tackle Cameron Williams is expected to play after missing Texas' Peach Bowl win over Arizona State as he has recovered from a right knee sprain.
Pre-game coach talk:
Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian has certainly been made aware of these type of underdog conversations, concurring earlier in the week that he feels the Longhorns are “massive underdogs” entering the contest and that they will need to play their best game in order to leave Arlington, Texas, with a victory.
Ohio State’s Ryan Day was in confident mood when speaking to the press, satting: “We’re very excited about being here again and certainly AT&T Stadium is one of the best game environments there are throughout college football and the NFL. So, we’re excited to be here again. I’ll say this for our team. Every week, we’ve had an opportunity to grow and to build, and we’re excited about being here in this spot”.
Texas vs Ohio State: what time, where to watch?
Friday’s game will be played at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, as the Cotton Bowl Classic kicks off at 7:30 p.m. ET/4:30 p.m. PT.
Viewers in the United States can watch the game on ESPN, and can stream the network’s live coverage on the online platform fubo, which offers new users a free trial.
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