The Texas Longhorns are off to the Cotton Bowl after surviving against the Arizona State Sun Devils in the College Football Playoff quarterfinals in the Peach B

Ohio State Buckeyes quarterback Will Howard (18) motions during the second half of the College Football Playoff quarterfinal against the Oregon Ducks at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif. on Jan. 1, 2025.

Following the theme of much of this College Football Playoff (well, besides the Peach Bowl), the Rose Bowl was yet another blowout with Ohio State knocking off top-seeded Oregon. But given that these second-round playoff games are bowl games,

If Oregon intentionally lost the Big Ten CCG, they’d have played Clemson and then Arizona State. But instead, they won, and for that they were prevented from playing for 3 weeks and then forced to play the 2nd best team in the country who got a first round cupcake to warm them up

We didn’t know what version of Ohio State we were going to get in the Rose Bowl, but the Buckeyes came out just like the team that beat Tennessee last week. Ohio State jumped out to a 34-0 lead before the Ducks found the scoreboard just before halftime,

After strong comments of becoming a “different player” before the Rose Bowl game against the Oregon Ducks, Ohio State Buckeyes freshman wide receiver Jeremiah Smith had an electric start to the game.