Ohio State Returns to Cotton Bowl with Bigger Stakes, While Miami Eyes Cinderella Run
For the third straight year, Ohio State is back in the Cotton Bowl. But this time, the stakes are sky-high.
The Buckeyes roll into Arlington as the defending national champions and the No. 2 seed in the expanded College Football Playoff. Their opponent?
A surging Miami squad that’s making its CFP debut as the No. 10 seed. It’s a quarterfinal matchup that brings together two proud programs with very different postseason journeys-and plenty of history between them.
From Afterthought to Center Stage
Just two years ago, Ohio State’s trip to the Cotton Bowl felt more like a consolation prize than a championship pursuit. The Buckeyes had just lost to Michigan to close the regular season, their quarterback Kyle McCord had hit the transfer portal, and All-American wideout Marvin Harrison Jr. opted out of the game.
The result? A flat 14-3 loss to Missouri in a game that didn’t feel like Ohio State football.
Fast forward to now, and the vibe is entirely different.
“This one just means more,” said senior wide receiver Carnell Tate during Monday’s media session at AT&T Stadium. “More stakes than the first game I played here.”
Senior cornerback Davison Igbinosun echoed that sentiment, reflecting on the emotional whiplash of that earlier Cotton Bowl appearance.
“It wasn’t CFP, so it felt like we didn’t accomplish our goal,” Igbinosun said. “Our quarterback transferred, there was a lot going on.
It didn’t feel like a typical Ohio State game. But last year, we were back in the playoffs, and that was a great game.”
Last year’s Cotton Bowl was a semifinal, part of Ohio State’s four-game run to capture their sixth AP national title. This time, it’s a quarterfinal, but the mission remains the same: survive and advance.
Miami’s Road Back to Relevance
For Miami, just being here is a story in itself.
The Hurricanes haven’t touched national championship glory since 2001, and when they left Dallas after an overtime loss to SMU on November 1-dropping their second game in three weeks-it looked like another season slipping away.
But something changed.
“That was a low point,” said head coach Mario Cristobal. “We shut the lights, watched clips of our first five games, no sound, no talking.
Just a reminder of who we are. There’s nothing more powerful than the power of choice.”
That choice sparked a five-game win streak, capped by a 10-3 grind-it-out win over No. 7 Texas A&M in the first round. Miami didn’t even make the ACC title game-five-loss Duke ended up winning the league-but the 'Canes still punched their ticket to the 12-team playoff and made it count.
Now they’re back in Texas, this time with a shot at something much bigger.
Quarterbacks with Championship DNA
Both teams are led by quarterbacks who know what it’s like to be part of a title run-now they’re trying to do it as the guy under center.
Ohio State’s Julian Sayin, a Heisman finalist, backed up Will Howard during last year’s championship campaign. Now, the sophomore is one of the most efficient passers in the country, completing a blistering 78.4% of his throws for 3,323 yards, 31 touchdowns, and just six interceptions.
This will be Sayin’s first College Football Playoff start-but he’s no stranger to the big stage.
On the other side, Miami’s Carson Beck is a Georgia transfer who spent four years learning behind the scenes during the Bulldogs' back-to-back national titles in 2021 and 2022. He even got late-game snaps in that 65-7 title demolition of TCU.
Beck made his first CFP start in the win over Texas A&M, going 14-of-20 for 103 yards and a touchdown in tough conditions. He’s completed 74.5% of his passes this season for 3,175 yards, 26 touchdowns, and 10 picks.
Two quarterbacks. Two elite completion percentages. One shot at leading their team back to the top.
History Revisited
This isn’t the first time these two programs have collided with a national title on the line.
Back in January 2003, Miami’s bid for back-to-back championships ended in a double-overtime heartbreaker against Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl. That was the only other time the Buckeyes and Hurricanes have met in a bowl game-and the echoes of that clash still linger.
Now, more than two decades later, they meet again in a playoff setting, with both teams chasing a different kind of history.
Ohio State is looking to become the first team to repeat as national champions in the CFP era. They’ve now made the playoff seven times overall and five times in the last seven years-all under head coach Ryan Day.
Miami, meanwhile, is trying to recapture the magic of its glory years. Their only other Cotton Bowl appearance came at the end of the 1990 season, when they routed Texas 46-3 before joining the Big East.
What’s at Stake
For Ohio State, it’s about legacy. Cementing a repeat.
Continuing a dynasty under Day. For Miami, it’s about redemption and revival-proof that the U is truly back and can hang with college football’s elite again.
The Cotton Bowl has hosted its share of classics, but Wednesday night’s matchup brings a different kind of energy. A powerhouse with unfinished business. A rising contender with something to prove.
And only one will move on.