Can Miami Break the Buckeyes’ New Year’s Eve Curse in the Cotton Bowl?
The stage is set. The prep work is done, helmets are polished, and the stakes couldn’t be higher.
No. 10 Miami and No.
2 Ohio State are hours away from kicking off their College Football Playoff quarterfinal clash in the Goodyear Cotton Bowl. It’s New Year’s Eve, and while the Buckeyes come in as heavy favorites, there’s a stat lingering in the shadows that might give Hurricanes fans a little extra hope.
Let’s talk about the elephant in the room: Ohio State has never won a football game on New Year’s Eve.
We’re not talking about a long list of failures - just two games. But both were major College Football Playoff semifinal losses, and both left lasting scars.
- 2016 Fiesta Bowl: A 31-0 shutout at the hands of Clemson. That one still echoes in Columbus.
- 2022 Peach Bowl: A heartbreaker, 42-41, against Georgia. A missed field goal in the final seconds ended what could’ve been a title run.
That’s an 0-2 record on December 31, and both games were in the CFP. The Buckeyes have been dominant in so many ways over the years, but when it comes to ringing in the New Year, things have gone sideways.
Now, let’s be clear: this 2025 Ohio State team is a different animal. They’re the defending national champs, and many believe they’re even stronger than the squads that made those previous playoff runs.
But in college football, history has a funny way of creeping into the moment. Streaks like this - even if they’re small sample sizes - can weigh heavy when the lights come on and the pressure mounts.
Across the field, Miami isn’t just showing up to play spoiler. The Hurricanes have a little New Year’s Eve magic of their own. They’ve taken the field three times on December 31 and walked away with wins in two of them:
- 2004 Peach Bowl: A convincing 27-10 win over Florida.
- 2006 MPC Computers Bowl: A nail-biter, 21-20 over Nevada.
- 2010 Sun Bowl: A 33-17 loss to Notre Dame.
So, while the Canes’ most recent NYE outing didn’t go their way, they’ve at least proven they can handle the moment. That’s more than Ohio State can say.
Of course, past results don’t win football games. But in a sport where momentum, psychology, and narrative can play just as big a role as X’s and O’s, these kinds of streaks matter.
The Buckeyes are expected to roll - they’ve got the talent, the coaching, and the pedigree. But Miami has something else: belief, nothing to lose, and a chance to flip the script on one of college football’s biggest brands.
So the question isn’t just whether Ohio State can win. It’s whether they can shake off a strange bit of New Year’s Eve history and finally get over the hump when it matters most.
One thing’s for sure: when the ball drops tonight, one team’s season - and maybe a little bit of history - is going to change.