2025 Cotton Bowl: #2 tOSU vs aTm/Miami-FL winner, Wed 12/31 7:30 ET at JerryWorld

[BB73]

The Buckeyes will enter the CFP quarter-finals at the Cotton Bowl in Arlington, TX on New Year’s Eve.

They will face the winner of the first round game held on Sat 12/20 at noon ET with the Miami Hurricanes at Kyle Field to face the Texas A&M Aggies.

What: Cotton Bowl
Who: Ohio State vs. TBD
When: Wednedsay, Dec. 31
Time: 7:30 p.m. ET
Where: AT&T Stadium
Tickets: SeatGeek, StubHub or VividSeats

 

[buckeyemania11]

Ruining Cryamis "return" would be great.

 

[Jaxbuck]

Ruining Cryamis "return" would be great.

Every 20 years or so you should put a new stake through their heart, just to make sure they are still dead

 

[Jaxbuck]

I'll just put this in here instead of offense and defense threads. This is a mix of FEI data (tells us what teams have done) and CFB EPA data (tells us how teams do it). There is more to it but that's the high level.

OSU Bracket Matrix

Threat to OSU on each side of the ball

Team	Their Defense vs OSU Offense	Their Offense vs OSU Defense	Total Threat Level
Indiana	Very High	Moderate	High
Georgia	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate
Miami	Moderate	Low	Moderate–Low
Texas A&M	Low	Low	Low
Ole Miss	Low	Minimal	Minimal
Tulane	Minimal	Minimal	Minimal

Indiana​

• Only team whose defensive architecture materially distorts OSU's offensive rhythm as we just saw.
• Offense is not elite; threat comes 75% from defense (13 points)

Georgia​

• Balanced, top-10 in everything, but nothing that specifically attacks OSU’s structural weaknesses.
• Most “complete” opponent on this side.

Miami​

• Defense good enough to slow OSU some, but OSU defense >Miami’s offense.
• Hard for Miami to get to 20 points in this game.

Texas A&M​

• QB-run based run game gets shut down by OSU front.
• Defensive drive efficiency is not top-tier when opponent-adjusted.
• Can’t threaten OSU unless OSU self-inflicts.

Ole Miss​

• Cannot defend OSU’s WR room or methodical structure.
• Offense gets erased by OSU D.

Tulane​

Ha

We will be ~7 point favorite over TAMU/Miami
Probably ~-3 over UGA

My single biggest concern is playing in Glendale. Fuck that place.

 

[calibuck]

Look at the pairings, and am a tad scared with either one tOSU will face. Guess it's more not paying attention to other teams, other than those in the B10 other than now. Each and every game on out from here will be more like tOSU v Xichigan than not. Guess have to let the coaches spend time in the tape room, watching the opponent's games, in order to formulate/foment D and O gameplans. Hopefully the loss to IU will light the fires that burn in the hearts of players/coaches like last year's team. Go Bucks!

 

[Onebuckfan]

There are a lot of emotions fans , players and coaches are going through. The team needs to let it go now and turn it to a productive two weeks, crescendoing into a good performance in the cotton bowl.

 

[BuckBackHome]

Is there a general thread I can BMW in since we don't yet have an opponent and no said thread?

 

[Tanner]

I still have confidence. I dont think our O-line is as good as it was in Ann Arbor, nor as bad as it was against Indiana. As long as they can give you just a B performance we have a good shot

 

[Telekinesis]

No matter what happens, the Bucks are going to murder every team from now through Christmas. That alone should quiet the naysayers.

 

[Jaxbuck]

I still have confidence. I dont think our O-line is as good as it was in Ann Arbor, nor as bad as it was against Indiana. As long as they can give you just a B performance we have a good shot

Performance is relative though. That's why I put that chart up there to help people be a little more confident.

Our guys played better in AA in large part because they played a weaker opponent.

Opponent strength (or lack there of) matters. A lot.

 

[scarletngray]

Look at the pairings, and am a tad scared with either one tOSU will face. Guess it's more not paying attention to other teams, other than those in the B10 other than now. Each and every game on out from here will be more like tOSU v Xichigan than not. Guess have to let the coaches spend time in the tape room, watching the opponent's games, in order to formulate/foment D and O gameplans. Hopefully the loss to IU will light the fires that burn in the hearts of players/coaches like last year's team. Go Bucks!

If the loss to Indy doesn't light a fire in both the players and coaches, I don't know what will.