Overview
- The playoff starts with No. 2 Ohio State facing No. 10 Miami in the Cotton Bowl at 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN from AT&T Stadium in Arlington.
- Quarterfinals continue Jan. 1 with Oregon vs. Texas Tech in the Orange Bowl (noon ET), Alabama vs. No. 1 Indiana in the Rose Bowl (4 p.m. ET), and Ole Miss vs. Georgia in the Sugar Bowl (8 p.m. ET).
- Outside the CFP, Tennessee meets Illinois in the Music City Bowl at 5:30 p.m. ET on ESPN, with the Volunteers a narrow favorite and the Illini missing Gabe Jacas and Matthew Bailey.
- CBS Sports highlights SportsLine’s model, which simulated every FBS bowl 10,000 times and released confidence-pool picks, including USC winning nearly 70% of simulations over TCU.
- NFL draft spotlights for the quarterfinals include Ohio State’s Arvell Reese, Caleb Downs and Carnell Tate, Miami edge Rueben Bain Jr., Oregon quarterback Dante Moore, and Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza.