RESTED OR RUSTY? TOP FOUR PLAYOFF SEEDS EAGER TO SHOW THEY ARE READY AS CFP QUARTERFINALS ARRIVE
No. 1 Indiana spent several December weeks reveling in the luster of the best season in school history.
They sung the school’s fight song in the confetti celebration following their first Big Ten championship since 1967 and first outright title since 1945. They were featured on “60 Minutes.” They signed their offensive and defensive coordinators to contract extensions. They even flew to New Yorck City and took photos of quarterback Fernando Mendoza and his brand new Heisman Trophy in Times Square.
And now that they know their Rose Bowl opponent after Alabama rallied for a 34-24 victory at Oklahoma, Indiana has spent the past 10 days prepping to prove they’re worthy of holding both the No. 1 ranking and the top seed in the College Football Playoff.
“We understand that just like the Big Ten Championship game, just like any other big games we played this season, this page is now folded, although I will be in the (Heisman) fraternity for the rest of my life,” Mendoza said after returning to campus with the Heisman. “Our focus right now is winning the College Football Playoff. That’s what would make this trophy so much sweeter.”
Last year was the first for the expanded 12-team playoff, and the top four seeds with first-round byes — Oregon, Georgia, Bosie State and Arizona State — all lost in the quarterfinals. This year’s top seeds — Indiana, Ohio State, Georgia and Texas Tech — want to prove last year was a fluke.
Georgia (12-1) face conference foe Ole Miss (12-1) in a New Year’s Day rematch at the Sugar Bowl; the Bulldogs dealt the Rebels their only loss. The defending champion Buckeyes (12-1) have spent the past couple weeks getting healthy and making one key change. Coach Ryan Day will be calling the plays when Ohio State faces Miami (11-2) in the Cotton Bowl on Wednesday night.
“There’s not a game that’s gone by where I’m not involved or listening to every call and making sure it’s what we’ve agreed upon going in (to the game),” Day said, explaining why he’s taking over the playcalling from new South Florida coach Brian Hartline. “So, it’s similar to the way it was before.”
The other quarterfinal matchup pits Texas Tech (12-1), the Big 12 champion, against Oregon (11-1).
The Hoosiers (13-0) never lost their focus in 2025, thanks partly to second-year coach Curt Cignetti but mostly because the Hoosiers’ returning contingent — players such as linebacker Aiden Fisher, defensive end Mikail Kamara and receivers Elijah Sarratt and Omar Cooper Jr. — wouldn’t allow it.
Neither did the newcomers such as Mendoza and starting center Pat Coogan, who immediately embraced Indiana’s mission to avenge the two losses that tainted Cignetti’s otherwise flawless first season: At eventual national champion Ohio State and at eventual national runner-up Notre Dame.
Outsiders entered this season wondering whether the remarkable turnaround of the losingest football program in Football Bowl Subdivision history was merely a one-hit wonder. Yet with each passing week, the Hoosiers answered the challenge, turning some doubters into believers.
“For us, it’s not really three weeks of being off, it’s more so about getting better at what you do right now,” Fisher said. “And when the time comes to scout another opponent, you’ll be an even better player and in a better situation to do that. I think that’s a big thing.”
Now comes the toughest test so far: A game at the Rose Bowl against the Crimson Tide, which has won six national championships since 2009. Cignetti is a former Alabama assistant while Crimson Tide coach Kalen DeBoer is a former Indiana assistant.
“We understand we’ve got a great football team with Indiana,” DeBoer said. “Coach Cignetti, just what he’s done is amazing here these last two years, just building the program as quickly as he’s done to the level it’s at. Really looking forward to us diving back into our process here, getting back to work.”
So far, Indiana has met every challenge with late scores to win at Iowa, at Oregon and at Penn State before upsetting the then top-ranked Buckeyes on Dec. 6. Cignetti has relied on those lessons to help his team through his long layoff.
“Until we knew the opponent, we treated it like two bye weeks. Now we have almost two weeks to prepare for the opponent,” he said last week. “Would I prefer to play earlier? Yeah, I probably would, to be quite honest with you. But that’s not the case. We’re excited about playing. We’re off to a good start, and it will be a tremendous challenge.”
The Hoosiers don’t expect anything less from themselves. They intend to be rested and ready — not rusty.
“I believe we’ve earned these bye weeks,” Mendoza said. “I think it’s a great honor to have a bye week, and we still have great momentum going into the playoff. I think it’s a great opportunity to rest our bodies and stay sharp on our fundamentals.”
ALABAMA DEFENDERS HUBBARD, LAWSON AND JEFFERSON ARE TRAVELING REDEMPTION ROAD TO THE ROSE BOWL
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) — Alabama’s defense is filled with comeback and redemption stories.
There’s safety Bray Hubbard, a junior who struggled in a season-opening loss at Florida State and rallied to become a third-team All-America selection.
There’s linebacker Deontae Lawson, a senior who tore a ligament in his right knee in November 2024 and worked his way back in time for the opener. He leads the Crimson Tide with 85 tackles.
There’s fellow linebacker Justin Jefferson, another senior who initially thought he was out of college eligibility before being granted an additional year as a former junior college transfer. He ranks second on the team in tackles (82) and tackles for loss (6 1/2).
The trio leads the way for a unit that seems determined to make amends for a disappointing season last year. They’ll no doubt be ones to watch when the 13th-ranked Crimson Tide (10-3) take on No. 1 Indiana (13-0) and Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza in a College Football Playoff quarterfinal matchup at the Rose Bowl on Thursday. Alabama is the No. 9 seed in the CFP.
“You think back on where we have gone and you think about a year ago,” Alabama defensive coordinator Kane Wommack said. “Not being able to answer the bell and not punch back. Now, I think all our kids do is they fight, they punch and they just keep punching.”
It starts with Hubbard, Lawson and Jefferson — three guys who seem to play with a chip on their shoulder.
Hubbard was widely vilified for his effort against the Seminoles, including one particular play in which he appeared to be jogging, and he didn’t bother trying to defend himself. Instead, he vowed to let it fuel him the rest of the season.
Since that 31-17 loss in Tallahassee, Alabama has have been mostly buttoned up on that side of the ball, holding 11 of its last 12 opponents to 24 points or fewer.
“I know he was super disappointed,” coach Kalen DeBoer said about Hubbard. “Many guys were, with Week 1, with just the production. I would never really question how important it is to him. It means so much to play at a high level but even more to do it with his teammates.
“He takes it upon himself to make sure that, yes, the unit that’s on the field, the 1s, the 2s, that they’re playing at a high level and held to the standard.”
Lawson and Jefferson could be in the NFL right now. But they were among six defensive starters who put off the draft and opted to stay in school. Among the reasons: they wanted another shot at a national championship after last year’s team stumbled at Oklahoma and got left out of the playoff.
That game was in the front of their minds when Alabama got a rematch in Norman in the opening round of the CFP. Defense was the main reason the Tide turned a 17-0 deficit into a 34-24 victory. The unit intercepted a pass for a touchdown to gain momentum and allowed just seven points in the second half.
“We’ve faced about every offense that you can think of,” Hubbard said. “We’ve kind of seen it all and just keep growing. That’s kind of what you got to do.”
Alabama ranks 13th nationally in total yards allowed (288.9 a game) and points allowed (17.9 a game). Alabama already has wins against several notable QBs, some of them even one-time front-runners in the Heisman race. The list includes Vanderbilt’s Diego Pavia, South Carolina’s LaNorris Sellers, LSU’s Garrett Nussmeier and Oklahoma’s John Mateer.
Might Mendoza be next? He has the Hoosiers humming and averaging 472.8 yards and 41.9 points.
Behind Hubbard, Lawson and Jefferson, Alabama is confident it can pull an upset and keep its redemption season rolling.
OHIO STATE’S CALEB DOWNS IS QUITE THE CFP VETERAN HEADING INTO THE QUARTERFINALS AGAINST MIAMI
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Caleb Downs had to be reminded that he was getting ready for his sixth College Football Playoff game, which probably won’t be rare a decade from now but is unique in just the second year of the expanded 12-team format.
The Ohio State safety smiled at the thought and figured it couldn’t hurt to have played in the CFP as a freshman at Alabama, losing 27-20 to Michigan in overtime before transferring to the Wolverines’ biggest rival and winning four postseason games and a national championship with the Buckeyes a year ago.
“That could be a positive, just knowing that I’ve been in this situation so many times,” said Downs, a two-time Associated Press All-American. “At the end of the day, it’s not about me. It’s about everybody else feeling confident during the game. Really just trying to push that to all my teammates.”
He’s talking younger teammates such as freshman Devin Sanchez, a backup cornerback who has tried to imagine the nerves and emotions in the hours before kickoff Wednesday night in a Cotton Bowl quarterfinal against No. 10 Miami.
The Hurricanes (11-2, CFP No. 10 seed) are first-time CFP qualifiers, but got a start on those nerves with the 10-3 first-round victory at Texas A&M on Dec. 20.
The third-ranked Buckeyes (12-1, CFP No. 2) got a first-round bye despite losing to top-ranked Indiana in the Big Ten championship game.
“Lean on them a lot, more than you think,” Sanchez said. “They’re guys that have been here a lot of times, a couple of guys have been to the Cotton Bowl for the third straight year in a row. So this is not a new place for them. As a new guy, there’s nothing I can do but lean on them. The speed will be a little different. The intensity will be up a little bit more. Just lean on those guys, and when my number’s called just be able to go out there and make sure that they trust me to be out there.”
Downs remembers the nerves from his CFP debut with the Crimson Tide. He was in the Rose Bowl, a spectacle he had seen on TV as a kid.
“That was probably the biggest game I had played at the time,” said Downs, one of the top players in the 2024 portal as the first freshman to lead the storied Alabama program in tackles. “Knowing that, it was a little bit of nerves.”
The Buckeyes were in the Cotton Bowl for last season’s semifinals, beating Texas 28-14 after comfortable wins over Tennessee at home and No. 1 Oregon in a Rose Bowl quarterfinal.
Downs found a way to leave the Rose Bowl with a better feeling. Now he’ll be back on the field where he intercepted Texas’ Quinn Ewers almost a year ago, in what will be his 44th game in just three seasons.
“I think just in general with Caleb, just the amount of experience he has playing football is probably the most important thing,” first-year defensive coordinator Matt Patricia said. “His professionalism and how he prepares is probably the best example that I can point to for all the players.”
Downs, a projected first-round pick should he decide to enter the NFL draft in April, isn’t the only experienced defensive back. Davison Igbinosun and Jermaine Matthews Jr., the starting cornerbacks in front of Sanchez, have been around awhile.
Igbinosun was on the 2023 Ohio State team that also played in the Cotton Bowl, a 14-3 loss to Missouri after missing out on the last four-team playoff.
A year later, Downs was with him, believing the experience of being in the playoff didn’t matter as much as losing in the playoff.
“It definitely added a little bit of fuel to the fire because I lost my freshman year,” Downs said. “It made me want to come back and play better. I think that was a lot of what everybody else on the team felt because they didn’t have the success they wanted to earlier in their career. I think that was a hungry team. And we’ve got to be the same way this year.”
NO. 3 GEORGIA AND NO. 6 MISSISSIPPI BRACE FOR REMATCH IN THE SUGAR BOWL CFP QUARTERFINAL
No. 3 Georgia (12-1, CFP No. 3 seed) vs. No. 6 Mississippi (12-1, CFP No. 6 seed), Thursday, 8 p.m. EST (ESPN)
BetMGM Sportsbook College Football Odds: Georgia by 6 1/2.
Series record: Georgia leads 33-13-1.
What’s at stake?
The winner moves on to a CFP semifinal at the Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 8. Georgia comes in on the heels of an SEC championship and one year after a loss to Notre Dame in a quarterfinal at the same bowl game. Now they’ll try to beat Ole Miss a second time in one season. These two teams met in Athens on Oct. 18, with the Bulldogs winning 43-35. The was the Rebels’ only loss. They earned a rematch by routing Tulane 41-10 in the opening round of the College Football Playoff on Dec. 20, about three weeks after their coach for most of this season, Lane Kiffin, left for LSU and was replaced by former defensive coordinator Pete Golding.
Key matchup
Georgia tight end Lawson Luckie was a major matchup problem for the Ole Miss defense in the last meeting. He caught three TD passes from Bulldogs QB Gunner Stockton. Rebels linebackers and safeties will try to have a better plan this time for covering Luckie, who was a key safety valve for Stockton, particularly in the red zone. All three of Luckie’s touchdowns came on snaps inside the Ole Miss 15-yard line.
Players to watch
Mississippi: QB Trinidad Chambliss has provided one of the most compelling story lines in all of college football this season. The transfer from Division II Ferris State began the season as a backup and performed so well as an early season injury replacement that he kept the starting job for the rest of the season. Along the way, the dual-threat QB has passed for 3,298 yards and 19 TDs to go with 506 yards and eight TDs rushing.
Georgia: Stockton also is a threat as both a passer and a runner, and improved throughout his first full year as the Bulldogs’ starter. He’s completed 70.7% of his passes this season for 2,691 yards and 23 TDs while also rushing for 442 yards and eight TDs.
Facts & figures
The 50th meeting on the field between these SEC foes will be their first in the postseason. It’ll also be the eighth time they’ve played when both were ranked, with the Bulldogs having won five of the previous seven such matchups. … Georgia and Mississippi have never previously played twice in the same season. … Ole Miss’ CFP opener was Golding’s only game as a college football head coach. … Mississippi is in its 11th Sugar Bowl, having gone 6-4 in its previous 10. The Rebels’ last trip to the Sugar Bowl came after the 2021 season and they lost to Baylor 21-7. … Ole Miss led the SEC this season in total offense with 498 yards per game and passing offense with 312.4 yards per game. … Georgia is making its 13th appearance in the Sugar Bowl, having gone 5-7 in its previous 12. … The Bulldogs are in their fifth CFP, all under coach Kirby Smart. They are 5-2 in CFP games, including national titles in 2021 and 2022. … The Bulldogs won their 16th SEC championship with a 28-7 victory over Alabama on Dec. 6. Georgia has now won two straight SEC titles for the first time since winning three in a row from 1980-82. … Georgia has gone 65-6 since 2021, the best record of any Football Bowl Subdivision team during the past half decade. … Last year’s Sugar Bowl was delayed by a day because of the killing of 14 people on Bourbon Street by an attacker who drove a truck into a crowd and then died in a shootout with police in the early morning hours of New Year’s Day.
ORANGE BOWL SHOWDOWN: TEXAS TECH AND OREGON ARE MIRROR IMAGES, SET TO FACE OFF IN CFP QUARTERFINALS
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — The formula for getting to this season’s Orange Bowl apparently went like this: Score a ton of points, allow very few points, have a big play on basically every possession, excel on third downs offensively, be stingy on third downs defensively.
That was Texas Tech’s path.
That was also Oregon’s path.
Numbers-wise, Texas Tech and Oregon have basically been mirroring images of one another this season. They’re both 12-1, neither has lost since mid-October, both have top-10 scoring offenses, both have top-10 scoring defenses … the similarities go on and on and on.
The Red Raiders ( No. 4 AP, No. 4 CFP) and Ducks (No. 5 AP, No. 5 CFP) will square off in the Orange Bowl on New Year’s Day in the College Football Playoff quarterfinals, with the winner headed to the national semifinals at the Peach Bowl next week against either Indiana or Alabama.
“Everybody knows the stakes,” Oregon coach Dan Lanning said. “These are moments that you’re excited to get to go be a part of.”
There are no shortage of numbers that have one team looking a lot like the other. Points per game, it’s Texas Tech 42.5 and Oregon 39.2. Points allowed per game, it’s Texas Tech 10.9 and Oregon 16.3. Yards per game, it’s Texas Tech 480 and Oregon 469. Yards allowed per game, it’s Texas Tech 254 and Oregon 271. Yards allowed per play, it’s Texas Tech 3.96 and Oregon 4.36.
“How lucky are we? And that’s not a question, but man, a statement of gratitude,” Texas Tech coach Joey McGuire said. “You know, if you had told my 13-year-old self that I’m getting ready to coach on January 1st in the Orange Bowl at 11 a.m. Central time, man, I would have probably never believed it. So, I’m just so fortunate and grateful that we get to do this and man, we’re excited.”
It could be argued that this is already the best season in Texas Tech history, with a school record for wins and a strong likelihood that the Red Raiders will finish the year 10th or better in the final AP Top 25 for the first time.
Clearly, they are aiming for much more.
“It’s more of an internal thing for us to push through and try to be the best that we can no matter what the outside voices say,” star Texas Tech linebacker Jacob Rodriguez said. “If they say that we’re the best, we’ll try to play the best. If they say we’re the worst, we’ll try to play the best.”
Oregon quarterback Dante Moore said after the Ducks’ win over James Madison in Round 1 of the CFP that this has been the longest season of his life — now 14 games and counting, with the potential of two more after this one.
And he’s not complaining.
“I feel like with this team, we were very young at the beginning of the year, but we’ve had a lot of experience,” Moore said. “We’ve been pushing each other every day.”
Playing early
Texas Tech will be playing for the sixth time this season in a game starting at noon Eastern, or 11 a.m. Central. The Red Raiders are 5-0 in those games this season.
“I started saying we’re the best 11 o’clock team in the country,” McGuire said.
It’s the second noon Eastern — or 9 a.m. Pacific — game for Oregon. The Ducks beat Northwestern 34-14 on Sept. 13 in the other early kick they had this season.
And obviously, both teams have been in South Florida for a few days — plenty of time to acclimate to time changes.
Among the best
The game features some of college football’s active career leaders in a few different statistical categories at the FBS level.
Oregon’s Dillon Thieneman leads all active players in solo tackles per game over a career (4.78), while Texas Tech’s 1-2 defensive punch of Rodriguez and David Bailey are also on the active leader lists.
Rodriguez is second in forced fumbles among active FBS players (13), while Bailey is third in forced fumbles (10) and third in sacks (28).
Something will give?
A good rule for the Orange Bowl: 35 points is typically enough. And these two teams make scoring 35 points look easy at times.
Teams that score 35 or more points in the Orange Bowl are 24-1 all-time. The exception was Jan. 3, 2014, when Clemson beat Ohio State 40-35.
The average score of an Orange Bowl to this point: 28-14.
The series
This could have been the third consecutive season where Oregon and Texas Tech met on the field. They played in 2023 and were scheduled to again last season — but altered those plans so Oregon could continue its annual rivalry game with Oregon State.
The 2024 game was moved to the 2033 season.
Explosive plays
Another numerical similarity: Big plays.
Oregon has 91 plays for 20 or more yards this season, the most in the country. The No. 2 team on that list? Texas Tech, with 90 such plays.
OREGON, TEXAS TECH SET TO MAKE ORANGE BOWL DEBUTS, WITH BERTH IN CFP SEMIFINALS AT STAKE
No. 5 Oregon (12-1, CFP No. 5 seed) vs. No. 4 Texas Tech (12-1, CFP No. 4 seed), Thursday, 12 p.m. EST (ESPN)
BetMGM Sportsbook College Football Odds: Oregon by 2 1/2.
Series record: Oregon leads 3-0.
What’s at stake?
A berth in the College Football Playoff semifinals against either Indiana or Alabama awaits the winner of this game, which happens to be a matchup of two teams making their Orange Bowl debuts. The winner of the Oregon-Texas Tech game moves on to the Peach Bowl on Jan. 9; the other CFP semifinal — pitting the Ole Miss-Georgia winner against the Ohio State-Miami winner — is the day before at the Fiesta Bowl.
Key matchup
Impossible to say there is just one (or two, or three), but the obvious one would pit Oregon QB Dante Moore against the Texas Tech defensive front led by All-American LB Jacob Rodriguez. If Moore has time, he’s lethal. He’s 13-0 in college in games where he averages more than 7 yards per passing attempt.
Players to watch
Oregon: RB Jordon Davison. The freshman hurt his right foot in the CFP first-round win over James Madison, but leads the Ducks with 13 TD runs on only 98 carries this season — and the indications are that he’ll be ready to play in the Orange Bowl.
Texas Tech: LB David Bailey. He’s part of the 1-2 punch of All-Americans alongside Rodriguez, and his 12.5 sacks so far this season are the clear proof that even the best blocking schemes have been no match for him in 2025.
Facts & figures
Texas Tech has outscored opponents by 262 points in first halves this season, the biggest margin in the country. Oregon is No. 2 on that list, outscoring opponents by 222 points in the first two quarters. … Both teams had their one loss in mid-October — Texas Tech on Oct. 18 against Arizona State, Oregon on Oct. 11 against Indiana. … The teams met in 2023, a wild back-and-forth affair where Oregon prevailed 38-30. Oregon still has 13 of its players who appeared in that game, and Texas Tech still has eight. … Oregon is coming to Miami for the third time to play a third different opponent. The Ducks lost to Florida in 1929 and to the Hurricanes in 1958. … Texas Tech offensive coordinator Mack Leftwich and Oregon assistant offensive line coach/run game coordinator Cutter Leftwich are brothers. They’ve never previously faced off as coaches; they did once when Cutter, the younger brother, was playing at McNeese State and Mack was a graduate assistant at Incarnate Word. …. Oregon coach Dan Lanning is 47-7 in his career, now just ahead of Chip Kelly (46-7) for the best winning percentage as coach of the Ducks.
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