Ohio State to play in its 17th Rose Bowl Game Jan. 1
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Ohio State (11-2 overall, 7-2 in the Big Ten and the No. 8 Seed in the College Football Playoffs) and Oregon (13-0, 9-0, Big Ten champions and the No. 1 Seed) meet in the CFP quarterfinals at the Rose Bowl Jan. 1 at 2:10 p.m. PST/5:10 EST.
The winner advances to the CFP semifinals at the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic Friday, Jan. 10 at 7:30 p.m. EST against the winner of the Jan. 1 quarterfinal at the Chick fil-A Peach Bowl between No. 5 Seed Texas (12-2) and No. 4 Arizona State (11-2).
Ohio State built a 21-0 first quarter lead and defeated Tennessee, 42-17, in a CFP first-round game Dec. 21 at Ohio Stadium. Oregon defeated Penn State, 45-37, in the Big Ten championship game Dec. 7 at Lucas Oil Stadium.
This is Game 2 between the teams. Ohio State and Oregon met in an Autzen Stadium thriller Oct. 12 … a 32-31 Ducks victory between Top-3 ranked teams that featured eight lead changes.
Each team has a Top 10 defense, as each did Oct. 12 when 43 points were scored in the first half alone and the teams combined for 963 offensive yards (Oregon 496; Ohio State 467).
This is Ohio State's fifth game vs. a Top 10 team this season and fourth vs. a Top 5 team.
BY THE NUMBERS
13: Ohio State starts 13 college graduates – six on offense; seven on defense: Howard, Henderson, Egbuka, Scott Jr., Jackson, Fryar, Sawyer, Williams, Hamilton, Simon, Ransom, Burke and Hancock.
936K: Ohio State played in front of a record number of fans at Ohio Stadium in 2024. The nine-game home slate, including the Dec. 21 CFP first-round victory over Tennessee, drew 936,550 fans into the 'Shoe.
6 of 11: Ohio State is in the College Football Playoffs for the sixth time in the CFP's 11-year existence. Head coach Ryan Day is the only active coach to have led his program into the CFP four times since 2019.
17: Ohio State and Alabama have the fewest losses in the 11-season CFP era: 17. The Top 3 in wins: Alabama is 136-17 since the start of 2014; Clemson is 129-24; Ohio State is 127-17. Ryan Day's teams are 67-10.
Ohio State is playing in the College Football Playoffs for a sixth time since the start of the CFP era in 2014 and is the only school to appear in four of the last six CFPs.
Ohio State is No. 3 all-time in CFP appearances, trailing only Alabama (eight appearances) and Clemson (seven).
Georgia and Oklahoma round out the Top 5 with four appearances apiece.
Ohio State won the inaugural College Football Playoffs in 2014 and is 4-4 all-time in CFP games.
The rich history of Ohio State football includes, officially, 51 prior bowl games starting with the 1921 Rose Bowl and including 12 different bowls and 37 games played at the Rose, Fiesta, Sugar, Cotton, Orange and Peach bowls, respectively.
Ohio State has a 25-26 record in bowl games.
Ohio State is the only school to have played in either a College Football Playoff game or a New Year's Six bowl game every year of the 10-year, four-team CFP era.
During this time, Ohio State went to the CFP, Fiesta Bowl, CFP, Cotton Bowl, Rose Bowl, CFP, CFP, Rose Bowl, CFP and Cotton Bowl from 2014-23, respectively.
Ohio State is 9-7 all-time in Rose Bowl games, including four consecutive victories (20-17 over Arizona State in the 1997 game, 26-17 over Oregon in 2010, 28-23 over Washington in 2019 and 48-45 over Utah in 2022).
Ohio State and Oregon also played in the 1958 Rose Bowl (a 10-7 Ohio State win).
Ohio State's 17 appearances are third behind USC (34) and Michigan (21) and its nine victories are topped only by USC's 25.
Ohio State leads the series, 9-2, with wins in the first nine games, but Oregon has won the last two games between the two teams: 35-28 in 2021 at Ohio Stadium, and 32-31 on Oct. 12 this year in a thriller at Autzen Stadium.
The first meeting in the series came in the 1958 Rose Bowl, a 10-7 Ohio State win that capped Woody Hayes' first national championship.
Ohio State's last victory over Oregon came in the 2015 CFP national championship game in Dallas, 42-20, behind 246 yards rushing by Ezekiel Elliott. The win secured for Ohio State its eighth national championship.