College Football Playoff hits high gear as quarterfinals arrive on TSN

After an 11-day holiday hiatus, the College Football Playoff is back with a quartet of quarterfinal games on New Year’s Eve and Day.

There was plenty to keep the diehards busy in the meantime, with seemingly round-the-clock bowl action leading up to and through Christmas — matchups that didn’t exactly come with the highest of stakes, but still provided their share of entertainment, whether it was on the field or in the postgame celebrations.

Now, the real meaningful ones are ready to start up again. Eight teams remain, with seven games left to crown a national champion.

Watch every game of the College Football Playoff LIVE on TSN, TSN.ca and the TSN App.

Without further delay, storylines for each of this week’s four playoff games:

Cotton Bowl: (10) Miami vs. (2) Ohio State

The Buckeyes’ only loss of the season came in the Big Ten Championship against Indiana — a 13-10, uncharacteristically-mistake-ridden performance that Miami will be trying to corner them into replicating on New Year’s Eve at the Cotton Bowl.

The Hurricanes are fresh off their biggest win in over 20 years — a sloppy, imperfect 10-3 defeat of their own over Texas A&M in the first round. But don’t be mistaken — Mario Cristobal went into College Station with a gameplan and executed it. Miami won the battle at the line of scrimmage, managed to keep Marcel Reed in the pocket and picked him off in the end zone in the final minute to put the game on ice. And though Carson Beck didn’t exactly light the world on fire, he played cleaner than his counterpart and managed to lead a fourth-quarter scoring drive that stood as the difference.

So what are the odds the Hurricanes march into AT&T Stadium and knock off the defending champs on Wednesday?

For one, they’ll have to contain one of the most dynamic offences in all of college football.

Julian Sayin was a Heisman finalist in his first year as Ohio State’s starter and is in the midst of the most accurate season by a passer in FBS history, having completed 78.4 per cent of his attempts – up a full percentage point on Bo Nix, who set the previous record at Oregon two years ago.

It helps when you have the best receiving corps in the nation, too.

Carnell Tate is a likely first-round pick in April’s NFL Draft, and Jeremiah Smith might even go a step further in 2027, when he’s currently projected to go first overall. Smith was outstanding last year as a true freshman and saved his best for the playoffs, with 381 yards and five touchdowns in four games. Against Indiana, Smith had 144 yards and Tate reached the end zone, but Ohio State did have its share of issues – in the second half, it got inside the Hoosiers’ 10-yard line twice and failed to score both times.

Miami will counter with its devastating defensive line led by edge rushers Rueben Bain Jr. and Akheem Mesidor, who have combined for 15 sacks, including a combined four-and-a-half against Texas A&M. The Hurricanes have allowed the least points (13.0 per game) and total yards (281.5) of all ACC teams this year, and have leaned on their defence late to close out the few close games they’ve played, including what might’ve been their most impressive performance – that 27-24 win over Notre Dame in Week 1 that got tangled in all the controversy surrounding their inclusion and the Irish’s omission from the field.

Beck limited his mistakes in the first round but will likely be leaned on for more than the 103 yards he passed for against the Aggies, and it won’t come easy against the best defence in all of college football. Ohio State has two probable first round picks up front in linebackers Sonny Styles and Arvell Reese, and another in the backfield in safety Caleb Downs. The Buckeyes have allowed an FBS-low 8.2 points per game this season – 2.6 less than runner-up Indiana – and haven’t given up more than 16 points in any game.

Orange Bowl: (5) Oregon vs. (4) Texas Tech

A year after getting pummeled by eventual champion Ohio State in the Rose Bowl, Oregon finds itself in Miami to face Texas Tech in the Orange Bowl. And though this year’s path forward seems a little more forgiving, Dan Lanning knows better than to take any opponent lightly at this stage of the season.

The Ducks likely won’t have to try and contain a single electrifying playmaker like the Buckeyes’ Smith this time around, but they do face another distinct challenge — one posed by Texas Tech’s devastating defence, which is anchored by Jabob Rodriguez and features five All-Big 12 First Teamers, including edge rusher David Bailey, who led all Power Four players with 13.5 sacks. Rodriguez finished fifth in the Heisman vote and even received more first-place votes than Sayin, who was one of the four finalists. The Red Raiders are 12-1 this season, with each of those wins coming by 22 points or more, including a 34-7 blowout over BYU three weeks ago that felt more like a walkthrough than it did a conference championship game.

But with all due respect to the Cougars, and other Big 12 contenders like Utah and Houston, Texas Tech hasn’t faced a challenge anything like what it’ll see on New Year’s Day against Oregon.

Behind Dante Moore, the Ducks scored incessantly in the first half of their 51-34 win over James Madison in the first round of the playoffs. Moore got Oregon in the end zone on each of its first four drives and finished with 313 passing yards and five total touchdowns, further cementing himself as a likely top-five pick in April’s NFL Draft should he choose to enter. But Moore did throw two interceptions that led to 10 points — a trend he can’t afford to repeat against Texas Tech, which leads all FBS teams with 41 takeaways and had four against BYU.

Lanning is notorious for his ability to motivate behind closed doors, and sometimes isn’t afraid to let those tactics leak publicly. But if he has anything on Texas Tech, he’s holding it tight to his chest — even insisting to the media that the Red Raiders have earned the right to host Thursday’s meeting rather than it being held at a neutral site. It’s been oddly quiet in general around Eugene this season, with the Ducks handling their business mostly with ease. Like Texas Tech, they’re 12-1, with that lone loss coming against top-seeded Indiana and with a trio of tough wins against Iowa, USC and Washington in November that helped punch their playoff ticket.

Oregon’s defence is no slouch in its own right, allowing just 158.1 passing yards, which trails only Ohio State in the Big Ten and is fourth-best amongst all Power Four teams. It’ll have its hands full with Behren Morton, who played through a hairline fracture in his leg since October but didn’t look any worse for wear, with nine touchdowns and just one interception in five games since suffering the injury. On Tuesday at Media Day, he told reporters that he’s practiced fully this month and that he’s back to full health.

Rose Bowl: (9) Alabama vs. (1) Indiana

Fourteen years ago, Curt Cignetti was on Alabama’s sideline – a wide receivers coach under Nick Saban – before departing on his own terms to begin a four-stop pilgrimage that eventually landed him at Indiana. And in 2019, Kalen DeBoer was the offensive coordinator in Bloomington, moving on after one season to become the head coach at Fresno State and then Washington, before eventually landing in Tuscaloosa after Saban’s retirement.

On Wednesday, Cignetti and DeBoer will be on opposite sidelines – adversaries, in the Granddaddy of Them All – when Indiana and Alabama meet in the Rose Bowl.

The Hoosiers asserted themselves as the best team in college football this season – to this point, at least – in their gutsy, 13-10 win over Ohio State in the Big Ten Championship earlier this month, and have another opportunity for a program-defining win on Thursday. The turnaround under Cignetti has been one of the most remarkable swings in the history of the sport. Indiana is the losingest program in FBS history, and was a combined 78 games under .500 since the turn of the century before Cignetti arrived following the 2023 season. In two years since, they’re 24-2.

The best team in the nation also happens to feature the best player. Fernando Mendoza became the first Heisman winner in Indiana history three weeks ago, comfortably separating himself from Sayin and Vanderbilt’s Diego Pavia in November, and planting his flag against the Buckeyes – throwing for 222 yards, including 17 on a go-ahead touchdown pass to Elijah Sarratt that stood as the game-winner – in the win that clinched the top seed for Indiana in the playoffs.

Ty Simpson was in the Heisman conversation for most of the season before wilting in November and in the SEC Championship against Georgia, but he redeemed himself in Alabama’s 34-24 win over Oklahoma in the first round, throwing for two touchdowns and leading the Tide back from a 17-point first half deficit. Unlike its previous two meetings against the Sooners under DeBoer, it was Alabama feasting on mistakes – returning a John Mateer interception for a touchdown to tie the score before halftime, and benefitting from Oklahoma’s all-around special teams nightmare.

Indiana held Sayin in check and did the same with Moore in its road win over Oregon in October, and is well-equipped at each level to give Simpson a hard time in Pasadena. Simpson has two of the steadiest pass-catchers in the SEC in Germie Bernard and Isaiah Horton, but Ryan Williams has struggled badly with drops and Alabama’s run game – which was a hallmark of its success under Saban – has been nearly non-existent. Jam Miller had only 11 rushing yards against Oklahoma and isn’t likely to catch many breaks against the Hoosiers’ defensive front, which is anchored by First Team All-Big Ten linebacker Aidan Fisher.

Sugar Bowl: (6) Ole Miss vs (3) Georgia

Three years ago, Georgia stood atop the college football world – national champions for the second straight season and on the verge of establishing a dynasty, if it hadn’t already. And Kirby Smart? He was on the fast track to becoming the next Saban, with the first of those two titles having come at Alabama’s expense.

Since then, Georgia has hit a roadblock.

In 2023, there was that loss to the Crimson Tide in the SEC Championship – one that cost the Bulldogs a place in the final four-team playoff. Last year, they managed to beat Texas to win the conference, then came up short against Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl in Gunner Stockton’s first career start, filling in for Beck – then, with Georgia, before transferring to Miami this past January – after Beck injured his elbow against the Longhorns.

This season, the championship DNA might just be reemerging.

Georgia avenged its lone loss of the season in a dominant win over Alabama in the SEC Championship, and can erase the sour taste it left New Orleans with last January with a win over Ole Miss on Thursday in its second straight trip to the Sugar Bowl. How sweet would that be?

Stockton was one of the biggest question marks in the sport entering this season – the inexperienced, unproven leader of a program that had lost a mere five games over the previous four years. But any questions about his passing acumen were put to rest in a come-from-behind overtime win on the road against Tennessee in Week 3, and three of his other best outings came in each of Georgia’s Top-10 wins, with a combined 15 touchdowns and just one interception against Ole Miss, Texas and Alabama.

That win over Ole Miss was the Rebels’ only loss this season, and sets the stage for an intriguing rematch when the teams meet up at the Superdome. Georgia trailed by nine points in the fourth quarter, but scored 17 unanswered to win – getting a perfect second half from Stockton in the process, with him completing all 12 of his passing attempts and throwing three touchdowns.

Of course, plenty has changed with Ole Miss since that meeting in October. Lane Kiffin is settling in in Baton Rouge, and though he wasn’t missed in the Rebels’ first round breeze-by of Tulane, the absence of his playcalling wizardry might be felt against Georgia.

One thing Ole Miss still has going for it is SEC Newcomer of the Year Trinidad Chambliss, who was one of the unlikeliest of heroes this season after transferring from D-II Ferris State and taking over as the starting quarterback after Austin Simmons was hurt in September.

Chambliss passed for 282 yards and a touchdown and ran for two more against Tulane, and was strong in his first shot against Georgia, accounting for three total touchdowns without a turnover. But his long-term status is also in limbo, with him still awaiting a ruling on his bid for an extra year of eligibility, and with plenty of talks swirling about the possibility of him joining Kiffin at LSU if he gets it.