2025 Cotton Bowl Classic (December)

The 2025 Cotton Bowl Classic was a college football bowl game played on December 31, 2025, at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.^[1] The 90th annual game was one of the 2025–26 bowl games concluding the 2025 FBS football season. The Cotton Bowl was one of the College Football Playoff (CFP) quarterfinal games, with the winner advancing to the semifinals. The game began at approximately 6:30 p.m. CST and aired on ESPN. Sponsored by the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, the game was officially known as the 2025 CFP Quarterfinal at the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic.^[1][2][3]

The Miami Hurricanes of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) upset the defending national champion Ohio State Buckeyes of the Big Ten Conference, 24–14.^[4] This was Miami’s first victory in a major bowl game since the 2004 Orange Bowl.

The Cotton Bowl Classic was a quarterfinal game of the 2025–26 College Football Playoff (CFP). No. 2 Ohio State, being one of the top four teams in the final CFP rankings, received an automatic bye in the CFP and was selected to play in the Cotton Bowl for the third consecutive year. Miami (FL), the No. 10 seed in the playoff, defeated Texas A&M, the No. 7 seed, in the first round, 10–3, to advance to this game.^[5]

The winning team, Miami, advanced to the CFP semifinals, facing the winner of the Sugar Bowl in the Fiesta Bowl.

The game featured the Ohio State Buckeyes and the Miami Hurricanes. This was the sixth meeting between the two teams—each team won two of their prior meetings, and a 2010 win by Ohio State was later vacated.^[6] This is the teams' first meeting since the 2011 season, when the unranked Hurricanes upset the 17th-ranked Buckeyes, 24–6.^[7]

This was the teams' first postseason meeting since the 2003 Fiesta Bowl, the designated BCS national championship game of the 2002 college football season. In that contest, the second-ranked Buckeyes, a 12-point underdog, upset the top-ranked Hurricanes, 31–24, in double overtime to win their first outright national championship since 1968.

Ohio State won all 12 of their regular-season games, including wins over three ranked opponents: Texas, Illinois, and Michigan.^[8] The Buckeyes qualified for the 2025 Big Ten Football Championship Game, which they lost to Indiana, 13–10.^[9] Ranked first in the AP poll for most of the season, Ohio State entered the Cotton Bowl Classic ranked second in the AP poll and as the number-two seed in the CFP, and were considered the undisputed favorite to win the national championship.^[10]

Miami opened their season with five consecutive wins, including three over ranked opponents: Notre Dame, South Florida, and Florida State. They suffered two losses in their next three games, to Louisville and SMU, then won their final four regular-season games.^[11] The Hurricanes were seeded 10th in the CFP, and defeated Texas A&M in College Station, Texas, in a first-round contest.^[12] Miami enters the Cotton Bowl Classic with an overall record of 11–2.

Both teams opened the game with a punt, and Miami's second drive was cut short in the Ohio State red zone following a Mark Fletcher Jr. fumble. After an Ohio State punt, Miami scored the game's first points on a touchdown pass from Carson Beck to Fletcher. They doubled their lead after Keionte Scott intercepted a Julian Sayin pass and returned it 72 yards for a touchdown with 12 minutes remaining in the half. Each team punted twice over the next nine minutes. Ohio State resumed possession at their own 2-yard line with 1:30 to play and drove to the Miami 31-yard line, but Jayden Fielding's 49 yard field goal attempt was unsuccessful.^[13]

Ohio State received the ball to begin the second half, and they drove 82 yards to score their first points on a 1-yard Bo Jackson rush. Miami's ensuing drive reached the Ohio State 32-yard line in eight plays; following a fumble by Malachi Toney which was recovered by the Hurricanes, Carter Davis made a 49-yard field goal to increase Miami's lead to ten points. Ohio State drove 58 yards to the Miami 22-yard line before the third quarter ended, and they scored three plays later on a 14-yard pass from Sayin to Jeremiah Smith. Both teams punted once before Miami extended their lead to ten points on a 5-yard rush by CharMar Brown with under a minute remaining in the game. Sayin was intercepted on the second play of Ohio State's ensuing possession, allowing Miami to secure a 24–14 victory.^[13]

• Game statistics at statbroadcast.com