The Ohio State Buckeyes will be looking to win back-to-back national titles. That journey continues when Ryan Day and Co. face the Miami Hurricanes on December 31 at AT&T Stadium in the Cotton Bowl Classic as part of the College Football Playoff quarterfinals.
Ohio State stumbled at the end of the 2025 college football regular season, losing the Big Ten title game to the Indiana Hoosiers. Nonetheless, the Buckeyes are in the College Football Playoff and have their eyes set on being the first group in program history to win back-to-back national titles.
As a result, Day spoke ahead of the game against the Hurricanes, noting that being this close to making school history is a motivating factor for his team.
“For us, this group right here wants to be the first group ever to win back-to-back national championships,” Day said in a video posted by FOX Sports on December 29. “They said that right from the jump, from the minute this thing started about 10 months ago: the winter offseason program, the spring ball, and leading up to this point.
“… This is the whole idea. If you get to this point of the season, the only way you get to tell your story and go down in history at Ohio State is if you win. That’s it. You [have] got to win them all.”
The Buckeyes Are Looking for Momentum
Moreover, Day believes that a win over Miami can jumpstart that wave of momentum that can help ride to the national title game on January 19, 2026, at Hard Rock Stadium. Ohio State are looking to replicate the recipe that led to their championship last season.
“For us, that’s what our focus is; it’s all about winning this first game,” Day added. “I think you have to build your momentum when you get to the playoffs. I think you saw that last year: we won that first game against Tennessee. We built momentum. Well, when you have this layoff, you have to get your own momentum going. It’s all about winning this first game against Miami.”
Ohio State Star Wants Alabama in the College Football Playoff
Should the Buckeyes advance past the Hurricanes on New Year’s Eve, Ohio State safety Caleb Downs, now in his second season with Ohio State after a year at Alabama, is eager for a matchup with the Georgia Bulldogs if both teams advance past the quarterfinals. He last faced Georgia during his freshman season with the Crimson Tide.
“I haven’t played them since my freshman year,” Downs recently said on his “Down 2 Business” podcast that he co-hosts with his brother, Josh (h/t Athlon Sports). “I mean, Miami and Texas A&M, they are great teams, so it will be, the focus is on them first. But, if we get to that point, we definitely lit. We definitely lit.”
Georgia will have its hands full in the Sugar Bowl game when it faces the Ole Miss Rebels, so both teams have challenging matchups in this quarterfinal stage of the College Football Playoff. It will be interesting to see whether either team reaches the semifinal.
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