{"id":100253,"date":"2025-12-30T18:33:08","date_gmt":"2025-12-30T18:33:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/100253\/"},"modified":"2025-12-30T18:33:08","modified_gmt":"2025-12-30T18:33:08","slug":"texas-tech-oregon-ohio-state-miami-other-matchups","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/100253\/","title":{"rendered":"Texas Tech-Oregon, Ohio State-Miami, other matchups"},"content":{"rendered":"

The second round of the College Football Playoff<\/a> begins on Wednesday with the Cotton Bowl matchup between No. 10 Miami and No. 2 Ohio State. <\/p>\n

SportsDay\u2019s panel of experts (insiders Lia Assimakopulos and Shawn McFarland and columnists Tim Cowlishaw and Kevin Sherrington) share their insights and predictions ahead of this week\u2019s quarterfinal matchups.<\/p>\n

Orange Bowl: No. 5 Oregon vs. No. 4 Texas Tech <\/p>\n

Lia Assimakopoulos: Dante Moore and the Ducks offense will be quite the matchup for Jacob Rodriguez<\/a> and the Red Raiders\u2019 defense, but the near-month off should serve Tech well, and their magical 2025 season doesn\u2019t feel like it\u2019s ending quite yet. Texas Tech 24, Oregon 20<\/p>\n

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Tim Cowlishaw: As an underdog, it sure seems like Texas Tech is being disrespected. Having said that, Oregon is really good and will do more damage to the Tech defense than we usually see in a month in the Big 12. Oregon 20, Texas Tech 15<\/p>\n

Shawn McFarland: This game has the potential to be among the best of the playoff with one of the nation\u2019s premier defenses on one side and one of the nation\u2019s premier offenses on the other. Tech\u2019s best unit has had more than three weeks to prepare for Oregon\u2019s. Texas Tech 28, Oregon 24.<\/p>\n

Kevin Sherrington: The Red Raiders\u2019 defense might be the best Oregon has seen all year, which would have been a crazy thing to type not so long ago. The Ducks\u2019 defense isn\u2019t nearly as good, and that\u2019s the difference. Texas Tech 24, Oregon 21 <\/p>\n

Rose Bowl: No. 9 Alabama vs. No. 1 Indiana<\/p>\n

Assimakopoulos: I wasn\u2019t sold on Indiana until the Big Ten championship. Now I\u2019m all in. The Fernando Mendoza postgame interview in the Rose Bowl will be one for the ages. Indiana 31, Alabama 24<\/p>\n

Cowlishaw: That was some comeback the Tide staged in Norman<\/a>. Now try to do that against a team with a legitimate offense. This will be a long afternoon for Kalen DeBoer as the Hoosiers get the big Rose Bowl New Year\u2019s Day audience to show what they have got. Indiana 37. Alabama 16<\/p>\n

McFarland: The Alabama that rallied in the second half against the Sooners a week and a half ago is good enough to beat the Hoosiers. It just can\u2019t post another no-show in the first half. It wouldn\u2019t hurt them if Ryan Williams remembers how to be an elite receive again, either. Alabama 27, Indiana 21. <\/p>\n

Sherrington: Kalen DeBoer will learn soon why it wasn\u2019t a good idea to leave Washington for Alabama so soon after Nick Saban stepped down<\/a>. Come to think of it, there probably isn\u2019t a good time to be Saban\u2019s successor. Indiana 31, Alabama 24 <\/p>\n

Sugar Bowl: No. 6 Ole Miss vs. No. 3 Georgia<\/p>\n

Assimakopoulos: Ole Miss drew an easy warmup in the first round of the CFP for its first game without Lane Kiffin<\/a>. Expect a far different outcome in Round 2. It\u2019ll be closer than their October meeting, but I\u2019m taking Georgia once again. Georgia 27, Ole Miss 24<\/p>\n

Cowlishaw: The first game without Lane Kiffin was fun but Georgia brings a lot more to the table. Still Ole Miss will have half the crowd and Trinidad Chambliss can put on a show. Best chance for a true upset in the four games. Ole Miss 27, Georgia 24<\/p>\n

McFarland: There\u2019d be nothing better than an Ole Miss run in the wake of Kiffin\u2019s departure, but, this game will exemplify why we care so much about coaches in the first place. Kirby Smart and company have been there, done that, and they\u2019ll do it again. Georgia 35, Ole Miss 24. <\/p>\n

Sherrington: Hard to bet against Georgia, especially with no Kiffin on the other sideline. Ole Miss fans should enjoy this while they can. Chances are they won\u2019t pass this way again. Georgia 28, Ole Miss 17<\/p>\n

Cotton Bowl: No. 10 Miami vs. No. 2 Ohio State<\/p>\n

Assimakopoulos: I\u2019ll take the reigning national champions who have become a CFP regular, making the field seven times, over a team that barely survived its first CFP matchup against a Texas A&M team that put up just three points<\/a>. Miami\u2019s defense showed up to play in the first round, but Ohio State poses a different challenge it just hasn\u2019t quite faced this season \u2014 in the ACC or against A&M. Ohio State 35, Miami 21<\/p>\n

Cowlishaw: If I thought Miami was ready to feature Mark Fletcher Jr., their Derrick Henry starter hit, in the backfield, I might leap for the upset here. But Miami just doesn\u2019t play consistently at high level for 60 minutes often enough to beat the Buckeyes. Cover the big spread? Will do, but no major upset here. Ohio State 26, Miami 20<\/p>\n

McFarland: What happened the last time Ohio State lost its last game before the playoff? Oh, right, they stormed through four rounds and won their first title in the Ryan Day era. A repeat isn\u2019t out of the question. This Miami team won\u2019t be the one to stop it at least. Ohio State 27, Miami 17. <\/p>\n

Sherrington: Did you watch the Hurricanes in the snooze-fest at Kyle Field? Carson Beck can\u2019t avoid a parked car. Miami\u2019s defense is legit, and NIL money is keeping Mark Fletcher Jr. from starting for the Cowboys next year. But you\u2019ve got to be able to throw a little bit. Ohio State 30, Miami 13<\/p>\n

NFL draft status update: See where Texas A&M prospects are being projected<\/a>Texas Tech prediction: Can elite defense keep Red Raiders a contender vs. Oregon? <\/a><\/p>\n

Find more college sports coverage from The Dallas Morning News here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The second round of the College Football Playoff begins on Wednesday with the Cotton Bowl matchup between No.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":100254,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[11324,20228,123,125,124,110,2526],"class_list":{"0":"post-100253","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-miami","8":"tag-behren-morton","9":"tag-colleges","10":"tag-miami","11":"tag-miami-headlines","12":"tag-miami-news","13":"tag-sports","14":"tag-texas-tech-red-raiders"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100253","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=100253"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100253\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/100254"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=100253"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=100253"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=100253"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}