This might make it seem like the Ohio State fanbase is a bit spoiled, as hey, there are countless teams across the country who would love to be in the College Football Playoff, but they're going to be watching things from home. Obviously, that's not the case for the No. 2 Buckeyes.
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Ohio State has a first-round BYE in the CFP and it won't be in action until Dec. 31. We won't know until next week who the Buckeyes will face, as Ohio State will take on the winner of Texas A&M and Miami. However, it has been announced that kickoff for Ohio State's first CFP contest will be at 7:30 p.m. ET. This of course must have fans thinking... again?
This fell through the cracks on a busy NFL Sunday, but ESPN announced that the CFP game in Dallas between Ohio State and the UM-Texas A&M winner will get the 7:30 p.m. slot on Dec. 31. The other three CFP quarterfinals are on Jan. 1.
— Barry Jackson (@flasportsbuzz) December 9, 2025
Ohio State will once again play on New Year's Eve in the CFP
It's bad enough that Ohio State has to once again play on New Year's Eve, but a 7:30 kickoff time for people back home in Columbus/Ohio? This game will be played at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, which will be pretty darn fun for the traveling fans. A reminder that Texas is on central time, meaning it's a 6:30 p.m. local kickoff for those who make their way to the Lone Star State.
Still, though, everyone's New Year's Eve plans will be impacted by this game. Why couldn't Ohio State just get a New Year's Day matchup? Again, it feels like such a small thing to complain about since Ryan Day and his players are still in the hunt to repeat as the national champs, but we had to bring it up.
Alas, kickoff time is locked in and there's nothing that can be done. Once Ohio State does take the field, it will do so motivated to wipe away the memories from the rough Big Ten title game loss to Indiana. Ohio State remains the favorite to win it all and things will get started in Arlington on Dec. 31. We all can't wait for that quarterfinals game, but plenty of people are just a touch annoyed over the timing of things.