GLENDALE, Ariz. — The No. 2 ranked Ohio State Buckeyes head into their biggest showdown of the season as they take on No. 3 Clemson Tigers in the Fiesta Bowl on Saturday, Dec. 28.
Both teams head into the College Football Playoff semifinal undefeated as they look to advance to the 2020 National Championship Game.
The Fiesta Bowl will be played at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. Kickoff is at 8 p.m.
Here's how you can watch or listen to the game:
- Watch it live on ESPN
- Live stream on ESPN+ (TV provider sign-in required)
- Listen to the game on WKNR-AM 850 in Cleveland, WAKR-AM 1590 in Akron, WHBC-AM 1480 in Canton or OSU’s TuneIn channel
With the College Football Playoff, national champions are now undisputed. More often than not the title game has produced intrigue and thrills. What the playoff has lacked in its first five years is drama on semifinal day. Only two of the 10 semifinals have been one-score games. Average margin: 21 points.
The Fiesta Bowl has a chance to buck the trend. Ohio State coach Ryan Day's No. 2 Buckeyes (13-0) face Clemson coach Dabo Swinney’s third-seeded, defending national champion Tigers (13-0) on Saturday night in a rare CFP semifinal that feels a like it could be a championship game.
Clemson has won 28 straight games, the nation’s longest current streak. The Tigers are No. 1 in the nation in points allowed and No. 4 in points scored. Ohio State has won 19 straight games, second only to Clemson. The Buckeyes are No. 1 in the nation in scoring and No. 3 in points allowed. The winner advances to the national title game on Jan. 13 in New Orleans to face either No. 1 LSU or No. 4 Oklahoma.
Of course, Swinney loves the playoff. Clemson is making its fifth straight appearance as Atlantic Coast Conference champion. The Tigers have played in three CFP championship games and won two of the last three titles. They have nudged Alabama to the side and now stand with the Crimson Tide as college football’s gold standard.
Ohio State has been just below that tier of two. The Buckeyes won the first College Football Playoff in 2014, making a run from the fourth seed, but have made only one appearance since.
It did not go well. Clemson beat Ohio State 31-0 in the 2016 Fiesta Bowl, maybe the low point in what has been one of the great runs in the history of the storied program. In the last nine years under coach Urban Meyer and Day, the Buckeyes are 96-9 with four Big Ten titles.
The Buckeyes head into the 2019 Fiesta Bowl 2.5-point underdogs.
