ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Missouri is headed to its first New Year’s Six bowl in nine seasons, where it will face Ohio State — in its 11th in a row — at the Cotton Bowl on Dec. 29.
The Tigers (10-2, No. 9 CFP) have won at least 10 games for the first time since winning the Citrus Bowl on New Year’s Day 2015 after their last 10-win regular season. This was their first winning record in five seasons. They finished with bowl losses each of the past two years under coach Eli Drinkwitz.
Ohio State (11-1, No. 7 CFP) was undefeated until its 30-24 loss to Michigan in the Buckeyes’ regular-season finale Nov. 25. The Wolverines went on to win the Big Ten championship and were the No. 1 team in the final College Football Playoff Rankings released Sunday.
During their streak of NY6 games, the Buckeyes won the first CFP championship game 42-20 over Oregon at the end of the 2014 season at AT&T Stadium, the home of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys where the Cotton Bowl is played. They also played in the Cotton Bowl in 2017, beating Southern Cal 24-7.
While Ohio State has a 10-1-1 series record against Missouri, the Buckeyes are 2-12 against Southeastern Conference teams in bowl games. That includes last year’s 42-41 loss to Georgia in the CFP semifinal Peach Bowl.
The Buckeyes and Tigers haven’t played since 1998, when Ohio State won 35-14 at home. This will be their first postseason meeting.
Before 2017, the only other time Ohio State played in the Cotton Bowl was on New Year’s Day 1987 in a 28-12 win over Texas A&M (then in the Southwest Conference) in the game’s former home and namesake stadium.
Missouri will be in its fourth Cotton Bowl, the most recent being a 41-31 win over Oklahoma State on Jan. 3, 2014. The Tigers beat Arkansas on New Year’s Day 2008, and lost to Texas in the 1946 game.
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