ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — The Cotton Bowl has certainly gotten much more significant for Ohio State during three trips in a row to the game.

This time, the second-seeded Buckeyes (12-1) are defending national champions as they get ready to play College Football Playoff first-timer Miami (11-2, CFP No. 10 seed) in a quarterfinal game there tonight. The Cotton Bowl last January was a CFP semifinal game when Ohio State beat Texas for the third of four wins needed last postseason for a sixth AP national title.

As for the first of those appearances in North Texas two years ago, that was the last season before the CFP expanded from four to 12 teams and when it wasn’t the Cotton Bowl’s turn as one of the playoff games. The Buckeyes arrived then coming off a regular season-ending loss to rival Michigan after a 10-0 start. Their starting quarterback (Kyle McCord) had transferred and NFL-bound All-American receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. opted out of playing in what was a 14-3 loss to Missouri.

“Just more stakes than the first game I’ve ever played in here. … Now it’s a bowl game with the playoffs on the line, so it just means more,” senior receiver Carnell Tate said Monday on the field at AT&T Stadium.

“It wasn’t CFP, so I felt like the job was not accomplished. We kind of fell short of our initial goal, and then when we played here, our quarterback ended up transferring. It was a whole lot of stuff going on,” senior cornerback Davison Igbinosun said. “It was definitely a tough game. It really didn’t feel like a typical Ohio State game, and then here last year and back in the playoffs, and that was a great game.”

Ohio State hasn’t played since losing 13-10 to No. 1 Indiana in the Big Ten Championship Game matchup of undefeated teams on Dec. 6, and still got a first-round bye.

Miami, which is 24 years removed from its last national title, made its CFP debut with a 10-3 win in the first round at No. 7 seed Texas A&M on Dec. 20. The Hurricanes made the 12-team playoff field even after not making the Atlantic Coast Conference title game and that league’s champ (five-loss Duke) not getting a bid.

When the Hurricanes left Dallas after a 26-20 overtime loss at SMU on Nov. 1, their second loss in three games after a 5-0 start, they weren’t even sure they would make the playoff. Now they are back in Texas for their second playoff game in a row and with another five-game winning streak.

“That was a low point for us in the season, and in that locker room, it was as simple as a decision has to be made,” Miami coach Mario Cristobal said Monday. “It came down to the simplicity of taking all the clips of us in our first five games and putting it on a reel and just letting it play. No audio, no one’s talking, no nothing. Just shut the lights, remind ourselves of who we are. And there’s nothing more powerful than the power of choice.”

Championship QBs

Heisman Trophy finalist Julian Sayin with Ohio State and Miami’s Carson Beck have both been part of national championship teams. Now the two most accurate FBS passers are trying to win a title as a starting quarterback.

Sayin was the Buckeyes backup last year behind Will Howard. Beck transferred to Miami after being at Georgia from 2020-24, when he was a youngster on the Bulldogs’ back-to-back national championship teams in 2021 and 2022 — he did get some late snaps in that second title game, a 65-7 romp over TCU.

The Cotton Bowl will be the first CFP game for Sayin, the sophomore who has thrown for 3,323 yards with 31 TDs and six interceptions. He has completed 78.4% of his passes (279 of 356). Beck made his first CFP start going 14-of-20 for 103 yards and a touchdown on a windy day in College Station. He has completed 74.5% of his passes (277 of 372) for 3,175 yards, 26 TDs and 10 interceptions.

Back-to-back chances

Miami’s last shot at back-to-back national championships ended in a double-overtime loss to Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 3, 2003, before most of the current players were born and the only other time these teams have met in a bowl game.

Ohio State, which won the first CFP national championship at AT&T Stadium at the end of the 2014 season, is now trying to win consecutive national titles for the first time. The Buckeyes are in their seventh CFP overall, and are the only team to appear in five of the last seven — all of those since Ryan Day became their head coach.

The only other time the Hurricanes played in the Cotton Bowl was at the end of the 1990 season, their last as an independent before moving to the Big East. They beat Texas 46-3 in Cotton Bowl Stadium.

Smith back home

Jeremiah Smith was answering questions only a few feet away from his coach when Ryan Day was asked how different the Cotton Bowl would be for defending national champion Ohio State had the AP All-America receiver opted to sign with his hometown Miami team in recruiting.

“I’m certainly glad he’s on our side,” Day said.

Two years after the nation’s No. 1 recruit signed with Ohio State instead of staying home, Smith and the No. 3 Buckeyes (12-1) face No. 10 Miami (11-2) in the College Football Playoff quarterfinal tonight.

“You could say there’s a little bit of a emotion. I’m from Miami, grew up in Miami, from Miami Gardens, so you can say there’s emotion going against my hometown team,” Smith was saying nearby. “At the end of the day, I’m happy for those guys to be here, and for me to play against them.”

The Hurricanes certainly wanted him. They were the first to make an offer to him, when he was a sophomore in high school, and kept recruiting the receiver from Miami Gardens — where their stadium is located — until the very end.

Smith committed to Ohio State when he was a junior and stuck to that a year later, but there were still some anxious moments for Day and the Buckeyes on that December 2023 signing day.

Day began meeting with local media for a signing day news conference before Smith, who did have some second thoughts, had officially signed his paperwork. The coach buckled his knees and feigned falling down when an assistant signaled to him the deal was done.

Imagine if Smith, who has 156 catches, 2,401 yards, 26 touchdowns and a national title in 28 games for Ohio State, had stayed to play in Miami, which is just now in the CFP for the first time.

The Hurricanes had just finished a 6-6 regular season in coach Mario Cristobal’s second second when Smith officially signed with Ohio State. Miami has since had consecutive 10-win seasons for the first time since 2000-03, the span that included its last national championship and only other postseason meeting against the Buckeyes.

“Obviously he’s a great player, and elite player, an elite family, and that comes with recruiting,” Cristobal said Tuesday. “Certainly, whenever you don’t have a recruiting win, if you really are in for the right reasons, you wish a player and his family the best, and he’s certainly done a great job.”

Smith isn’t the only Buckeyes starter from the Miami area. Smith and defensive end Kenyatta Jackson Jr., who has 6 1/2 sacks this season, were prep teammates, and receiver Brandon Inniss is from Hollywood, Florida.

There are also several former Ohio State recruits from South Florida that ultimately decided to stay home, including running backs Mark Fletcher Jr. and Jordan Lyles. Fletcher, a sophomore, is coming off a career-best 172 yards rushing for the Hurricanes in their first-round CFP win at Texas A&M.

Miami’s roster also includes three players who like Smith and Jackson attended Chaminade-Madonna Prep — receiver Joshisa “JoJo” Trader, defensive back Chris Ewald Jr., and defensive lineman Donta Simpson.

In a question related to Smith’s signing, Day was also asked this week if he ever considered how one recruiting result could change the trajectory of a program.

“I think about those things a lot, honestly. But I think it’s all these little things that add up over time. It’s never just one thing, in my opinion. It’s all the little things that add up over time,” Day said.

“But to watch Jeremiah work from the minute he stepped into our building to where he is right now, he’s got a great spirit about him. He does. And he knows what he wants. Hates to lose. Highly competitive,” the coach said. “He’s the type of guy that you just love to be around every day. He’s a great teammate. Obviously, a great player.”

Day went on to laud the 20-year-old receiver’s disciplined approach and how organized he is about where he goes and what he does.

The coach also knows how important facing Miami is to Smith.

“There’s a lot of guys there that he grew up around,” Day said. “And he’ll be at his best.”