MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Ohio State and Miami will face each other in tonight's first quarterfinal matchup of the College Football Playoff. Three more matchups will be held on New Year's Day. This is the second year of an expanded playoff format in college football, featuring 12 teams. To hear more about what we might want to watch out for we've called Nicole Auerbach. She is the lead college football insider for NBC Sports. Good morning, Nicole.
NICOLE AUERBACH: Good morning. Happy to be with you.
MARTIN: Yeah, thanks for getting up early since I know you're going to have a late night.
AUERBACH: (Laughter) Yes.
MARTIN: Thanks for that. So before we get into the matchups, can we just step back for a second? As I said, this is the second year of this expanded playoff format. There's been a lot of talk that this format has devalued other bowl games. What do you think?
AUERBACH: I think it definitely has. I mean, we've seen a lot of star players opt out. We've seen teams decide not to play in some of those non-CFP bowl games this year. But listen; you're still going to have people watch. I mean, you got big brands on. This afternoon you got Michigan, Texas, Nebraska. People will still use those bowl games kind of as wallpaper. It's part of the holiday season. But, yeah, those games are clearly not that important to the programs that make them if they miss the ultimate goal of playing in the playoff.
MARTIN: So let's talk about tonight's Cotton Bowl matchup in Texas between the defending champs, Ohio State, and Miami. What do you think? What should people expect?
AUERBACH: Well, you know, it's crazy to think that Ohio State just won a national title last year but might be even better this year. That's what we're going to find out here over these next couple of games. And it does start against a Miami team that, you know, is high variance. They can be really good, but they also have a quarterback in Carson Beck who can make mistakes.
You've got a ton of star power in this game. You've got a lot of guys that are going to get drafted in the first round in the NFL draft - Arvell Reese and Rueben Bain and a bunch of players. But everyone's going to be really excited about the receivers that are not draft eligible. You've got Malachi Toney, freshman at Miami, Jeremiah Smith at Ohio State. So hopefully, a lot of points and a lot of explosiveness, but I also kind of think Ohio State's defense might just control the game and the Buckeyes win handily.
MARTIN: And tomorrow's Rose Bowl Game pits the No. 1 team in the nation, the Indiana Hoosiers, against football powerhouse Alabama. Indiana has not lost a game all season. You think they have what it takes to keep this going?
AUERBACH: They do, but isn't that crazy? I hope you had to double-check your notes there because Indiana is the No. 1 team, and not Alabama.
MARTIN: No.
AUERBACH: Indiana is the team that is favored...
MARTIN: Well, since Steve Inskeep, my colleague, is from Indiana, I've heard about this, like, all fall.
AUERBACH: (Laughter).
MARTIN: So it's not - I didn't have to check. He's let me know.
AUERBACH: Oh, of course.
MARTIN: Yeah.
AUERBACH: Well, I've had to tell a lot of people to double-check because, you know, Indiana used to be the losingest program in the history of college football. Now they're favored to win this game against Alabama, the opposite end of the college football history in the spectrum. And they absolutely can win this game. They've been so consistent, so prepared, so dominant this season. They've won in a lot of challenging environments. They've beaten a lot of teams with more NFL talent than they have. Curt Cignetti, the head coach, is something of a wizard. I mean, they just got Indiana's first Heisman Trophy winner. But it's both sides of the ball. And I do think Indiana is going to continue this magical season.
MARTIN: And those remaining two games - Oregon and Texas Tech, and Georgia and Ole Miss?
AUERBACH: Yeah, I'm really excited for Oregon and Texas Tech. You've got one of the most exciting, explosive offenses in the country in Oregon and one of the most dominant pass rushes and run defenses with Texas Tech, so that should be a really fun matchup.
MARTIN: Before we let you go, money in college football is such a big issue this season, at least (ph) out in the open. Is this changing the sport?
AUERBACH: It definitely is. And you mention some of the teams we're talking about. Texas Tech put a lot of money into that defense. That's what led them to their first Big 12 title and to the College Football Playoffs. So it's totally changing the trajectories and the histories of some of these college football programs.
MARTIN: That's Nicole Auerbach. She covers college football for NBC Sports. Nicole, thank you.
AUERBACH: Thanks so much.
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