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Ole Miss vs Miami, Indiana vs Oregon: A surprise final four. Two must-watch college playoff semis
We are only three games away from crowning a new college football national champion, and over the next few days, four of the teams still in the hunt will compete for the right to play in the final.
It begins in Glendale, Arizona, early Friday morning, with the #6 Ole Miss Rebels taking on the #10 Miami Hurricanes. Then, just 24 hours later, we see the #5 Oregon Ducks and #1 Indiana Hoosiers - who boast the favourite to go first overall in the 2026 NFL Draft, QB Fernando Mendoza - go toe to toe in Atlanta, Georgia.
Both games will be available to watch live and free right here on DAZN, and two alt-casts – Field Pass with The Pat McAfee Show – will be available for each game, with McAfee anchoring coverage and calling the action while roaming the sidelines, where he'll be joined by a rotation of ESPN analysts, notable personalities, and celebrities.
These might not be the two semi-finals most anticipated at the beginning of the year. Indeed, even a month ago, there were questions as to whether one or two of these programs should even be in the playoffs. But here we are, and nobody can now say that those still standing haven’t earned their place.
With Vegas having both games at less than a four-point spread, these should be close, entertaining contests. Let’s look at what we can expect from the Fiesta Bowl and Peach Bowl.
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Ole Miss vs Miami: Battle of the underdogs
- Date: Friday, January 9
- Kick-off time: 12.30am GMT
Nothing spurs a team on more than adversity. And, considering the drama that unfolded at the end of the season, no team entered the playoffs with more adversity than Ole Miss…
Most of you will by now be aware of Lane Kiffin’s tumultuous departure from Oxford, the Rebels’ head coach leaving for LSU - but not before wanting to coach Ole Miss in the playoffs (which was denied), threatening his staff with future roles should they stick around for the postseason, and generally ruining the team’s preparations for their first playoff appearance in their history.
Ole Miss elevated defensive coordinator Pete Golding to a permanent capacity. And the attempt to maximise stability seems to have worked, with the Rebels manhandling Tulane before shocking Georgia in the quarter-finals.
Kiffin appeared to be magnanimously ‘lending’ some staff who followed him back to Oxford. But as Ole Miss goes deeper, it seems that his willingness to be cordial is waning. From the Rebels’ perspective, they don’t seem too concerned beyond the status of offensive coordinator Charlie Weiss junior, who will definitely be on board until they are eliminated.
But as the soap opera rumbles on, this team looks galvanised. The players have adopted a siege mentality behind Golding and Weiss, and haven’t missed a beat despite all the noise surrounding the program; the 20-point fourth quarter against Georgia evidence that this team will not go down without a fight.
They go up against a team that, if many had their way, wouldn’t even have made it to the playoffs. Miami’s inability to win its conference put its position in the postseason at risk, and surprisingly, they jumped Notre Dame in the final set of rankings to squeak in, much to the chagrin of those in South Bend, Indiana.
The truth is, the Hurricanes should always have been naked ahead of the Fighting Irish by virtue of their head-to-head win in Week 1. A pair of surprise conference losses meant they couldn’t make the ACC title game due to a dubious set of tiebreakers, but with six wins in a row, Miami are as hot as any team right now.
It appears that ‘disrespect’ has been used as fuel for the fire in South Florida. And so we have an incredibly tasty matchup on Thursday night. Both teams have high-powered offenses; Ole Miss’ Trinidad Chambliss and Miami’s Carson Beck both able to sling their teams to victory.
Perhaps the game will be won and lost on the ground, with Kewan Lacy (Rebels) and Mark Fletcher (Hurricanes) running riot in recent weeks. No team has scored more than 14 points against the ‘Canes defense since Week 10, which, for me, gives them the slight edge. But Ole Miss can outscore anyone.
UK viewers will want to get a snooze in before kickoff, but whether you have work the next day or not, this is a game not to be missed.
Indiana vs Oregon: Big Ten new world order
- Date: Saturday, January 10
- Kick-off time: 12.30am GMT
If I had told you that two Big Ten teams would be battling it out for a place in the National Championship Game, historically, you would have assumed that Michigan & Ohio State were gearing up for another fierce contest filled with hate. But college football is not what it was, and the landscape is rapidly changing.
Instead, we have a matchup with one team that has no geographical reason to be affiliated with the conference going up against another that, until a month ago, had the WORST all-time record of any Power 4 football program in the sport.
Oregon, despite its relative youth as a football powerhouse, have been here before. The Ducks went to the BCS National Championship Game in 2010 under Chip Kelly, and then returned via the playoffs under Mark Helfrich in 2014. One lost to a Cam Newton-led Auburn, the other to Urban Meyer’s dominant Ohio State.
In his third season in charge, Dan Lanning had them back in the playoffs again. A first-round exit to Ohio State was disappointing, but the fact that Oregon even made it in their first year in the Big Ten was a sign that this program was back on the right track.
This year, the Ducks are flying under the radar (excuse the pun). For such a talented team that has lost just one game in 2025, they’re not getting much attention. Even after overpowering James Madison and then shutting out big spenders Texas Tech in the playoffs, the conversation seems to be directed elsewhere.
One team that used to know how that felt is Indiana, who will face off against Oregon on Friday night. Widely derided as a product of a cupcake schedule in 2024, nobody is arguing that the Hoosiers shouldn’t be in the playoffs this time around. But step back and admire the turnaround in Bloomington, because the speed of it is jaw-dropping.
Curt Cignetti has become a household name, remodelling a basketball school into a bona fide championship contender on the gridiron. From recruitment to coaching, scheme to culture, everything Cignetti and his staff have touched in the past two seasons has turned to gold.
These two teams collided in Week 7. Indiana won in Eugene - a creditable 30-20 road win, but it wasn’t comfortable. The Ducks led with 13 minutes left in the game, until quarterback Fernando Mendoza atoned for a pick-six with one of his many ‘Heisman moments’, driving the Hoosiers down the field for a touchdown.
Before the quarter-finals, I would have said Indiana were stronger on defense. Then Oregon went and shut out Texas Tech, and I’m no longer so confident. Both quarterbacks look destined for the NFL and might go first and second in the NFL Draft, suggesting how similar their talent levels are.
I hate to go against Dan Lanning, who knows how to prepare teams for the big stage. But I can’t look beyond Cignetti finishing the Cinderella story and winning it all at the grand old age of 64. Another late kickoff, at least the Peach Bowl has the decency of being at the weekend - get your popcorn ready, turn on DAZN and enjoy!
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