The 2023 Cotton Bowl Classic was a

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bowl game In North America, a bowl game is one of a number of post-season college football games that are primarily played by teams belonging to the NCAA's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). For most of its history, the Division I Bowl Subdivis ...

played on December 29, 2023 at

AT&T Stadium AT&T Stadium, formerly Cowboys Stadium, is a retractable roof, retractable-roof stadium in Arlington, Texas, United States. It serves as the home of the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL), and was completed on May 27, 2009. I ...

Arlington, Texas Arlington is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, located in Tarrant County. It forms part of the Mid-Cities region of the Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington metropolitan statistical area, and is a principal city of the metropolis and region. ...

. The 88th annual

Cotton Bowl Classic The Cotton Bowl Classic (also known as the Cotton Bowl) is an American college football bowl game that has been held annually in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex since January 1, 1937. The game was originally played at its namesake stadium i ...

featured

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

of the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...

(SEC) and

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

of the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

—teams selected at-large by the

College Football Playoff The College Football Playoff (CFP) is an annual postseason knockout invitational tournament to determine a national champion for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), the highest level ...

selection committee. The game began at approximately 7:00 p.m. CST and was aired on

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

. The Cotton Bowl Classic was one of the 2023–24 bowl games concluding the 2023 FBS football season. The game was sponsored by the

Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company is an American multinational tire manufacturing company founded in 1898 by Frank Seiberling and based in Akron, Ohio. Goodyear manufactures tires for automobiles, commercial trucks, light trucks, motorcycles, S ...

and was officially known as the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic.

Teams

The game featured

from the

and

from the

(SEC). This was the 13th all-time meeting between the Buckeyes and Tigers, with Ohio State leading the series 10–1–1. Their most recent prior meeting was September 19, 1998, a 35–14 Buckeyes win at home. Missouri's lone win came during the 1976 season.

Missouri

Missouri started the season 5–0, including a victory over No. 15

Kansas State Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public instit ...

on a game-winning 61-yard field goal by Harrison Mevis. The Tigers were subsequently ranked in the

AP poll The Associated Press poll (AP poll) provides weekly rankings of the top 25 NCAA teams in one of three Division I college sports: football, men's basketball and women's basketball. The rankings are compiled by polling 62 sportswriters and broadca ...

. However, they were defeated at home by

LSU Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...

, 49–39, and three weeks later lost on the road to top-ranked

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

, 30–21, ending their SEC title hopes. Missouri followed their loss to Georgia with a strong 36–7 win over

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

, and ended their season on a three-game winning streak and a 10–2 record (6–2 in SEC). The Tigers entered the bowl ranked ninth in all major polls. This was Missouri's fourth Cotton Bowl Classic; the Tigers had a record of 2–1 in prior Cotton Bowls, losing the January 1946 edition and winning the January 2008 edition and January 2014 edition.

Ohio State

Ohio State entered the year looking to improve upon their 2022 season, when they received a

berth but lost to Georgia in the

2022 Peach Bowl The 2022 Peach Bowl is a college football bowl game that is scheduled to be played on December 31, 2022, at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia. The 55th annual Peach Bowl and one of the two College Football Playoff semifinals, the game will ...

semifinal. The Buckeyes earned marquee wins over Notre Dame and

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campu ...

by margins of 17–14 and 20–12, respectively. However, in a top-three

rivalry A rivalry is the state of two people or groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each participant o ...

clash against

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

in their final game of the regular season, the Buckeyes lost 30–24 in Ann Arbor, leaving them with an 11–1 record (8–1 in Big Ten) and out of playoff contention. The Buckeyes entered the bowl ranked seventh in all major polls. This was Ohio State's third Cotton Bowl Classic; the Buckeyes won both of their prior two appearances, the January 1987 edition and December 2017 edition.

Game summary

Statistics

References

External links

Game statistics
at statbroadcast.com {{Ohio State Buckeyes bowl game navbox

Cotton Bowl Classic

Missouri Tigers football bowl games Ohio State Buckeyes football bowl games