Why Ohio State's Cotton Bowl loss has unprecedented College Football Playoff history

The Ohio State Buckeyes' season came to a sudden end New Year's Eve against the Miami Hurricanes in the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic in Arlington, 24-14. It not only ended the Buckeyes' repeat bid toward a national title, but it also put the Buckeyes and coach Ryan Day on the wrong side of College Football Playoff history.

The "CFB Kings 'X' account summed up why the Hurricanes' advancing to the Fiesta Bowl against the Ole Miss Rebels will ultimately negatively affect the Buckeyes for at least the next eight months.

This is the first CFP ever where the semifinals don’t include ANY of:

• Ohio State
• Georgia
• Alabama
• Clemson
— CFB Kings (@CFBKings) January 2, 2026

The tweet has since gone viral, as Ohio State joined a rare list of at least the Clemson Tigers, Georgia Bulldogs and Alabama Crimson Tide to not make the College Football Playoff semifinal for the first time since the playoff's interaction to cap the 2014-15 season.

Day kept his thoughts brief when speaking to reporters following the game, including Ohio State Buckeyes on SI.

"This is part of playing this time of year," Day said. "You’ve got to have depth, and you’ve got to perform in those moments.”

Day said it mainly falls on him for why the Buckeyes ultimately were defeated in stunning fashion

"It hurts right now," Day said. "It hurts for those guys. They put a lot of work and time into this thing. It’s our job as coaches to make sure that we figure out ways to put them in a situation to be successful.”

Day said the 25-day break after losing the Big Ten title game to the Indiana Hoosiers was ultimately a major backbreaker.

"Well, I felt like it took us a while to get into the rhythm of the game," Day said. "I thought we did coming out of the second half. And by then, it was going to take a very, very efficient second half to win the game being down 14-0."

Day said from the beginning of the game, the vibe just seemed extremely off.

"So, we put ourselves behind the eight ball. We worked really hard during the last three weeks leading up to this game to come out of the gates and win the first quarter, win the first half, be ready to go," Day said. "I thought we had an excellent plan on that in what we did. I think the guys bought into it. But at the end of the day, we didn't get it done, and that starts with me and goes from there."

Now, Ohio State has to get moving, and they have to get moving quickly in order to ensure that a repeat of this postseason does not happen next year.

Only time will tell, though.