There is one spot left in the College Football Playoff National Championship Game after the [Note Dame Fighting Irish] secured their spot in Thursday night’s Orange Bowl. Now the Ohio State Buckeyes and Texas Longhorns will look to join the party as they face off in the second CFP semifinal at the Cotton Bowl Classic. The two blue-blood programs will square off at 7:30 p.m. ET (although kickoff will be closer to 7:45 p.m.) on Friday, Jan. 10 on the ESPN family of networks. Ryan Day’s Buckeyes have been practically perfect since starting the playoffs while Steve Sakisian’s Longhorns needed overtime to survive its quarterfinal matchup with Arizona State. There are only two college football games left this you can watch this matchup and you can catch them both with a subscription to Sling TV.

How to watch the Cotton Bowl College Football Playoff semifinal

• When: Friday, Jan. 10, 2025 at 7:30 p.m. ET
• TV: ESPN, with alternate broadcasts on ESPN2, ESPNEWS, ESPNU, ESPN Deportes, SEC Network,
• Stream: Watch with 50% off a subscription to Sling TV.
• From anywhere: Watch with a subscription to a VPN.

Everything you need to know to stream Texas vs. Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl:

Watch a preview of Texas vs. Ohio State

Why we chose Sling TV to watch Texas vs. Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl

Over the next month and a half, there will be tons of college football and NFL postseason games coming to you and sports fans will not want to miss a single second of the action. If you fall into that category, then Sling is the way to go for you. It is the cheapest way to get national broadcast channels and the biggest cable networks as well, which will be especially important as the College Football Playoff will air a significant portion of its games on cable.

Normally, Sling costs $46 per month, but you can currently get 50% off your first month of service, meaning that you can watch a month of the college postseason and the stretch run of the NFL for as little as $23. Sling has two different base packages, Orange and Blue. You can subscribe to one or both. If you do opt to combine Orange and Blue it will run you $61 monthly — still substantially cheaper than the comparable live TV streaming services — but with the first-month deal, you can stream everything on both packages for just $30.50.

The College Football Playoff will air all remaining games on ESPN, so that means that there is no cheaper option to watch all of the CFP action over the next few weeks.

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Sling TV

Sling TV is The Streamable’s choice for cord cutters on a budget. Sling is a live TV streaming service with multiple channel packages. The $45.99/month Sling Orange plan offers about 30 channels, including Disney Channel and ESPN. The $45.99/month Sling Blue plan offers about 40 channels, including ABC, Fox, and NBC in major markets.

You can combine Orange+Blue for a total of $60.99 / month. Sling also offers many channel add-on packages starting at $6/month.

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Limited Time: Get 50% OFF Your First Month of Sling TV

Related: Best choice for watching College Football Playoff? It’s Sling TV

Can you watch Texas vs. Ohio State for free?

If you are just looking for a streaming service to watch this specific game and nothing else, there are options available for you. DIRECTV STREAM, Hulu + Live TV, Fubo, and YouTube TV all offer free trials, but they vary in length, so be wary. DIRECTV STREAM’s industry-leading trial runs for five days, while Hulu + Live TV’s is a solid three days.

Those are pretty straightforward, but when it comes to the sports-minded streamer Fubo, things can get a little complicated. As The Streamable’s expert David Satin discovered when signing up for the services, figuring out how long Fubo’s trial is — even as you are signing up — can be a bit difficult. Nonetheless, it will be at least one day, with the potential to be as many as seven, depending on a wide range of factors that Fubo does not share publicly.

The YouTube TV trial is said to be “up to two weeks,” but can be as short as two days. So it is difficult to ascertain what you are actually getting before you go through the signup process.

If you are looking to watch the game for free, I would recommend DIRECTV STREAM, because that streamer has the longest guaranteed free trial.

Texas vs. Ohio State game breakdown

The Buckeyes entered the playoff still stinging from their devastating loss to rival Michigan, but in their two blowout wins over Tennessee and Oregon, Ryan Day’s squad has looked just as dominant as everyone expected them to at the beginning of the season.

Led by the best defense and most explosive offense in the country, Ohio State got out to a 21-0 lead on the Vols and a 34-0 advantage over the Ducks en route to lopsided victories. The Buckeyes’ biggest star is true freshman wide receiver Jeremiah Smith who has 290 yards and four touchdowns in his first two CFP games. While Smith is arguably already the best player in the country, he is far from the only weapon in his team’s arsenal.

However, if any team is going to be able to slow the Buckeyes down, it might just be Texas. The Horns’ defense is anchored by Thorpe Award winner Jahdae Barron. While he is unlikely to be matched up with Smith in coverage all game, Ohio State quarterback Will Howard will have to account for his roaming presence on every play.

On offense, UT is led by quarterback Quinn Ewers, who started his collegiate career as a Buckeye. Despite still dealing with lingering oblique and ankle issues, Ewers threw for 322 yards, 3 touchdowns, and 1 interception against ASU in the Peacok Bowl on New Year’s Day. A gunslinger of the highest order, he has the ability to beat even the best defenses, but also has a tendency to make poor decisions at times as well.

Much like the Orange Bowl on Thursday night when Notre Dame eliminated the Penn State Nittany Lions, many people expect this game to be a thrilling matchup. Whichever team wins, it will take a top-notch effort on both sides of the ball to come out on top and move within one win of the national title.

What are all of the streamers you can use to watch Texas vs. Ohio State?

Fortunately for college football fans, there are six different streaming services that will stream the Texas vs. Ohio State playoff game, so you have options to choose from if you don’t already subscribe to any of them. We discussed Sling TV and the four free trial options above, but there is one more, and it offers a different type of streaming arrangement.

If you are looking to find a long-term streaming service and want to avoid the potential of having to pay more if price hikes strike, then DIRECTV via Internet is your best bet. Packages start as low as $70 per month and come with a two-year price guarantee. This, of course, locks you into a two-year contract, but with prices increasing fairly regularly, it is understandable why this would be an attractive offer to many people.

Ultimately, there are tons of different ways to stream the game, and while we recommend Sling TV as the best way to stream all of the college and pro football postseason, you have plenty of options to find the platform that meets your needs.

How to watch Texas vs. Ohio State from anywhere

If you’ll be away from home and can’t watch the game as you normally would, you can still catch all of the action no matter where you are in the world with a VPN. A VPN can be used on your phone, tablet, or computer and make you appear to be back home — even when you’re not — making sure you feel at home no matter where you are. A VPN is a safe and secure way to stay protected online while streaming your favorite sports, movies, and shows on the go. Keep in mind that you will still need to be subscribed to a live TV streaming like Sling TV in order to stream the Texas vs. Ohio State game with a VPN.

NordVPN is one of the best providers around, at one of the best prices. Currently, you can get two full years of protection for just $3.59 per month — plus you’ll get three extra months FREE. A high-speed VPN with best-in-class security that can be used on up to 10 devices at once — what more could you ask for? Simply sign up, install the software on your device of choice, and start streaming just as you would back home. It couldn’t be easier!

While NordVPN is our recommendation for the best VPN to use while you are traveling, there are a number of other high-quality options available depending on what you are looking for.

• Best Features: ExpressVPN | Starting at $5 per month
• Best Budget Option: Surfshark | Starting at $2.50 per month
• Best Free Option: Proton VPN | Free plan available