For the third season in a row, the No. 1 Ohio State Buckeyes will face the No. 4 Texas Longhorns.

The two teams met in the College Football Playoff semifinals in 2024, with Ohio State winning by two touchdowns, 28-14. The two teams met again last season in Columbus, with Ohio State winning again, 14-7.

Ohio State’s defense made the Texas offense uncomfortable and did a great job shutting it down in 2025.

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This year’s matchup takes place Saturday, Sept. 12, in Austin, and it’s expected to be the best game of Week 2. College football analyst Kirk Herbstreit will be there to call it for ABC and is super excited. He loves how much star power is on both rosters.

‘Let’s celebrate these kinds of games’

“Not only do you have great teams, you’ve got star power everywhere in this game,” Herbstreit said on ESPN’s “Get Up.” “Let’s face it. This is the game that last year, Sark, after they lost to Ohio State 14-7 in a very competitive game, talked a lot about, ‘Man, I don’t know if we want to continue to play in these kinds of games because it cost us a shot.’ If they finished 10-2, played let’s say a UTEP and won that game, instead of playing Ohio State, maybe they get into the playoff. That was his feeling.

“It’s great to see these kinds of games. Let’s celebrate these kinds of games. They’re so good for the sport, so good for the players. They want to play in these games, and of course the fans of the sport, so this is a big one. It’s as big as it gets as far as non-conference football goes this year.”

Herbstreit will be an analyst on ESPN’s “College GameDay,” which is also in Austin to preview the game, before he calls it alongside Chris Fowler.

Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. ET on ABC.

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Source: Yahoo Sports