Thursday marked the start of a new year — and, perhaps more notably, the biggest day on the college football calendar.
Three of the four College Football Playoff quarterfinal games will take place on Jan. 1, with six teams fighting to keep their national championship dreams alive.
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No. 1 Indiana will take on No. 9 Alabama in the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, No. 3 Georgia will match up for the second time this season against No. 6 Mississippi in the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans, and No. 4 Texas Tech will square off against No. 5 Oregon in the Orange Bowl in Miami Gardens, Florida.
Those squads will aim to join Miami in the playoff semifinals. The No. 10 Hurricanes knocked off No. 2 Ohio State, the reigning national champion, 24-14 in the Cotton Bowl on Wednesday, Dec. 31.
While set up inside the Rose Bowl, ESPN’s ‘College GameDay’ crew broke down the games and made their predictions for how the three remaining quarterfinal contests will go.
Here’s who the ‘College GameDay’ panel picked for Indiana vs. Alabama, Texas Tech vs. Oregon and Georgia vs. Ole Miss in the College Football Playoff quarterfinals:
‘College GameDay’ picks, predictions for CFP quarterfinals
Indiana vs. Alabama
Desmond Howard: Alabama
Nick Saban: Alabama
Pat McAfee: Indiana
Kirk Herbstreit: Abstained (Calling game)
Georgia vs. Ole Miss
Desmond Howard: Georgia
Nick Saban: Georgia
Pat McAfee: Georgia
Kirk Herbstreit: Georgia
Texas Tech vs. Oregon
Desmond Howard: Texas Tech
Nick Saban: Oregon
Pat McAfee: Oregon
Kirk Herbstreit: Oregon