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Christopher Boan writes for BetOhio.com and has been covering sports and sports betting for more than seven years, with experience at ArizonaSports.com, the Tucson Weekly and the Green Valley News.
How Does Ohio State Historically Perform at the Cotton Bowl?
Ohio State dispatched No. 1 Oregon with ease in the College Football Playoff quarterfinals at the Rose Bowl, making a Happy New Year for Ohio sports betting backers and Buckeyes fans alike. Now itâs now time for head coach Ryan Day and company to turn their collective attention forward toward the Big Ten stalwartâs Jan. 10 showdown against Texas in the semifinals of the inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff.
After OSUâs dominant 41-21 win over the Ducks in Pasadena, BetOhio.com wanted to look at how the Buckeyes and Longhorns have historically performed at the Cotton Bowl. Using Sports-Football-Reference.com, we found the win-loss percentage for both teams, along with records for each teamâs current conference. The school results are over the entire history of the Cotton Bowl starting in 1937, and the conference results are from 2015 to 2023.
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Cotton Bowl School Historical Results
School | Win-Loss % |
Ohio State Buckeyes | .667 |
Texas Longhorns | .523 |
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For Ohio State, the trip to the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is familiar â they went to the Cotton Bowl last season, when Day and company fell to Missouri, 14-3, capping off a 11-2 campaign in Columbus. The schoolâs other two trips to the event ended on a more positive note, with a win over USC in 2017 at A&T Stadium in Arlington and victory against Texas A&M in 1987, back when the event was still held at the Cotton Bowl stadium in Dallas.
Just like last seasonâs OSU appearance, folks in the Buckeye State can use Ohio sports betting apps to wager on the Cotton Bowl on Jan. 10.
Cotton Bowl Conference Historic Results
Conference | Win-Loss % |
Big Ten | .500 |
SEC | .750 |
On the other end of the CFP semifinal showdown, Texas makes its first trip to the Cotton Bowl as a member of the SEC in the schoolâs first year in the conference. UT last played in the Dallas contest in 2003, when they beat LSU, 35-20, as a member of the Big 12.
At Caesars Ohio Sportsbook, the Buckeyes are the favorite to win the national title with +120 odds, but thatâs going into Thursdayâs delayed Sugar Bowl matchup between Georgia and Notre Dame; the odds will shift again once the field is reduced to four.
Looking back, the Cotton Bowl has been a place of good tidings for both the Buckeyes and Longhorns. Ohio Stateâs .667 winning percentage is from those three previous appearances in the Lone Star State contest. Texas has appeared in 22 Cotton Bowls since 1942, posting a .523 winning percentage (11-10-1).
Texas has the most appearances all-time in the event. Ohio State ranks alongside a host of FBS teams that are tied for the 18th most games in the contest, which dates to 1937. That first year, No. 18 TCU defeated 20th-ranked Marquette in the inaugural Cotton Bowl Classic.
For the Buckeyes, the Big Ten program is locked in as a six-point favorite with the bet365 Ohio Sportsbook in the early-line odds as of Jan. 2. The operator has -225 moneyline on Dayâs team, compared with +185 odds on the Longhorns come Jan. 10 â this is an indication of how much action OSU is getting for a matchup that is basically a home game for Texas (AT&T Stadium is about 200 miles from UTâs campus in Austin).
With a win, Ohio State can buoy the Big Tenâs current .500 winning percentage in the Cotton Bowl Classic, as the Buckeyes look to earn the schoolâs first national title since 2014 in the coming weeks.
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Most All-Time Bowl Appearances
One more bit of history: This matchup features two of the five programs with the most bowl appearances in history, including this yearâs playoffs. Above is a look at the top five, including the ones played so far in the CFP but not including the impending Cotton Bowl.
USA Today photo by Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch
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