It’s the New Year and the playoff semi-final is here in College Football. We have two marquee matchups between four blue blood teams, something this new format was built for. With no recording this week, we’re going to release our picks here on the site with the games starting Thursday night. Let’s dive in!

Orange Bowl: Notre Dame vs Penn State

The Spread: Notre Dame -2.5

Notre Dame Wins If: Marcus Freeman wins the coaching matchup. That may sound overly obvious to you, but it’s really critical the Irish coach continues his streak of outfoxing opponents. After rattling Curt Cignetti and flat-out outsmarting Kirby Smart, the boss of the Fighting Irish is matched with James Franklin, who is looking to slay some dragons of his own. Freeman has had this team ready to play for weeks on end now and that has manifested itself in the form of his squad improving in the trenches and on special teams. That special teams work showed in their Sugar Bowl win over Georgia, and I’d expect that to happen again.

Penn State Wins If: They get their running game going. Clearly when Penn State is at their best this year, they have been pounding the rock to open up their pass game. Kaytron Allen and Nick Singleton are terrific players, but they’ll meet their match in a Notre Dame defensive line that has met the challenge all year long. Even in the face of injury, ND has stifled the running game, so the Penn State o-line has to show up. If they do, they can get this offense rolling and Drew Allar can take advantage of dynamic tight end Tyler Warren.

The Pick: Notre Dame 20 Penn State 10 – Yeah, I’m biased…what of it?

Cotton Bowl: Ohio State vs Texas

The Spread: Ohio State -5.5

Ohio State Wins If: Will Howard keeps slinging it. For the Buckeyes, it’s all about their raw physical talent right now. This team entered the year with what was clearly one of the best rosters in the nation, but then we waited for that to manifest itself for pretty much the whole season. But now in the postseason they have been showing off with all kinds of skill and just embarrassing teams with how explosive they are, with Will Howard at the helm. To properly take advantage of their weapons, he needs to keep putting the ball where it belongs and on time. If Howard does, then lookout!

Texas Wins If: The defense wrecks the game. The Longhorns arrive home in the lone star state with dreams of a National Championship. They will need their defense to show out, as it has for most of the year, to blow the game up against Ohio State at “Jerryworld.” The Horns defensive line has been ferocious, and this will need to continue as they frankly don’t have the offensive firepower to survive a shootout with the Buckeyes. They need to get after Will Howard early and often if there is any chance at “Hook ’em Horns” to be flashed on the way out of the Cotton Bowl.

The Pick: Ohio State 41 Texas 20 – There is just too much talent on the Buckeyes roster and Quinn Ewers is such a mess…this just doesn’t feel like a good matchup for the Horns.

On Twitter you can find Mike @Mike_Sheerin, Tyler @TMon_19 and Sean @SeanMartinNFL. Subscribe to the site by hitting the follow button in the bottom right corner and entering your email address. Check out our Instagram feed @thebroadwaybreakdownsports for special gameday and promotional content. Our podcasts are available on Spotify. Visit the Rangers Ed Shop by clicking the link on our homepage. Check out our mailbag page to join the conversation here on the site and on our partners show, The Rangers Ed Podcast! We’ll be back with more soon!