The first college football game of 2025 will feature the No. 5 Texas Longhorns against the No. 4 Arizona State Sun Devils in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, one of four College Football Playoff quarterfinal games across New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. Penn State and Boise State get the quarterfinal action started on New Year’s Eve, with the remaining three games set for New Year’s Day.
Texas defeated Clemson 38-24 in their first-round playoff game largely on the strength of their run game (the Longhorns finished with 292 rushing yards on the day on home soil in Austin). The win was an important one for the SEC powerhouse, which had faced significant critiques of its 2024 resume. That resume featured nothing that could truly be called a “signature win” and two losses to newly-minted conference rival Georgia, including in the SEC Championship game. While it wasn’t a perfect performance from Texas QB Quinn Ewers (who’s had freshman and presumed future of the program Arch Manning waiting in the wings for much of the season), but Steve Sarkisian’s Longhorns had what they needed when they needed it.
Arizona State earned a first-round bye thanks to their title as Big 12 conference champions and will make their CFP debut on Wednesday. They finished the regular season 11-2 (7-2 in the conference) and are helmed by head coach Kenny Dillingham, the Big 12 Coach of the Year.
This is only the second-ever meeting for these two programs — Texas and Arizona State last played in 2007, with the Longhorns defeating the Sun Devils 52-34 in the Holiday Bowl. This game will mark Texas’s first-ever Peach Bowl appearance, while Arizona State defeated North Carolina 48-26 in their only other Peach Bowl appearance all the way back in 1970 (the perfect ending to an 11-0 season).
READ MORE: Ranking the College Football Playoff quarterfinal games by watchability
How to Watch Texas vs Arizona State Peach Bowl CFP Quarterfinal Game
- Date: Wednesday, January 1st
- Time: 1:00pm ET
- TV Network: ESPN
- Location: Mercedes-Benz Stadium (Atlanta, Georgia)
Texas vs Arizona State Odds
*odds courtesy of BetMGM
- Moneyline: Texas (-550), Arizona State (+400)
- Spread: Texas -13.5
- Over/Under: 52.5 points
Texas vs Arizona State Head-to-Head Record
There’s not a lot of history to draw from here: the Longhorns and Sun Devils football programs have only played once before, and it was nearly 20 years ago, with Texas defeating Arizona State 52-34 in the 2007 Holiday Bowl. This was back when Texas was in the Big 12 and Arizona State was in the Pac-10, and the game is in part remembered for the oddity of a play involving a member of the Texas football operations staff, Chris Jessie, who might or might not have touched a ball near the Texas sideline (officials ruled he did after a lengthy review, and Texas was given an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty).
Full 2024-25 College Football Bowl Schedule, Scores
College Football Playoff Quarterfinal Schedule
Tuesday, December 31st
7:30 p.m. - VRBO Fiesta Bowl (CFP Quarterfinal) (ESPN)
6 Penn State vs. 3 Boise State
Wednesday, January 1st
1 p.m. - Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl (CFP Quarterfinal) (ESPN)
5 Texas vs. 4 Arizona State
5 p.m. - Rose Bowl Game presented by Prudential (CFP Quarterfinal) (ESPN)
8 Ohio State vs. 1 Oregon
8:45 p.m. - Allstate Sugar Bowl (CFP Quarterfinal) (ESPN)
7 Notre Dame vs. 2 Georgia
Texas vs Arizona State Game Preview
Watch NBC Sports college football analysts Nicole Auerbach and Joshua Perry break down this game and why, despite Texas being favored by two touchdowns, they think it’s unwise to assume the Sun Devils won’t put up a fight. For full analysis and updates throughout the College Football Playoffs, listen and subscribe to Rushing the Field wherever you get your podcasts.
