College Football Playoff: Semifinals Guide and Preview
College Football Bowl season is almost over, but before we crown a national champion, there are two semifinal games in the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl (Thursday, Jan. 8, 7:30pm ET) and Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl (Friday, Jan. 9, 7:30pm ET). This year’s College Football Playoff has been exciting and unexpected, two descriptors that should carry over into the final two Bowl games of the year. Here’s a preview of the College Football Semifinals and how to watch them with DISH. Not a DISH subscriber? Follow this link to find the best offer and subscribe to DISH today!
College Football Playoff: Semifinals
No. 10 Miami vs. No. 6 Ole Miss
When: Thursday, January 8 - 7:30 pm ET
Where: State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona
What Channel: ABC and ESPN (Channel 140 on DISH)
Raise your hand if you had both Miami and Ole Miss making the College Football Playoff Semifinal. Unless you got your degree at one or both of these schools, we doubt your arm is still up. Many people (especially those in Northern Indiana) predicted the Hurricanes wouldn’t even survive their first round road game against Texas A&M, much less become the biggest underdog winners in CFP history in their defeat of the Ohio State Buckeyes. Yet here we are, with Miami turning the clock back 25 years to a time when they regularly played for National Championships.
As for the Ole Miss Rebels, you’d have to go back even further for their glory years, even before the original patriarch of the Manning family was slinging passes for the ‘Rebs. And despite their head coach Lane Kiffin jumping ship to LSU, Ole Miss is now one game from their first championship appearance in more than 60 years. After losing a heartbreaker to Georgia in the regular season, Ole Miss got their revenge in an instant classic at the Sugar Bowl, overcoming a 21-12 halftime deficit to stun the Bulldogs 39-34. Transfer QB Trinidad Chambliss threw for 362 yards in the win, which was clinched with a clutch field goal with just six seconds remaining. Both these teams are exceeding expectations, and with a close 3-point line set for the game, we should be in for a thrilling Semifinal at the Fiesta Bowl.
No. 5 Oregon vs. No. 1 Indiana
When: Friday, January 9 - 7:30 pm ET
Where: Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia
What Channel: ABC and ESPN (Channel 140 on DISH)
The reconfigured Big Ten takes the spotlight in the second College Football Semifinal at the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl. In their second year playing in the Big Ten, the Oregon Ducks have already won twice as many playoff games as last year, when they were eliminated from the 12-team tournament in the quarterfinal. Oregon steamrolled an outmanned James Madison team in the first round, then shut out the Texas Tech Red Raiders 23-0 in the Orange Bowl. The Ducks are playing with a ton of confidence in search of their first national championship, and they’ll need to maintain their swagger as they head into a rematch against the only team that beat them this season, the Indiana Hoosiers.
Unfortunately for Oregon, the top-ranked Hoosiers – the only undefeated team in the country – are also entering the Semifinal with a full head of steam. In the Rose Bowl, they completely humiliated Alabama in a 38-3 victory, handing the Crimson Tide their worst loss in the program’s storied Bowl history. Heisman trophy winner Fernando Mendoza was an efficient 14-of-16 passing and Indiana rushed for 215 yards while holding Alabama to just 23 yards on the ground. Everything is clicking for Indiana, even as the comical stoicism of their coach Curt Cignetti turned him into the first meme of 2026. Indiana earned a closer-than-it-looks 30-20 road win over Oregon when they played on Oct. 11, and this game should be another tight battle between two teams that are fast becoming the Big Ten’s hottest new rivalry.
