The new year is only a few hours old, but it’s already time for the first college football game of 2026. A day full of College Football Playoff quarterfinal matchups kicks off with the Oregon Ducks and the Texas Tech Red Raiders in the Orange Bowl.
Texas Tech (12-1), as the No. 4 seed, received a bye into the quarterfinal round of the playoff.
Also finishing 12-1, the No. 5 ranked Oregon Ducks first had to get past the first round to make it to today’s game. To get here, they beat James Madison, 51-34.
2025 Orange Bowl: what to know
- Who: No. 5 Oregon Ducks vs. No. 4 Texas Tech Red Raiders
- When: Jan. 1, 12 p.m. ET
- Where: Hard Rock Stadium (Miami Gardens, Florida)
- Channel: ESPN
- Streaming: DIRECTV (try it free)
The winner of tonight’s game advances into the Jan. 9 Peach Bowl against either No. 9 Alabama or No. 1 Indiana.
Here’s how to tune in to the 2025 Orange Bowl for free if you don’t have cable.
Oregon vs. Texas Tech Orange Bowl start time:
Today’s (Jan. 1) Oregon vs. Texas Tech game is scheduled to kick off at 12 p.m. ET.
How to watch the Orange Bowl for free:
If you don’t have cable, you’ll need a live TV streaming service to stream the Oregon vs. Texas Tech quarterfinal for free.
DIRECTV is our top pick for watching college football live for free — its five-day free trial includes ESPN (plus many of the other channels you’ll need for the College Football Playoff). When the trial is over, you’ll pay as low as $49.99/month and gain access to over 90 live channels.
If you aren’t ready to commit to a full-on subscription, you can try a Sling Orange Day Pass. Priced at $4.99, you’ll get 24 hours of access to all Sling TV Orange has to offer, including ESPN. Sling also offers weekend and week-long passes for its Orange plan, which offer between three and seven days of access.
College Football Playoff 2025-26 key dates
- Quarterfinals (Dec. 31 and Jan. 1)
- Cotton Bowl (Dec. 31, 7:30 p.m. ET) – No. 10 Miami vs. No. 2 Ohio State
- Orange Bowl (Jan. 1, 12 p.m.) – No. 5 Oregon vs. No. 4 Texas Tech
- Rose Bowl (Jan. 1, 4 p.m.) – No. 9 Alabama vs. No. 1 Indiana
- Sugar Bowl (Jan. 1, 8 p.m.) – No. 6 Ole Miss vs. No. 3 Georgia
- Semifinals (Jan. 8-9)
- Fiesta Bowl (Jan. 8, 7:30 p.m.) – Ole Miss/Georgia vs. Miami/Ohio State
- Peach Bowl (Jan. 9, 7:30 p.m.) – Oregon/Texas Tech vs. Alabama/Indiana
- National Championship (Jan. 19, 7:30 p.m.)
Why Trust Post Wanted by the New York Post
This article was written by Angela Tricarico, Commerce Streaming Reporter for Post Wanted Shopping, Page Six, and Decider.com. Angela keeps readers up to date with cord-cutter-friendly deals, and information on how to watch your favorite sports teams, TV shows, and movies on every streaming service. Not only does Angela test and compare the streaming services she writes about to ensure readers are getting the best prices, but she’s also a superfan specializing in the intersection of shopping, tech, sports, and pop culture. When she’s not writing about TV, movies, and sports, she’s also keeping up on all of the best deals to shop at Bath & Body Works, and testing headphones. Prior to joining Decider and The New York Post in 2023, she wrote about streaming and consumer tech at Insider Reviews.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
