Ohio State and Texas enter CFP semifinal at Cotton Bowl seeking a chance to end title droughts

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — There is still a sense for some Ohio State players that they haven't done anything yet, even after winning twice already this postseason to get into the College Football Playoff semifinal at the Cotton Bowl against Texas.

"Absolutely. I have been here for four years, and I have absolutely no hardware to show for it," receiver Emeka Egbuka said. “That’s really on the forefront of our minds.”

While Ohio State (12-2) is the only school to appear in four of the last six CFPs — all since Ryan Day became head coach — and won four consecutive Big Ten titles from 2017-20 before Egbuka and most of the current players arrived, the Buckeyes' last national championship was 10 years ago. That was the first season of the four-team College Football Playoff, when they won the title at AT&T Stadium, the home of the NFL's Dallas Cowboys where they play the in-state Longhorns (13-2).

The winner Friday night advances to play Orange Bowl champion Notre Dame (14-1) for the national title in Atlanta on Jan. 20.

Ohio State is the No. 8 seed now favored to win the national title after two lopsided playoff wins: 42-17 at home against Tennessee before a dominating 41-21 win over undefeated Big Ten champion and top seed Oregon in the Rose Bowl on New Year's Day.

“We’re just fighting to get another opportunity to play with each other,” said linebacker and captain Cody Simon, one of nine Ohio State players still around from 2020. “That's our biggest motivator right now. ... We don't want to end this run right now."

Texas last won the national title 19 years ago, and didn't make its CFP debut until last season as the Big 12 champion. Coach Steve Sarkisian's fifth-seeded Longhorns are now the last team standing for the Southeastern Conference, the only league that has been represented in the semifinals each year — and that has six of the last nine national champions.

The 15 games for the Longhorns, who played in the SEC championship game before wins over Clemson and Big 12 champ Arizona State, are already one more than they had ever played in a single season.

"I like the new playoff dynamic. It’s fun,” Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers said.

“We’re obsessed with finishing up,” said Longhorns All-America senior cornerback Jahdae Barron. “But we’re obsessed with being enamored with us, and giving every day the respect that it deserves. And just being loving to one another and having a level bond with one another and continuing to build the culture.”

Ohio State quarterback Will Howard and Ewers both won Big 12 championships the last time they played at AT&T Stadium.

Texas was the Big 12 champ last season. Howard transferred to Ohio State from Kansas State, which two years ago beat CFP-bound and undefeated TCU in overtime for that league title.

Howard started three games against Texas while with the Wildcats. Those were all losses, as was a fourth game when he was on the sideline.

The best matchup of the game could be Barron vs. Buckeyes freshman receiver Jeremiah Smith. The 5-foot-11, 200-pound Barron won the Thorpe Award as the nation’s top defensive back. But Barron gives up four inches and 15 pounds to Smith, the second-team All-American who may be the most electric freshman in the country. Smith has 70 receptions for 1,224 yards and 14 touchdowns. Smith has four touchdowns in these playoffs.

“He’s a big baller. Strong,” Barron said. “He’s a physical player, and I’ll have to be physical.”

In its two losses to Georgia this season, Texas struggled to protect Ewers and surrendered 13 sacks. Now the Longhorns face a Buckeyes defensive front that sacked Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel eight times in the Rose Bowl. Jack Sawyer and J.T. Tuimoloau each had two sacks in that game. Sawyer was Ewers’ roommate when the Longhorns QB spent a semester in Columbus before transferring to Texas.

Texas is playing in its 23rd Cotton Bowl, the most for any team. But this is the Longhorns' first in 22 years. Ohio State is in its second Cotton Bowl in a row, and fourth overall, after losing 14-3 to Missouri last season.

While the winner plays for the national title, the loser goes into an offseason that will lead up to a rematch when the two teams meet in a 2025 season opener at Ohio State on Aug. 30.

Their only previous regular-season meetings were a home-and-home series in 2005 and 2006. The road team won both of those games and went on to play for the national championship — Vince Young and the Longhorns beat Southern California for the 2005 national title. Ohio State lost to Florida the following season.

AP Sports Writer Jim Vertuno contributed to this report.

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FILE - Ohio State linebacker Cody Simon (0) celebrates after his sack against Western Michigan during the first half of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024, in Columbus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Jay LaPrete, File)

FILE - Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers (3) throws against Florida during the first half of an NCAA college football game in Austin, Texas, Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)

FILE - Texas defensive back Jahdae Barron (7) celebrates with teammate Barryn Sorrell (88) after making in interception against Arkansas during the first half of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024, in Fayetteville, Ark. (AP Photo/Michael Woods, File)

FILE - Ohio State receiver Emeka Egbuka, left, and running back Quinshon Judkins celebrate their touchdown against Iowa during the second half of an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in Columbus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Jay LaPrete, File)

MELBOURNE, Australia--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 14, 2025--

Compumedics Limited (ASX: CMP), a world leading supplier of innovative medical technology for patient monitoring, has in collaboration with Beijing Fistar and TJNU performed recordings of both adults and children. The site at TJNU is equipped with an Orion LifeSpan™ MEG.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250514323453/en/

‘Most advanced MEG capability anywhere in the world’

Professor Xuejun Bai is Vice President of TJNU, Head of the MEG Laboratory, Director of the Brain Functional Imaging Centre and former Director of the Chinese Psychological Society. He has published more than 300 scientific papers and has been awarded ten patents. Prof. Bai commented:

“ The Orion LifeSpan MEG recently installed by Compumedics at TJNU has been a revolution in our ability to study mental processes of both children and adults, or even the two simultaneously. The system has already proven itself to be extremely sensitive, accurate and reliable. My team have been hard at work doing MEG measurements, analyzing the resulting data and uncovering new neuroscientific findings. I can say without reservation that the Orion LifeSpan has given TJNU the most advanced MEG capability anywhere in the world.”

Ability to Accurately Scan Both Children and Adults

MEG is a functional neuroimaging technique for mapping brain activity. It uses highly sensitive detectors to record the naturally occurring magnetic fields produced by electrical current flows within the brain. Because magnetic fields drop off very rapidly with distance, the sensors should be as close as possible to the sources of the brain signals. A child’s small head in an adult size helmet results in sensors far from the brain, leading to small signals. A dedicated smaller helmet yields clearer and more accurate data. More precise data always leads to better research understanding and improved patient outcomes.

World’s First Recordings

After installation of the Orion LifeSpan™ MEG at TJNU, a series of measurements were undertaken to demonstrate that the theoretical advantage of the system during pediatric recordings would be borne out in practice.

Founder and Executive Chairman Dr David Burton commented: “These recordings represented the first time a single MEG system had delivered high-quality scans for both children and adults. This breakthrough was at the world’s most advanced MEG lab at TJNU, which is equipped with a Compumedics Orion LifeSpan MEG system.

“Compumedics has invested nearly a decade and many millions of dollars to develop the Orion LifeSpan MEG,” he said. “The system represents a major leap in magnetoencephalography, with dual-helmet capability for pediatric and adult brain scanning, fully integrated with our gold-standard brain analytics CURRY software.

“It’s incredibly rewarding to see these efforts translating into strong initial sales, global interest and the potential for improved brain health, among both children and adults worldwide.”

A four-year-old female was presented with a series of tones and measured with both the adult and pediatric helmet. The results showed significantly stronger detection in the pediatric helmet. Localizations showed more precise determination of where the brain had been activated by the tones. The physics of magnetic field decay and the design philosophy of the Orion LifeSpan™ MEG were confirmed

For more information about this study, the Orion LifeSpan™ MEG and Compumedics, visit:https://www.compumedics.com.au/en/blog/compumedics-demonstrates-worlds-first-adult-and-pediatric-optimized-recordings-from-a-single-meg-system-2/

Child in Adult Helmet: The response from the same child measured in the adult MEG helmet. The traces show much lower amplitude and the map is muddied as a result of the lower signal-to-noise ratio.

Child in Pediatric Helmet: Green traces show the signals from the MEG sensors during the child’s listening to tones. The stimulus occurs at time 0 and the clear first response peaks about 0.09 seconds later. The upper color map shows the magnetic fields across the entire head during the recording and the lower shows CURRY®’s calculation of dipolar output that would account for the measured signals.

The same child in a helmet optimized for pediatric measurements.

Five-year-old child in an adult sized MEG helmet.

The resulting functional brain image as shown by CURRY software.

Compumedics Orion LifeSpan MEG system during recording.