FORT WORTH (WBAP/KLIF) – TCU, Georgia, Michigan, and Ohio State will play in the College Football Playoff.
The announcement was made Sunday morning, despite a TCU loss on Saturday to Kansas State in the Big 12 Championship game.
The 2022 College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl will feature the first-ever meeting between No. 2 Michigan and No. 3 TCU on Saturday, December 31, at State Farm Stadium. Kickoff for the semifinal in Glendale will be at 2 pm MST and will be broadcast live on ESPN.
With a trip to the CFP National Championship on the line, the two teams will square off at the Fiesta Bowl for just the second time in each program’s history. Michigan is making its first appearance at the Fiesta Bowl since a 27-23 victory over Nebraska in 1986 when current Head Coach Jim Harbaugh was the team’s quarterback, while TCU will be looking for its first Fiesta Bowl victory following a narrow 17-10 loss to Boise State in 2010.
Tickets are available by visiting fiestabowl.org/tickets
For Michigan, this will be the Wolverines’ second consecutive CFP Semifinal appearance and fourth berth in a New Year’s Six Bowl in the last seven seasons. The rising Horned Frogs are snapping a three-year bowl drought and competing in their first CFP Semifinal after being picked to finish seventh in the 10-team Big 12’s preseason poll.
Michigan is 21-28 all-time in Bowl Games, while TCU owns a 17-15-1 overall Bowl Season record.
“What an incredible matchup we have in Michigan and TCU for the College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl,” said Randal Norton, Fiesta Bowl Board Chair. “One of best things about our bowl is having matchups that don’t normally occur. This is the first time these two teams will ever meet on the field, and it’s been 35 years since Michigan last played in the Fiesta Bowl. TCU has been an intriguing story all year and one of these teams will move on to the National Championship. We can’t wait to host the schools, student-athletes, families and fans and treat them to world class Fiesta Bowl hospitality.”
Coming off a narrow 31-28 overtime loss to Kansas State in the Big 12 Championship, TCU (12-1) snagged a spot in the College Football Playoff with a resume-building regular season that included wins over five nationally-ranked teams. The Horned Frogs are one win away from matching their school record for wins in a season, previously accomplished during a 13-0 season in 2010. TCU owns two national championships in 1935 and 1938.
Head Coach Sonny Dykes arrived at TCU following four seasons as the head coach at SMU where he compiled a 30-18 record. In leading TCU to its first bowl game since the 2018 Cheez-It Bowl in downtown Phoenix, Dykes has turned around the TCU program in his first season. The Horned Frogs’ 12 victories heading into the Fiesta Bowl nearly matches the program’s 16 total wins over the last three seasons.
This year’s Vrbo Fiesta Bowl will be the third College Football Playoff Semifinal in Fiesta Bowl history following games in 2016 and 2019. The winner of the 2022 College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl will advance to the CFP National Championship on Monday, January 9, 2023, in Los Angeles.
All tickets purchased for the 2022 College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl support Fiesta Bowl Charities and its mission to enhance the cause of Arizona nonprofits through its three pillars of youth, sports and education. Fiesta Bowl Charities has granted nearly $20 million in charitable giving over the last six years alone.
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