Few postseason stages capture college football quite like the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic, a Texas mainstay that has showcased elite programs in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex since 1937. Every winter, traveling fan bases, alumni groups, and marching bands flood North Texas, turning game day into a festival of school colors, fight songs, and high-stakes plays. If you want to feel that blend of history, intensity, and Texas-sized pageantry in person, lock in your Cotton Bowl tickets at Event Tickets Center and join the celebration.
The Cotton Bowl 2025 drops that tradition directly into the core of the expanded 12-team College Football Playoff as a quarterfinal in the 90th Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic. Second-seeded Ohio State has already punched its ticket back to North Texas after a 12–1 season and will face the winner of the first-round showdown between Texas A&M and Miami (Fla.). With a CFP semifinal berth at stake and fan bases chasing a New Year’s Eve breakthrough, this Cotton Bowl game is built for four quarters of playoff-level drama.
If you are asking when the Cotton Bowl is this season, the 2025 CFP Quarterfinal at the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic kicks off on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025, with a scheduled start of 6:30 p.m. Central, 7:30 p.m. Eastern, in Arlington, Texas. Gates typically open hours before kickoff so fans can enjoy pep rallies, team walks, and tailgate scenes around the stadium.
AT&T Stadium in Arlington serves as the modern stage for the Cotton Bowl, a massive, climate-controlled venue that seats about 80,000 for football and can expand to more than 100,000 for other major AT&T Stadium events. Its retractable roof, towering center-hung video board, and wide concourses keep the atmosphere loud yet comfortable even when North Texas weather is unpredictable. Beyond the bowl, the building regularly hosts NFL games, concerts, and international soccer, so Cotton Bowl fans can expect big-game operations, sharp sightlines, and plenty of amenities throughout the concourses.
The Cotton Bowl now combines generations of postseason history with the win-or-go-home urgency of the College Football Playoff, turning New Year’s Eve in North Texas into a national showcase. From the roar at kickoff to the celebrations that follow a quarterfinal win, it is the kind of live college football experience that sticks with you long after the confetti falls. Make your move and buy your Cotton Bowl tickets today at Event Tickets Center.
