Two programs well-versed in Pasadena’s time-honored tradition will reunite in the Rose Bowl. And their first meeting this fall suggests Round 2 should be a breeze.

Oregon and Ohio State played one of the most entertaining games of the 2024 regular season on Oct. 12, as the Ducks edged the Buckeyes 32-31 late in the fourth quarter at Autzen Stadium. The teams combined for 963 yards of offense (Oregon had 496, Ohio State had 467), and the Buckeyes’ final drive was agonizingly halted shortly after Howard lost track of the clock and slipped in a scramble with no time left.

Since that thriller, the Ducks have worked their way to an undefeated regular season, a Big Ten title in their first year in the conference, and the No. 1 overall seed.

Ohio State, meanwhile, had to recover from a season-ending reality check in the form of a fourth straight loss to its archrival that put Day in Day’s crosshairs in the weeks leading up to its first-round game against Tennessee.

This meeting in October was quite controversial. The Ducks appeared to intentionally leave 12 men on defense near the end of Ohio State’s final drive of the game, intentionally incurring the five-yard penalty in exchange for four crucial seconds remaining out of game time. Four days later, the NCAA released a new rule interpretation for referees on how to handle a 12-man-on-the-field penalty in the final two minutes of the first or second half, leaving the offense to decide the additional clock for the 5-yard penalty to reset to the time the ball was snapped if it wants.

This will be the third time Oregon and Ohio State will face each other in the Rose Bowl. The Buckeyes won the teams’ first two meetings in Pasadena: 10-7 on New Year’s Day 1958 and 26-17 on New Year’s Day 2010, while Chip Kelly, the Buckeyes’ current offensive coordinator, was the Ducks’ head coach.