In this year’s NCAA college football season, only four teams are left in the race to follow Michigan as national champions.

Ohio State ’s Ryan Day, Texas’ Steve Sarkisian, Notre Dame ’s Marcus Freeman and Penn State ’s James Franklin are the final four. None has won a national championship as a head coach, making this season the third out of the last four in which the title will go to a head coach who has never won one.

Local reporters take their picks on who will advance to the CFP championship game. Chandler Hoefle. Watch Next . What's harder to play in: different time zones or freezing temps?

When Texas announced plans to enter the SEC, the Longhorns immediately embarked on a 5-7 season in 2021 that was historic for all the wrong reasons. Since that moment, Texas has truly brought itself back from the brink and now stands alone as the only SEC team remaining in the first 12-team College Football Playoff.

Will the Texas football season end at the hands of Ohio State in the CFP? Here's the case for a Buckeyes win in the Cotton Bowl.

With only four teams left in the College Football Playoff, two games will decide who gets the opportunity to play in the national championship game. The quarterfinal round solidified Ohio State as the odds-on favorite to win the title (-110).

Ohio State and Texas have drawn each other as semifinal opponents in the College Football Playoff. This is the fourth matchup between the blue bloods.