No. 3 Football hosts No. 16 Clemson in the first round of the College Football Playoff

By: Grace Tafolla

AUSTIN, Texas – No. 3 and No. 5 seed Texas Football hosts No. 16 and No. 12 seed Clemson in the first round of the 2024 College Football Playoff on Saturday, December 21 at 3 p.m. CT at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. The game will be on TNT/Max with Dave Pasch (play-by-play), Dusty Dvoracek (analyst) and Taylor McGregor (reporter) on the phone.

Texas will make its second College Football Playoff appearance in as many years after securing third place in the 2023 College Football Playoff and facing the No. 2 Washington Huskies in the Allstate Sugar Bowl in the semifinals. The Longhorns have 11 consecutive top-10 CFP rankings dating back to October 31, 2023. Texas debuted at No. 5 in the initial CFP rankings on November 5 of this season – which was also the program’s highest ranking in history in the first week of the CFP rankings. Texas has been in the top 25 in each of the last 15 rankings and has a total of 27 appearances in the rankings, with its highest ranking being No. 2. UT landed at No. 4 in both the Associated Press and Coaches polls, which were updated Dec. 8.

The first-ever matchup between Texas and Clemson will take place on December 21st. The first-round winner advances to the CFP quarterfinals of the 57th Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl and will face the Big 12 champion and No. 4 seed at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on January 1, 2025 at 12:00 p.m. CT Arizona State. The game will be broadcast on an ABC/ESPN platform.

Head coach Steve Sarkisian has now led his programs to eight postseason appearances in his 11 seasons as head coach. He led Washington to four straight bowl games after the 2010-13 season and led USC to the Holiday Bowl in 2014. His Washington team played in the 2013 Fight Hunger Bowl, a game in which he stopped coaching after taking over the Trojans’ program. Sarkisian was the head coach in the Huskies’ Alamo Bowl appearance against Baylor in 2011.

Ticket information for the first round College Football Playoff game

Texas football season ticket holders may request their regular season seating and parking options for the College Football Playoff first round game between Texas and Clemson on Saturday, December 21 at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. Season ticket holders should log into their account to purchase. The ticket request deadline for Texas Football season ticket holders is Monday, December 9th, 4pm Central. There are no tickets available to the general public. Fans interested in purchasing tickets should visit SeatGeek, the official fan-to-fan ticket marketplace of the Texas Athletics.

Longhorn Foundation donors at the Tradition level or higher ($1,500+) may also request tickets to other CFP games for which the Longhorns could qualify this postseason. The deadline to order tickets for the College Football Playoff Quarterfinals at the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl is Monday, December 9th, 4pm Central. The deadline to order tickets for the college football semifinals at the Goodyear Cotton Bowl and the College Football National Championship Game is Monday, December 16, 4 p.m. Central.