2018 Capital One Orange Bowl
College Football Playoff Semifinal 85th Orange Bowl
Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, hosted the Orange Bowl.
Oklahoma Sooners Alabama Crimson Tide (12–1) (13–0) Big 12 SEC 34 45 Head coach:  Lincoln Riley Head coach:  Nick Saban AP Coaches CFP 4 4 4 AP Coaches CFP 1 1 1
1 2 3 4 Total Oklahoma 0 10 10 14 34 Alabama 21 10 0 14 45
Date	December 29, 2018
Season	2018
Stadium	Hard Rock Stadium
Location	Miami Gardens, Florida
MVP	Tua Tagovailoa (QB, Alabama) Xavier McKinney (S, Alabama)[1]
Favorite	Alabama by 14½ (80½)
National anthem	Nicole Henry
Referee	Duane Heydt (ACC)
Attendance	66,203[2]
United States TV coverage
Network	ESPN and ESPN Radio
Announcers	Chris Fowler (play-by-play) Kirk Herbstreit (analyst) Maria Taylor and Laura Rutledge (sideline) (ESPN) Steve Levy, Brian Griese and Todd McShay (ESPN Radio)
Nielsen ratings	10.4 (19 million viewers)[3]
International TV coverage
Network	ESPN Deportes ESPN Deportes Radio
Announcers	Kenneth Garay Sebastian Martinez-Christensen
Orange Bowl  ← 2017  2019 →  1 vs. 4 Seed CFP Semifinal Game  ← 2018 Sugar 2019 Peach →

The 2018 Orange Bowl was a college football bowl game played on Saturday, December 29, 2018, at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami.^[4] The 85th edition of the Orange Bowl was one of two College Football Playoff semifinal games, the game featured two of the four teams selected by the College Football Playoff Selection Committee—Alabama from the SEC, and Oklahoma from the Big 12 Conference. Alabama took off with a 28-0 lead in the early 2nd quarter and never looked back, winning 45–34. They advanced to face the winner of the Cotton Bowl (Clemson) in the 2019 College Football Playoff National Championship. It was one of the 2018–19 bowl games concluding the 2018 FBS football season. Sponsored by the Capital One Financial Corporation, the game was officially known as the College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Capital One Orange Bowl.

Teams

The game featured top-ranked Alabama of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) against fourth-ranked Oklahoma of the Big 12 Conference.^[5] The programs had previously met five times, with Oklahoma leading the series, 3–1–1.^[5] They first met in the 1963 Orange Bowl, won by Alabama, 17–0.^[6] Their most recent meeting was in the 2014 Sugar Bowl, a 45–31 Oklahoma victory.^[5]

Game summary

References

External links

• Official website
• Box score at ESPN