Texas and Ohio State will square off on the football field for only the fourth time when the Cotton Bowl hosts a College Football Playoff semifinal between the Longhorns and Buckeyes on Friday (6:30 p.m., ESPN).

Both teams have made the most of their encounters for a series with so few games played. Like the three previous games (a home-and-home series during the regular season in 2005 and 2006 and the 2009 Fiesta Bowl to wrap up the 2008 season), the Cotton Bowl is a game with national championship implications; Texas (13-2) and Ohio State (12-2) are the fifth and eight seeds in the 12-team CFP field, but Friday’s game is the fourth time in as many meetings in which the Longhorns and Buckeyes enter ranked in the top 10 of the Associated Press Top 25.

A win puts the two bluebloods one step closer to winning the national championship. For Texas, Ohio State is the last roadblock between the Longhorns and a third game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta this season, this time for the CFP National Championship on Jan. 20.

“It’s not always about who was the best team for 12 games,” Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said on Thursday regarding coach Ryan Day‘s club. Since his initial thoughts on the game, Sarkisian has said that Ohio State is the best team left in the CFP in the first season of the 12-team format.

“It’s who’s playing the best football this time of the year, and I think we could all agree, what Coach Day has done — their team, them coming out of that Michigan game and what they’ve been able to do since the [CFP] started — has been tremendous. That’s a credit to Coach Day and his staff for re-galvanizing that roster and getting them going.”

Day praised the Longhorns for “growing throughout the season” en route to a second consecutive trip to the CFP semifinals. Although the Buckeyes are the betting favorite by almost a touchdown, Day expects his squad to face a formidable challenge from Texas.