Valley to host Ohio State, Clemson in Fiesta Bowl; Boise State and Baylor in Cactus Bowl

The Clemson Tigers are coming back to University of Phoenix Stadium.

A year after falling 45-40 to Alabama in the College Football Playoff’s championship game in Glendale, Ariz., to cap the 2015 season, Dabo Swinney’s team returns to the Valley, this time as the No. 3 team in the nation set to face No. 2 Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl on Dec. 31. The winner will face either first-ranked Alabama or No. 4 Washington in the title game at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla.

“We are incredibly excited to be a part of the Fiesta Bowl and to return out to Arizona,” Swinney said on a Sunday afternoon conference call. “We had a little taste of it last year, I barely remember it, it was a quick trip. But we’re looking forward to having a little more extended time and being part of the community and being part of a great, great ballgame.”

Clemson entered the playoff as the top-ranked team a year ago, and it backed up the historic run of 2015 with a second ACC Championship in a row Saturday when it defeated Virginia Tech in the conference title game.

“It’s an incredible achievement,” Swinney said. “We’re really just soaking in winning the ACC championship in back-to-back years. The only thing that would make it better would be to win it all. This team came back, had a different type of expectations on it, coming off a national championship appearance. I think they’ve handled it well. At the end of the day, we know that every play is a championship play from this point forward. There’s no room for error.

“This team came back, had a different type of expectations on it, coming off a national championship appearance. I think they’ve handled it well. At the end of the day, we know that every play is a championship play from this point forward. There’s no room for error.”

In Ohio State, the Tigers find a familiar opponent and one familiar with the desert setting.

The teams last squared off in the postseason in the 2014 Orange Bowl, which Clemson won 40-35.

The Buckeyes played in the Fiesta Bowl last year when it was a New Year’s Six game and not part of the playoff. They beat Notre Dame 44-28. Ohio State also appeared at University of Phoenix Stadium in the 2009 Fiesta Bowl and BCS Championship to cap the 2006 season.

Buckeyes coach Urban Meyer will have to put his friendship with Swinney aside as he prepares for the Fiesta Bowl.

“He’s obviously a great coach, a great recruiter and he’s a good friend,” Meyer said Sunday on a conference call. “His wife and I and Shelley (Meyer) are very close … every year we get together on those Nike trips. I think we have a lot in common, a lot of the same beliefs.”

Boise State is back in the Valley

The Broncos have a thing for the desert.

For the fourth time in their history, they’re visiting Arizona for the postseason. Only this time, Boise State isn’t heading to the Fiesta Bowl, which they won in 2007, 2010 and 2014.

Instead, the Broncos (10-2) will play the Baylor Bears (6-6) at Chase Field, home of the Arizona Diamondbacks, for the 2016 Cactus Bowl on Dec. 27.

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