The Indiana Hoosiers have enjoyed quite a football season, nabbing the Big Ten championship title, the No. 1 seed in the College Football Playoff, and a Heisman Trophy for quarterback Fernando Mendoza. They’ll seek to continue their success at the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day, where they’ll face No. 9 Alabama Crimson Tide. The winner of the game will go on to face the winner of the Orange Bowl, between Texas Tech and Oregon, which is at noon on Jan. 1.
The Rose Bowl game is the second of three major New Year’s Day bowl games airing on ESPN and will stream on ESPN Unlimited starting at 4:00 p.m. ET. The Orange Bowl kicks things off at 12 p.m., and the Sugar Bowl, between Georgia and Ole Miss, is at 8 p.m. ET. Here’s how to watch the Rose Bowl when it airs this Thursday, and take a look at the complete schedule of this week’s playoff and bowl games below.
Advertisement
How to watch Indiana vs. Alabama in the Rose Bowl game:
Date: Thursday, January 1
Time: 4 p.m. ET
TV Channel: ESPN
Streaming: ESPN Unlimited, DirecTV, Fubo and more
When is the Indiana vs. Alabama game?
You can watch coverage of this week’s Indiana vs. Alabama Rose Bowl game starting at 4:00 p.m. ET on Thursday, Jan. 1.
Where to watch the Indiana vs. Alabama game without cable
You can tune in to the Rose Bowl game on ESPN. ESPN is available on streaming platforms, including DirecTV and Sling, but for the most comprehensive college football coverage, you can also watch this game and hundreds more on the ESPN app with an ESPN Unlimited subscription.
ESPN’s new streaming service is divided into two tiers: the ESPN Unlimited package and the ESPN Select package.
For $29.99, the ESPN Unlimited package includes access to all of ESPN’s linear networks: ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, SECN, ACCN, ESPNews, and ESPN Deportes, as well as access to programming on ABC, ESPN+, ESPN3, SECN+, and ACCNX. That means fans will get coverage of more than 47,000 live events each year, plus on-demand replays, original programming and more.
Right now, for a limited time, you can bundle ESPN Unlimited with Disney+ and Hulu and pay $29.99/month for 12 months — that’s like getting those other services free for a year! Even if you’re a current subscriber to Disney+, Hulu or even the bundle, you can still upgrade to this great deal.
Not interested in a bundle? ESPN Select (also referred to as ESPN+) is still an option. For $12.99/month, you can tune in and get exclusive access to events like select NCAA football games, F1 driver cams, simulcasts of certain sports that air on other channels and PPV access to UFC fights.
DirecTV is currently offering its Entertainment tier package for just $49.99 for your first month – a $40 savings over the regular rate.
DirecTV’s Entertainment tier gets you access to loads of channels where you can tune in to college and pro sports, including ESPN, TNT, ACC Network, Big Ten Network, CBS Sports Network, and, depending on where you live, local affiliates for ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC.
Whichever package you choose, you’ll get unlimited Cloud DVR storage and access to ESPN+’s new streaming tier, ESPN Unlimited.
The best part is that you can currently try all this out for free for 5 days. If you’re interested in trying out a live-TV streaming service for football season but aren’t ready to commit, we recommend starting with DirecTV.
College football playoff game/bowl schedule this week:
All time Eastern
Advertisement
Wednesday, Dec. 31
12 p.m. | No. 14 Vanderbilt vs. No. 23 Iowa | ReliaQuest Bowl (Tampa, Fla.) | ESPN
2 p.m. | Duke vs. Arizona State | Sun Bowl (El Paso, Texas) | CBS
3 p.m. | No. 13 Texas vs. No. 18 Michigan | Citrus Bowl (Orlando, Fla.) | ABC
3:30 p.m. | No. 15 Utah vs. Nebraska | Las Vegas Bowl (Las Vegas, Nev.) | ESPN
7:30 p.m. | No. 2 Ohio State vs. No. 10 Miami (Fla.) | Cotton Bowl (CFP Quarterfinal) (Arlington, Texas) | ESPN
Thursday, Jan. 1
12 p.m. | No. 4 Texas Tech vs. No. 5 Oregon | Orange Bowl (CFP Quarterfinal) (Miami, Fla.) | ESPN
4 p.m. | No. 1 Indiana vs. No. 9 Alabama | Rose Bowl (CFP Quarterfinal) (Pasadena, Ca.) | ESPN
8 p.m. | No. 3 Georgia vs. No. 6 Ole Miss | Sugar Bowl (CFP Quarterfinal) (New Orleans, La.) | ESPN
Advertisement
Friday, Jan. 2
1 p.m. | Rice vs. Texas State | Armed Forces Bowl (Fort Worth, Texas) | ESPN
4:30 p.m. | Navy vs. Cincinnati | Liberty Bowl (Memphis, Tenn.) | ESPN
8 p.m. | Wake Forest vs. Mississippi State | Duke’s Mayo Bowl (Charlotte, N.C.) | ESPN
8 p.m. | SMU vs. Arizona | Holiday Bowl (San Diego) | FOX
How to watch college football games in 2025
NCAA football games will air across ESPN, ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC and the college conference networks. If you don’t have cable, it can be challenging to stay up-to-date with your favorite team. Here’s what we recommend to stream NCAA football.
More ways to watch NCAAF games this season
