Ryan Day and his Ohio State Buckeyes are preparing for a rematch with the Oregon Ducks. The Ducks handed the Buckeyes their first loss of the season back in October, and now the teams are meeting again in the quarterfinals of the College Football Playoff.

Ahead of the rematch, Day stated that any team still playing at this point in this season is going to be a tough out. However, the coach admitted to being “very excited” to get a rematch against Oregon.

“I mean, we’re very excited about playing in this game,” admitted the coach. “And we know that when we get to this point we’ve been playing against a lot of good opponents. But to say that our guys aren’t excited about getting another shot at Oregon, yeah, that wouldn’t be accurate; we’re excited about that.”

The coach was then asked if he expects a different game this go-round and Day answered in the affirmative.

“Yeah, I think every game is different, and you don’t know until you get into the game what that’s going to be,” Day said. “Usually that’s what the first half is all about. Then you get into halftime and you kind of come up for air.”

In the first game, the Buckeyes led 28-22 heading into the 4th quarter. However, the Ducks were able to outscore the Buckeyes 10-3 in the final quarter and escape with a 32-31 victory.

The Ducks remain the only undefeated team in the FBS while the Buckeyes are coming off a dominating performance against Tennesee. The Buckeyes defeated the Vols 42-17 in the opening round of the College Football Playoff.

The rematch of these B1G rivals will kick off from the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day.