The 87th annual Cotton Bowl Classic, the game featured two teams selected at-large by the College Football Playoff selection committee — Tulane from the American Athletic Conference and USC from the Pac-12 Conference.

[7] One of their meetings came in the 1932 Rose Bowl, where USC defeated Tulane to win the national championship.

The Green Wave qualified for the AAC Championship Game, where they defeated a ranked UCF in a rematch.

In addition to Utah, USC faced ranked teams UCLA and Notre Dame, defeating the latter two.

Tulane then converted a pair of fourth downs on a 12-play, 66-yard drive, scoring the winning touchdown with just 9 seconds left in the game.