How to watch Alabama vs. Indiana in the CFP Rose Bowl for free

A day full of quarterfinal matchups in the 2025-26 College Football Playoff continues with one of the most iconic games in college football: the Rose Bowl.

This year, the No. 1 ranked team in the country, the Indiana Hoosiers, will face off with CFP mainstays Alabama Crimson Tide in “The Granddaddy of Them All” this afternoon.

The Hoosiers have had an unlikely run this season, and are now just three wins away from a first national title. They’ll be back in action for the first time since early December today, thanks to a first-round bye; since their last game, quarterback Fernando Mendoza won the 2025 Heisman Trophy.

Alabama is playing in its ninth College Football Playoff, but its first under head coach Kalen DeBoer. Today also marks the Crimson Tide’s ninth time competing in the Rose Bowl.

The winner of tonight’s game advances into the Jan. 9 Peach Bowl against the winner of today’s Orange Bowl.

Here’s how to tune in to the 2025 Rose Bowl for free if you don’t have cable.

Alabama vs. Indiana Rose Bowl start time:

Today’s (Jan. 1) Alabama vs. Indiana game is scheduled to kick off at 4 p.m. ET.

How to watch the Rose Bowl for free:

If you don’t have cable, you’ll need a live TV streaming service to stream the Alabama vs. Indiana quarterfinal for free.

DIRECTV is our top pick for watching college football live for free — its five-day free trial includes ESPN (plus many of the other channels you’ll need for the College Football Playoff). When the trial is over, you’ll pay as low as $49.99/month and gain access to over 90 live channels.

If you aren’t ready to commit to a full-on subscription, you can try a Sling Orange Day Pass. Priced at $4.99, you’ll get 24 hours of access to all Sling TV Orange has to offer, including ESPN. Sling also offers weekend and week-long passes for its Orange plan, which offer between three and seven days of access.

College Football Playoff 2025-26 key dates

• Quarterfinals (Dec. 31 and Jan. 1)
  • Cotton Bowl (Dec. 31, 7:30 p.m. ET) – No. 10 Miami vs. No. 2 Ohio State
  • Orange Bowl (Jan. 1, 12 p.m.) – No. 5 Oregon vs. No. 4 Texas Tech
  • Rose Bowl (Jan. 1, 4 p.m.) – No. 9 Alabama vs. No. 1 Indiana
  • Sugar Bowl (Jan. 1, 8 p.m.) – No. 6 Ole Miss vs. No. 3 Georgia
• Semifinals (Jan. 8-9)
  • Fiesta Bowl (Jan. 8, 7:30 p.m.) – Ole Miss/Georgia vs. Miami/Ohio State
  • Peach Bowl (Jan. 9, 7:30 p.m.) – Oregon/Texas Tech vs. Alabama/Indiana
• National Championship (Jan. 19, 7:30 p.m.)

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This article was written by Angela Tricarico, Commerce Streaming Reporter for Post Wanted Shopping, Page Six, and Decider.com. Angela keeps readers up to date with cord-cutter-friendly deals, and information on how to watch your favorite sports teams, TV shows, and movies on every streaming service. Not only does Angela test and compare the streaming services she writes about to ensure readers are getting the best prices, but she’s also a superfan specializing in the intersection of shopping, tech, sports, and pop culture. When she’s not writing about TV, movies, and sports, she’s also keeping up on all of the best deals to shop at Bath & Body Works, and testing headphones. Prior to joining Decider and The New York Post in 2023, she wrote about streaming and consumer tech at Insider Reviews.

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