Notre Dame and Ohio State meet in the first final of the 12-team College Football Playoff at 7:30 p.m. Monday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Notre Dame ended the regular season with an 11-1 record and ranked No. 4 in The Associated Press Top 25. The Fighting Irish earned an at-large berth to the College Football Playoff and were tabbed the No. 7 seed.
Notre Dame beat No. 10 Indiana 27-17 on Dec. 20 at home in South Bend, Indiana, then knocked off No. 2 Georgia 23-10 in the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans on Jan. 2. The Irish advanced to Monday’s title game by defeating No. 6 Penn State 27-24 in the Orange Bowl in Miami on Jan. 9.
Notre Dame’s season was — and has been — defined by a 16-14 loss to Northern Illinois at home Sept. 7. Coach Marcus Freeman’s team hasn’t lost since.
CFP championship kickoff time, TV info, odds
Kickoff: 7:30 p.m. Monday
Where: Mercedes-Benz Stadium (capacity 71,000)
TV: ESPN
Streaming: WatchESPN app
Broadcast crew: Chris Fowler (play-by-play), Kirk Herbstreit (analyst), Molly McGrath (sideline), Holly Rowe (sideline)
Satellite: SiriusXM 80, 81 and 84
ESPN Radio: Sean McDonough (play-by-play), Greg McElroy (analyst), Ian Fitzsimmons (sideline), Katie George (sideline)
Weather: N/A
Tickets: The get-in price through Ticketmaster is $1,800. Prices could set a championship game record.
Series history: Ohio State leads 6-2. The programs met in 2022 and 2023, both OSU wins. Notre Dame’s only two victories in the series came in 1935 and 1936.
Odds: Ohio State is favored by 8.5 points, according to Vegas Insider. The over/under is 46.5
Notre Dame roster: fightingirish.com/sports/football/roster
Notre Dame schedule: fightingirish.com/sports/football/schedule
Notre Dame football social media: X | Instagram | Facebook
Notre Dame storylines ahead of the national championship
Marcus Freeman coaching on MLK Day is ‘extremely significant’: Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman patiently answered questions about his game plan, opponent and the job he loves at the College Football Playoff national championship game Media Day.
In the booth next to Freeman, Fighting Irish star running back Jeremiyah Love giddily fielded queries from eager reporters. Love said he was at full health, joked about his penchant for hurdling defenders and laughed when asked about potentially doing in-game backflips.
A grin on the sophomore’s face widened when asked about Freeman potentially being the first Black coach to win an FBS national championship.
“We win this game … (and) Coach Free’s going to be a legend here,” Love said, alluding to the timing of the game.
It’s been 36 years since Notre Dame’s last title: It was just three months ago that Notre Dame stepped onto the field at Mercedes-Benz Stadium for a regular-season matchup with Georgia Tech. At the time, the Fighting Irish were simply looking to win the day and keep hope alive for a College Football Playoff berth at season’s end.
The long-term vision for Notre Dame, of course, was to eventually return to Mercedes-Benz Stadium for Monday’s national championship game.
Did Georgia Tech give Notre Dame an offensive blueprint against Georgia? Notre Dame’s path to Monday’s national championship game against Ohio State at Mercedes-Benz Stadium included a win over Georgia on Jan. 2 in New Orleans.
One month before that game, Georgia beat in-state rival Georgia Tech 44-42 in Athens in eight overtimes. But even though the Bulldogs prevailed on the scoreboard, the Yellow Jackets may have exposed enough holes in the UGA defense for future opponents like, say, Notre Dame to study.
Irish have supporters in only team to beat them: In the history of win-wins, Sean Frazier may have an all-timer.
Frazier, the Northern Illinois athletic director, would quite prefer for Notre Dame to emerge as champion of Monday night’s College Football Playoff championship between the Fighting Irish and Ohio State at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
It’s quite simple. If the Irish win, the 2024 season will end with his Huskies being the only team to defeat the national champions, having stunned Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana, on Sept. 7.
Hometown connections: Lots of local players set for national championship game in Atlanta.
How Notre Dame got here: Here’s a game-by-game look at how Notre Dame advanced to the title game.
Local lineman out with an injury: Notre Dame’s Anthonie Knapp, a true freshman from Roswell, has been ruled out of the College Football Playoff national championship game against Ohio State with an ankle injury, but Freeman said Sunday that Rocco Spindler is on track to play.
The offensive linemen were hurt in the second quarter of the Irish’s semifinal win over Penn State in the Orange Bowl on Thursday, adding to the long list of injuries they’ve dealt with as they’ve won 13 straight games on their way to playing for their first national title since 1988 in Atlanta on Jan. 20.
Irish had to beat Penn State to get to Atlanta: Notre Dame football returned to a championship level in the Orange Bowl on Thursday night, its Leprechaun mascot dancing deep into a historic night at Hard Rock Stadium.
The Irish came from behind twice to beat Penn State 27-24 in the College Football Playoff semifinal of the newly expanded 12-team playoff in Miami Gardens, Florida.
“We knew this would be a heavyweight fight,” said Freeman. “I told our guys, we’ve been here in this position before, and they got the job done.”
About the Author
