Two frustrating losses stand out in college football this season. Notre Dame suffered from one of these. Ohio State University another.
In years past, those losses might have been enough to cost both teams a chance to compete for a national title. This year, these two teams will compete as the 12-team postseason debuts.
The Buckeyes defeated Texas 28-14 on Friday night and prepare to face the Fighting Irish on January 20th. Ohio State hasn’t lost since a 10-13 loss to Michigan in November. Notre Dame hasn’t lost since a 16-14 loss to Northern Illinois in September.
Ohio State is seeking its sixth AP national championship, ninth overall and first since the College Football Playoff debuted with a four-team playoff in 2014. Notre Dame will be seeking its 12th title, but its first since 1988.
This Big Ten-Independence matchup means it’s the second straight year the Southeastern Conference has been shut out of the finals after winning the title in six of the last eight years.
Ohio State opened the game as a 9 1/2-point favorite, according to BetMGM. Ohio State won the 2022 and 2023 games and leads the series 6-2.
The loss this season set the tone for both teams, who began a turnaround that might have been impossible in years past.
“The time that tests you the most is when you’re at your lowest point,” said Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman, who would become the first black coach to win a national championship. “We lost to Northern Illinois and you’ve made a decision: ‘Do I want to be selfless?’ Or do you want to put personal glory above yourself? “
Ohio State head coach Ryan Day said the Michigan game is “what life is all about.”
“You have to go through adversity along the way, and how you handle adversity is how you define life, and these guys are going through life lessons right now,” Day said.
The game will pit Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard against Ohio State’s Will Howard, both in their first years at the school after entering the transfer portal last season.
Even though there was zero money involved, both players said they moved to the school to win a championship.
“The fact is, I came here to win a national championship and be on the best team and this will give me the best opportunity to do that,” said Riley, who transferred to Notre Dame from Duke.
“I made a list of things that I was looking for, which was to go to a place where I had a lot of talent around me and a place where I could compete for a national championship,” Howard told ESPN last year after he made the move Shortly after the decision. Moved from Kansas State University.
The best defense in the country turned an opponent’s first field goal from a field goal into a touchdown of its own, and it felt right. That was Ohio State’s win Friday night — a fitting exclamation point for a team that leads the nation in both yards and points.
Notre Dame also excels on the “D” side. Even after losing that win over Penn State, the Fighting Irish ranked ninth in yards allowed and third in turnover margin.
Leonard has been finding ways to use his arm and legs to win in the playoffs, but aside from a fourth-quarter snafu against Penn State’s strong and fast defense, the Irish offense struggled in the quarterfinals and The semi-finals were all slow. Also of concern is the status of left tackle Anthony Knapp, who left Thursday’s game early.
About playoff seeding
Give credit where credit is due. While the first two rounds of the playoffs were a series of boring blowouts, the semifinals were very entertaining and close.
Still, something’s wrong when the worst seed wins every game in the Elite Eight and Final Four.
As far as these playoffs are concerned, the answer seems obvious. Byes were given to the conference champions, who both lost in the quarterfinals, skewing the rankings and disrupting brackets.
Ohio State’s win over top-seeded Oregon and Notre Dame’s victory over No. 2 Georgia (without a quarterback) removed any suspicion that some great teams were cheated simply because of their rankings. It could also be an indication that, brackets aside, there are a lot of good but no great teams now that the NIL and transfer portal are in full swing.
