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The first national championship game of the 12-team College Football Playoff is a television executive’s dream. Notre Dame (14-1) and Ohio State (13-2) will meet on Jan. 20 in Atlanta, the epicenter of SEC country, but for the second straight year, there won’t be an SEC team involved in the CFP final. Coming on the heels of last season’s Michigan-Washington CFP championship, this will be the first time two consecutive title games involved no SEC teams since 2004 (USC–Oklahoma) and 2005 (USC-Texas).
Fighting Irish-Buckeyes is a No. 7 vs. No. 8 seed matchup, but don’t be fooled. Neither of these teams is a Cinderella. Maybe the two biggest brands in college football will square off for the ninth time in their storied histories. It should be a TV ratings monster for ESPN, though oddsmakers have the Buckeyes as a prohibitive favorite. The Athletic’s projections model gives Ohio State a 69 percent chance to win.
Ohio State coach Ryan Day, whose team ended its regular season with a stunning and painful loss to Michigan that would have eliminated the Buckeyes from the four-team Playoff, is now a victory away from delivering the school its first national title since the 2014 season.
Notre Dame claims 11 national titles, eight during the poll era, but none since Tony Rice and Holtz led the Irish to the 1988 crown, capped by a victory in the Fiesta Bowl against West Virginia. Ohio State’s last championship came in the first year of the four-team College Football Playoff under coach Urban Meyer. The Buckeyes are looking for their seventh national title during the poll era, once again trying to break in a new Playoff system with a championship.
Ohio State bogged down against a tough Texas defense determined to take away the big plays, especially to freshman star receiver Jeremiah Smith (1,227 yards receiving but only three vs. the Longhorns). So maybe the Longhorns gave the Fighting Irish a blueprint to slow down quarterback Will Howard and the Buckeyes?
For Notre Dame, it starts with a lockdown pass defense, with freshman cornerback Leonard Moore playing at a level beyond his experience and All-American Xavier Watts leading a group of three physical and rangy safeties. The Irish allow 50.7 percent completions, the best in the nation.
Ohio State plays really good defense, too. In fact, it’s probably been the more consistent side of the ball this season, led by edge rushers JT Tuimoloau and Jack Sawyer. The seniors have played the best ball of their careers during the postseason and it only seemed appropriate that Sawyer’s strip-sack, scoop-and-score sealed the Cotton Bowl.
On both sides of the ball, Notre Dame has overcome numerous injuries. The Irish will likely have to do it again to win the national championship.
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