Early Picks, Forecasts, and Odds for Ohio State vs Notre Dame

The 7-seed for the 2025 College Football Playoff National Championship With the most prestigious award in sports at stake, Notre Dame will take on eighth-seeded Ohio State on Monday, January 20 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. While the Buckeyes haven’t won a national championship since 2014, the first season of the College Football Playoff under the four-team format, the Fighting Irish are vying for their first national championship since 1988. With an exciting 27–24 victory over Penn State in the Orange Bowl, Notre Dame guaranteed its position. With fewer than ten seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, the Irish made the game-winning field goal to erase two deficits and stop a 14-0 Penn State rally. Notre Dame won its first two playoff games by an average of 11.5 points, which led to that outcome. After yet another defeat to Michigan, Ohio State coach Ryan Day went from a hot seat to the brink of the Buckeyes’ first national championship in a matter of weeks. The fact that Ohio State missed out on the Big Ten championship for the fourth straight year is no longer significant because this squad has much higher aspirations. (7) Notre Dame — Sugar, winner of the...