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What they’re saying about Ohio State vs. Notre Dame in the national championship game

Singer headshotby:Mike Singer•about 9 hours•

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Ohio State coach Ryan Day chats with Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman. (Photo by Lori Schmidt / Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK)

A game-winning field goal by Mitch Jeter and heroics from a handful of other Notre Dame players helped send the Fighting Irish to the national championship game, defeating Penn State 27-24 in an Orange Bowl that will be talked about for decades.

The other College Football Playoff semifinal matchup saw Ohio State advance past Texas, 28-14. It was a game much closer than the final score indicated, as the Longhorns were driving late to tie the game, but a defensive score broke the game open for the Buckeyes.

In this article, Blue & Gold takes a look around at what the media is saying about the first ever national title game in the 12-team playoff era between the Midwest foes who meet for a third time in as many years.

Ralph D. Russo, The Athletic: College Football Playoff championship first look: Notre Dame-Ohio State in a battle of big brands

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.

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Brett Friedlander, Saturday Down South: Ohio State vs. Notre Dame—First impressions of the national championship game

Ohio State vs. Notre Dame.

It’s every Michigan fan’s worst nightmare come true. For the rest of us, it’s a dream matchup for the national championship.

Two traditional college football blue-bloods. One game. Winner take all. The perfect ending for the debut of a new College Football Playoff format that got off to a rocky start, but has delivered in a big way since.

The Buckeyes and Irish were seeded 8th and 7th, respectively, in the 12-team field on paper. But they’ve been the 2 best teams on the field by far over the past 4 weeks.

And they’ll meet for the title on Jan. 20 in Atlanta.

Ohio State advanced to the title showdown with a 28-14 victory against Texas at the Cotton Bowl on Friday in a game that was more dramatic than the final 14-point margin suggests. Notre Dame earned its ticket to the final a day earlier at the Orange Bowl by beating Penn State 27-24 in a game that was decided in the final 7 seconds.

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Eddie Pells, Associated Press: Ohio State, Notre Dame to meet for title, long after upset losses

Two upset losses stood out among the rest in college football this season. Notre Dame suffered one of them. Ohio State the other.

In years past, those losses might have been enough to knock both teams out of the hunt for a national title. This year, with the debut of the 12-team playoff, those two teams will play for it.

The Buckeyes beat Texas 28-14 on Friday night to set up a Jan. 20 meeting against the Fighting Irish. Ohio State hasn’t lost since it fell 13-10 to Michigan in November. Notre Dame hasn’t lost since it fell 16-14 to Northern Illinois way back in September.

Ohio State is in search of its sixth AP national title, ninth overall, and its first since the College Football Playoff debuted in 2014 with a four-team playoff. Notre Dame is going for its 12th championship, but its first since 1988.

This Big Ten vs. independent matchup means this is the second straight year that the Southeastern Conference will be shut out of the final after winning the championship in six of the previous eight years.

Ohio State opens as a 9 1/2-point favorite according to BetMGM. Ohio State won meetings in 2022 and 2023 and leads the series 6-2.

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