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TCU joins Notre Dame, 16 others as national championship game participants since 1998

IMG_9992by:Tyler Horka•01/09/23•

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notre dame play like a champion today
Though Notre Dame has not won a national title since 1988, winning it all always remains the standard in South Bend. (Chad Weaver/BGI)

For the first time since 2017, the College Football Playoff National Championship Game has a team participating in it that had not previously played for a national title since the BCS was formed in 1998. Georgia made its NCG debut that year. TCU joins the Bulldogs — who just so happen to be the Horned Frogs’ opponent tonight (7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN) — Notre Dame and 15 other schools as programs that have played in a national championship game since the implementation of winner-takes-all matchups 25 seasons ago.

Notre Dame’s lone national championship game appearance came during the 2012 season. The Fighting Irish lost to Alabama, 42-14, in Miami. Notre Dame has been to the College Football Playoff twice since then, but the Irish lost 30-3 to Clemson in the 2018 Cotton Bowl and 31-14 to Alabama in the 2020 Rose Bowl, which was also played at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

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Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman has not shied away from the goal of playing for a national title since he was hired in Dec. 2021. The Irish were a far cry from getting there in 2022, finishing the season with a 9-4 record and a 45-38 victory over No. 19 South Carolina in the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl. The Irish just reeled in a second-straight top-10 recruiting class per the On3 Consensus, though, in addition to landing a potential game-changer at quarterback in former Wake Forest signal-caller Sam Hartman.

This upcoming season is the last of the four-team playoff format. To get to the national title game in 2024 and beyond, Notre Dame will have to win three games in the expanded 12-team format if it remains independent. Only the highest-ranked conference champions receive a first-round bye in the 12-team bracket. Nobody ever said it would be easy to get Notre Dame back to the biggest game of the year.

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Here’s a look at all 18 schools that have played in the national championship game in the last 25 seasons. Championship game victories are in bold.

• Alabama (2009, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2021)

• Ohio State (2002, 2006, 2007, 2014, 2020)

• LSU (2003, 2007, 2011, 2019)

• Clemson (2015, 2016, 2018, 2019)

• Florida State (1998, 1999, 2000, 2013)

• Oklahoma (2000, 2003, 2004, 2008)

• Georgia (2017, 2021, 2022)

• Florida (2006, 2008)

• Auburn (2010, 2013)

• USC (2004, 2005)

• Miami (2001, 2002)

• Oregon (2010, 2014)

• Texas (2005)

• Tennessee (1998)

• TCU (2022)

• Notre Dame (2012)

• Nebraska (2001)

• Virginia Tech (1999)

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