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The national championship game is nearly here.
Ohio State is going for its first national title since the end of the 2014 season. The Buckeyes beat Alabama and Oregon with third-string QB Cardale Jones to win the first four-team College Football Playoff. A win on Monday night would make Ohio State the first 12-team CFP champion.
Notre Dame’s title drought stretches back a bit further than that. The Fighting Irish’s last national title came in 1988 when the team capped a 12-0 season with a Fiesta Bowl victory over West Virginia.
Here’s what you need to know ahead of Monday night’s game.
Date: Jan. 20 | Time: 7:30 p.m. ET | TV: ESPN | Line: Ohio State -8.5 | Total: 46.5
How these teams got here
Both Ohio State and Notre Dame were outside the top four of the final College Football Playoff rankings and were big beneficiaries of the format’s expansion to 12 teams. The Buckeyes lost to Oregon and Michigan in the regular season and the latter loss was inexplicable. Ohio State had its worst game of the season against the Wolverines, and Michigan was able to grab a 13-10 win.
That loss cost Ohio State a chance at the Big Ten title game and a first-round bye in the playoff. That ultimately didn’t matter. The Michigan loss could go down in Ohio State lore as lighting a fire under this team. The Buckeyes blitzed Tennessee in the first round of the playoff and then got their revenge on Oregon in a game that could have been called via mercy rule midway through the second quarter. Ohio State had a 31-0 lead over the Ducks in the Rose Bowl on the way to a 41-21 win.
Ohio State’s win over Texas in the Cotton Bowl was a bit closer, but Jack Sawyer put an exclamation point on the 28-14 victory with his 83-yard fumble return for a touchdown with less than three minutes…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/cfp-national-championship-players-to-watch-keys-to-the-game-prediction-ohio-state-vs-notre-dame-153903691.html
Author : Yahoo Sports
Publish date : 2025-01-17 15:39:00
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