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There are only three games in the college football postseason and the College Football Playoff owns the stage with its semifinal and championship game.
Tonight, Notre Dame faces Penn State in the Orange Bowl as a slim favorite at the sportsbooks, and in the picks generated by the FBS Congrove Computer Rankings at CollegeFootballPoll.com. The winner meets the Cotton Bowl champion which features Ohio State and Texas tomorrow night.
As of this morning, the playoff odds favor Notre Dame (-1.5) and Ohio State (-5.5) to meet in the National Championship, while the computer picks the Irish by 2.49 and the Buckeyes by 4.37 points.
Some of the Orange Bowl best bets and props are total under (45.5) and Penn State tight end Tyler Warren over 63.5 yards receiving, according to Riley Thomas at FanDuel.com.
Notre Dame has the opportunity to re-assert itself as one of the most historically significant programs in THIS era of college football. Marcus Freeman is already enjoying the level of success that has rarely happened in South Bend since Ara Parseghian was the last to lead the school to more than one AP national championship (1964, 1973). Only Dan Devine (1977) and Lou Holtz (1988) have won a single national championship since then. The school won 6 of the first 38 AP National Titles (began 1936), and Frank Leahy won four of those from 1943 to 1949.
Freeman has already led to Notre Dame to more college football playoff victories (2) than Brian Kelly (0). Notre Dame is here with victories over Indiana at home in the first round, and Georgia in the quarterfinal in the Sugar Bowl. Kelly's only opportunities came in semifinal games in a 4-team format, and were routed 30-3 by Clemson in 2018, and 31-14 by Alabama in 2020.
The Nittany Lions are here after knocking out SMU at home, and Boise State with the quarterfinal in the Fiesta Bowl.
So this semifinal game tonight comes down to teams that had never won a college football playoff game before this year, and are trying to win a semifinal game for the first time. Of course, Penn State had never previously played in any playoff game.
Freeman, the former Ohio State standout linebacker (2004-2008), is 32-9 as head coach at Notre Dame for a .780 winning percentage which is currently the highest since Parseghian.
Penn State is led by James Franklin for the 11th season. He is 101-41 in Happy Valley for a winning clip of .711 which is not far off the late Joe Paterno's .749 clip. The program is 34-7 (.829) over the last three years under his guidance.
Penn State's only AP championships were won under Paterno in 1982 and 1986.
This will mark the first time the Fighting Irish and the Nittany Lions have met at the Orange Bowl and the 20th time that Notre Dame and Penn State have met on the gridiron, dating back to 1913. The all-time series is tied 9-9-1. These two teams last met in a 2007 regular season matchup in State College, where the Nittany Lions won 31-10.
Notre Dame will be making its seventh Orange Bowl appearance (tied for sixth all-time) and its first since the 2013 BCS National Championship hosted by the Orange Bowl. The Fighting Irish are making their third CFP Semifinal appearance and first since the 2020-21 Semifinal game against Alabama in the Rose Bowl.
Penn State will be making its sixth Orange Bowl appearance and its first since 2006 when it defeated Florida State 26-23 in 3OT. The Nittany Lions now rank ninth all-time in most Orange Bowl appearances.