No. 7 Notre Dame won the first game in the 12-team College Football Playoff era after defeating No. 10 Indiana 27-17 on Friday night in South Bend.

Notre Dame will now face Georgia in the quarterfinals of the College Football Playoff on Wednesday, January 1 at 8:45 p.m. ET in New Orleans.

Here’s a look at the current round and remaining CFP schedule.

• Friday, December 20: No. 7 Notre Dame 27, No. 10 Indiana 17
• Saturday, Dec. 21: No. 11 SMU at No. 6 Penn State (-8), 12 p.m. ET, TNT/Max
• Saturday, Dec. 21: No. 12 Clemson at No. 5 Texas (-13), 4 p.m. ET, TNT/Max
• Saturday, Dec. 21: No. 9 Tennessee at No. 8 Ohio State (-7), 8 p.m. ET, ABC/ESPN/Watch ESPN

• Tuesday, December 31: No. 3 Boise State vs. No. 6 Penn State/No. 11 SMU at Fiesta Bowl, 7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN/Watch ESPN
• Wednesday, January 1: No. 4 Arizona State vs. No. 5 Texas/No. 12 Clemson in the Peach Bowl, 1 p.m. ET, ESPN/Watch ESPN
• Wednesday, January 1: No. 1 Oregon vs. No. 8 Ohio State/No. 9 Tennessee in the Rose Bowl, 5:00 p.m. ET, ESPN/Watch ESPN
• Wednesday, Jan. 1: No. 2 Georgia vs. No. 7 Notre Dame (-1.5) in the Sugar Bowl, 8 p.m. ET, ESPN/Watch ESPN

• Thursday, January 9: TBD vs. TBD in the Orange Bowl, 7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN/Watch ESPN
• Friday, January 10: TBD vs. TBD in the Cotton Bowl, 7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN/Watch ESPN

• Monday, January 20: TBD vs. TBD at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, 7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN/Watch ESPN

Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love’s 98-yard touchdown run four minutes into the game set the tone for a dominant victory.

Notre Dame now plays Georgia, which will almost certainly be without Carson Beck. The quarterback suffered a UCL injury on his right elbow and UGA is preparing to play the CFP without him, per Mark Schlabach and Chris Low from ESPN.

Gunner Stockton performed well in the second half and overtime of UGA’s 22-19 win over Texas in the SEC championship game, but against a Notre Dame defense that has often been dominant this year and has simply shut down Indiana, it could be a tough test for him.

However, UGA has tremendous talent on both ends. The B/R NFL Scouting Department has eight players (including Beck) in the top 100 of its 2025 NFL Draft big board, with safety Malaki Starks ranked fourth.

Ultimately, this is a tough, low-scoring game in which both defenses come into play.

Penn State, Texas and Ohio State are the clear favorites for the remainder of the first round, and for good reasons.

SMU will face a very tough task when it heads to cold and windy State College to beat host Penn State, which has a formidable two-headed rushing attack in Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen, and the best tight end in the country in Tyler Warren and a ferocious defense led by him has Rand Abdul Carter.

SMU’s explosive offense (38.5 PPG) could still find its form in this game, but the defense has had its problems this season and particularly in the SEC Championship Game against Clemson. Simply put, the Mustangs may not be able to keep up with PSU’s Drew Allar-led offense, especially if an all-world talent like Warren proves unstoppable at times.

Texas has outscored its opponents by 21.1 points per game and has gone 11-0 against teams not named Georgia. The Longhorns have an incredibly deep talent pool at running back and wide receiver, which should help matters since wideout Isaiah Bond (high ankle sprain) is an outside fit for Saturday’s action, according to ESPN’s Pete Thamel.

Clemson is the weakest team in the field on paper, and the Tigers didn’t look like the champs after losing 17-14 to South Carolina before nearly blowing a 31-14 lead in the fourth quarter against SMU. However, it’s not inconceivable that Cade Klubnik will test the Tigers here. He did just that against SMU with 262 yards and four touchdowns.

In Columbus, Ohio State returns to the scene of one of its most disappointing games in recent program history, a 13-10 home loss to nearly three-touchdown underdog and arch-rival Michigan. This loss marked the fourth straight loss to the Wolverines and prevented OSU from reaching the Big Ten Championship Game. The mood is, simply put, terrible right now, with anger particularly aimed at head coach Ryan Day.

Still, OSU is a tremendously talented team. If OSU is thinking about focusing on its strengths (e.g. consistently getting the ball to its best players, e.g. wide receiver Jeremiah Smith), then that’s it should come away with the win.

But Tennessee won’t go down without a fight. If Dylan Sampson (1,485 rushing yards, 22 touchdowns) and big-play threat Donte’ Thornton (25.9 yards per reception) get going, Tennessee could give Ohio State serious problems on defense. Ultimately, don’t be surprised if this game turns into a shootout.

We’ll find out how the first round plays out soon enough, starting with SMU at Penn State on Saturday at noon ET. The game will be broadcast on TNT and streamed on Max.