Associated Press

The College Football Playoff expanded to 12 teams to attract new talent.

The final four are clearly blue-blooded.

In the semifinals, Penn State and Notre Dame will play in the Orange Bowl on January 9th and Texas will play Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl on January 10th.

All four teams are among eight programs with at least 900 wins all-time.

According to the NCAA, Ohio State is second with 976 wins, Notre Dame and Texas are fourth with 961, and Penn State is seventh with 943.

The four teams have combined for 18 national championships since 1936, when the Associated Press rankings began. Notre Dame has eight titles, Ohio State has five, Texas has three and Penn State has two.

A look at the semi-finals in numbers:

2-1

Texas’ lead in the series with Ohio State. This will be their first meeting since 2009. They will open the 2025 season against each other on August 30 in Columbus.

9-9-1

The Notre Dame-Penn State series record. This will be their first meeting since 2007.

1, 3, 5, 8

Four teams nationally ranked in total defense: Ohio State (244.6 yards per game), Texas (277.7), Penn State (288.8) and Notre Dame (295.4).

17, 25, 27, 51

Four teams nationally ranked in total offense: Texas (443.9 yards per game), Penn State (436.3), Ohio State (432.5) and Notre Dame (406.6).

4

Passes over 40 yards are allowed at Ohio State, the fewest in the FBS.

6

National semifinal honorees: Ohio State’s Seth McLaughlin (Rimington Trophy, top center), Penn State’s Tyler Warren (John Mackey, top tight end), Penn State OL’s Nick Dawkins (Wuerffel Trophy, community service), Kelvin Banks of Texas (Lombardi Award, top lineman; Outland Trophy, top indoor lineman), Texas’ Jahdae Barron (Jim Thorpe, top defensive lineman) and Texas DL Colin Simmons (Shaun Alexander Award, Best Newcomer).

9

Notre Dame’s consecutive wins in neutral site games, best in the Football Bowl Subdivision.

13

Two-time AP First-Team All-America safety Xavier Watts has been catching for Notre Dame since 2023, most of them in the FBS.

26

Consecutive games in which Texas’ Quinn Ewers has thrown at least one touchdown pass, the longest streak in the FBS.

98

Tyler Warren’s receptions for Penn State, the most by a Power Four tight end.

102

Texas scrimmage plays that went for at least 20 yards. The Longhorns are the only team with more than 100 players.

173

Consecutive extra point kicks by Bert Auburn of Texas since 2021.

239

Ohio State has outscored its opponents by this margin in the second and third quarters (326-87), the largest margin in the FBS.

1,000×2

Penn State is the only FBS team with two running backs with at least 1,000 yards each. Kaytron Allen has 1,026 and Nicholas Singleton has 1,015.

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