Who Notre Dame will play after winning the Orange Bowl

Notre Dame football is one step closer to winning its first College Football Playoff national championship.

The seventh-seeded Irish secured first place in the CFP national title game by defeating the sixth-seeded Nittany Lions 27-24 in the CFP Orange Bowl semifinals at Hard Rock Stadium on Thursday.

Notre Dame will face the winner of Friday night’s Cotton Bowl semifinal No. 5 Texas and No. 8 Ohio State in the CFP championship game on Monday, Jan. 20 at 7:30 p.m. ET at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.

Required reading:Orange Bowl Final Score Highlights: Notre Dame beats Penn State to advance to CFP title game

The Irish punched their ticket to Atlanta with a 41-yard field goal from kicker Mitch Jeter in the twisting seconds of the fourth quarter. Jeter’s game-winning field goal was set up by a game-winning interception by Christian Gray of Penn State quarterback Drew Allar of Notre Dame.

Here’s everything you need to know about who Notre Dame will play in the CFP national championship and a look at the full CFP schedule:

Who will Notre Dame play in the CFP national championship?

With its victory in the Orange Bowl, Notre Dame now advances to the CFP National Championship on Monday, January 20th in Atlanta.

However, the Irish won’t know who they will face in the national championship game until late Friday night, as Texas and Ohio State still have to play in the semifinals of the CFP Cotton Bowl. The Longhorns and Buckeyes are scheduled to kick off at 7:30 p.m. ET on Friday at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

If Texas beats Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl, it would be the first meeting between Notre Dame and the Longhorns since 2016 – when Texas beat Notre Dame 50-47 at home at DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium. Both the Irish and Longhorns, who have met three times in the postseason, announced in November that they would play a home-and-home series in the 2028 and 2029 seasons.

However, if Ohio State beats Texas in the Cotton Bowl, it would be the first meeting between Notre Dame and the Buckeyes since last year’s top-10 showdown in South Bend. Ohio State, of course, emerged victorious with a touchdown drive late in the fourth quarter by former Buckeyes quarterback Kyle McCord. One of the bigger storylines for this potential matchup is that Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman is coaching against his alma mater again. Freeman was a two-time second-team All-Big Ten selection at Ohio State, where he finished his career with 268 tackles.

Buy CFP Championship Game tickets at SeatGeek

College football playoff schedule

Always east

CFP first round

Friday, December 20th

No. 7 Notre Dame 27, No. 10 Indiana 17

Saturday December 21st

No. 6 Penn State 38, No. 11 SMU 10
No. 5 Texas 38, No. 12 Clemson 24
No. 8 Ohio State 42, No. 9 Tennessee 17

CFP quarterfinals

Tuesday, December 31st

Fiesta Bowl: No. 6 Penn State 31, No. 3 Boise State 14

Wednesday, January 1st

Peach peel: No. 5 Texas 39, No. 4 Arizona State 31 (2OT)
Rose bowl: No. 8 Ohio State 41, No. 1 Oregon 21

Thursday, January 2nd

Sugar bowl: No. 7 Notre Dame 23, No. 2 Georgia 10

CFP semifinals

Thursday, January 9th

Orange peel: No. 7 Notre Dame 27, No. 6 Penn State 24

Friday, January 10th

Cotton cup: No. 5 Texas vs. No. 8 Ohio State | 7:30 p.m. | ESPN (Fubo, free trial)

CFP Championship

Monday, January 20th

CFP Championship Game: No. 7 Notre Dame vs. Cotton Bowl winners | 7:30 p.m. | ESPN (Fubo, free trial)

Updated 12-team CFP bracket

With Thursday’s loss, Penn State became the last team eliminated from the CFP round. Here’s a look at what the CFP round looks like after Notre Dame’s win:

Breaking News

Dellupodisabato

Who Notre Dame will play after winning the Orange Bowl

Leave a Reply Cancel reply