College Football Playoff national championship game is tonight: How to watch

The champion of college football will soon be decided.

The College Football Playoff national championship game between the Ohio State Buckeyes and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish will be played on Monday, January 20 at 7:30 PM ET at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.

The game marks the end of the first College Football Playoff tournament to use the new 12-team playoff format installed for the 2024 season.

It’s been more than three decades since Notre Dame captured the national championship, beating West Virginia in 1989. It last competed for a title in 2013, losing to the Alabama Crimson Tide.

Ohio State last won the national championship in 2015, dominating Oregon 42-20.

Ohio State is undefeated against Notre Dame in their six matches of all time. The Buckeyes’ last win against Notre Dame was on September 23, 2023.

Continue reading to learn more about the CFP National Championship Game.

Which teams are playing in the College Football Playoff national championship game?

Ohio State Buckeyes no. 8 is up against no. 7 Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the College Football Playoff national championship game.

Ohio State, which boasted the nation’s top-ranked defense and allowed the fewest yards per game. matchup among the FBS teams, led by head coach Ryan Day. In his sixth year as the Buckeyes’ head coach, Day suffered his program’s fourth straight loss to archrival Michigan, falling 13-10. The Buckeyes, who are 13-2, bounced back from the Michigan loss and outscored their playoff opponents 111-52 en route to the national championship game.

The Fighting Irish are 14-1 on the season, with their only loss coming in early September to the Northern Illinois Huskies.

Marcus Freeman leads the Fighting Irish in his third year as head coach of the program. A former Ohio State linebacker, Freeman began his coaching career with the Buckeyes as a graduate assistant.

Freeman stays the first black and first Asian American coach to compete in the national championship game.

Notre Dame under Freeman is 0-2 against Day’s Buckeyes.

When is the College Football Playoff National Championship?

The College Football Playoff national championship game is Monday, January 20 at 7:30 p.m. ET. The game will be played at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.

How to watch the College Football Playoff national championship game

The College Football Playoff national championship telecast begins at 7:30 PM ET on ESPN. The game is also available to stream on any service that carries ESPN and on the ESPN app.

Chris Fowler is the play-by-play announcer for the game, on the sideline color analyst Kirk Herbstreit, a former Ohio State football player. They are joined by sideline reporters Holly Rowe and Molly McGrath.

How did Notre Dame and Ohio State get to the College Football Playoff national championship game?

Unable to receive first-round byes due to the new 12-team playoff format installed in the College Football Playoff this season, Ohio State and Notre Dame were seeded in the first round by the CFP at No. 8 and no. 7 seed, respectively.

Ohio State cruised to the national championship game. They blew out Tennessee 42-17 in the first round, followed by a takedown of conference rival and Big Ten champion Oregon 41-21 in the Rose Bowl. They most recently upset Texas 28-14 in the Cotton Bowl Classic on January 10th.

Notre Dame handled in-state rival Indiana 27-17 in the first round of the playoffs. In a Sugar Bowl that had been delayed by the deadly truck attack in New Orleans on New Year’s Day, Notre Dame knocked off SEC champion Georgia on Jan. 2.

Their semifinal matchup against Penn State ended in a close 27–24 victory for the Fighting Irish in the Orange Bowl on January 9.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com