CFP Championship Game: #8 Ohio State vs #7 Notre Dame -- 1/20/2025 (Atlanta) -- 7:30 PM [ESPN]

Have to believe Ohio State's pass offense and trench superiority will wear ND down eventually.

 

As much as I hate to say it, I think Ohio wins this one going away. Hope I'm wrong though.

 

Can both lose?

 

Eventually? I’d say middle of the second quarter will do it.

 

Admittedly have no dog in the fight, and really no personal interest, but it seems like there is zero juice for this game. Been too long since the semi’s are NFL is at the forefront. There are going to need to tweak the playoff schedule at some point.

 

It seems to me that the bye week was a curse rather than a blessing. Teams with the buy week appeared as if they lost their edge. That doesn’t seem to be the case with the NFL. I wonder what NFL coaches do differently, if anything?

One playoff season isn’t enough to say with certainty that a bye is detrimental though. It may be just a coincidence.

 

Frankly I’d sort of forgotten it was still going on and didn’t know when the game was. It feels so far removed from football season and it’s two teams I have zero interest in, I wouldn’t be happy no matter which one won.

 

Agree. Ticket prices for the game itself are astronomical so the two fan bases are engaged. But I think you've hit on a big point that the playoff drags on a long time now (it's been a month), games are on different days each round, and now its crowded out by the NFL playoffs. I don't know the solution is.

Btw, the TV ratings confirm this a little bit. I agree with the article below that the comparison to last year isn't 100% fair, but the semifinal games didn't draw the TV audiences the CFP hoped for, especially with Texas/Ohio State which is a monster matchup in terms of big programs with large followings. We'll see what tomorrow night's game gets for ratings.

CFP Semifinals Ratings Drop 17% in 12-Team Format’s First Year

 

Seems possible. Vs Penn State when ND's DL was being pushed around their DL size was mentioned. That was the first half. ND's DL was much better second half, not sure why. It does seem like Ohio State's big lines will dominate all game.