It was revealed on Selection Sunday that No. 7 Notre Dame (11-1) will host No. 10 Indiana (11-1) in the first round of this year’s expanded 12-team College Football Playoff. The game will take place Friday, Dec. 20 at 8 p.m. at Notre Dame Stadium and will air on ABC and ESPN. The winner will face No. 2 Georgia (11-2) in the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans on Jan. 1. Georgia won the SEC Championship on Saturday, defeating Texas 22-19 in overtime.
ESPN’s Joey Galloway said on the air on Sunday, “You want to talk about two different teams, Indiana and Notre Dame. “Notre Dame with their run game, Riley Leonard, also [Jeremiyah] Love, their running back, going against an Indiana team that is—when you look at them, they want to throw the ball. They want to go through the air, very good defense, but can it hold up against the run of Notre Dame.”
The 12-team playoff will conclude with the National Championship game on Jan. 20 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. The top four seeds, which all earned first-round byes, are Oregon (No. 1), Georgia (No. 2), Boise State (No. 3), and Arizona State (No. 4). Ranked No. 5 in the final rankings, the Irish, an independent, were awarded the No. 7 seed because Arizona State and Boise State earned byes by winning their conferences over the weekend.
Friday Night Lights at Notre Dame Stadium
The stage is set for Notre Dame’s highly anticipated in-state battle against the Hoosiers from Indiana. In Sunday’s Associated Press Top 25 Poll, Notre Dame rose to No. 3. Indiana is ranked No. 9 in the country.
Under first-year head coach Curt Cignetti, Indiana went 8-1 in Big Ten play. The team’s 11 overall wins this season mark the most wins in program history. Indiana is dominant on both sides of the ball. The Hoosiers lead the FBS in scoring margin by an average of 28.7 points per game. They also rank second nationally in total defense, allowing just 244.8 yards per game.
Marcus Freeman’s Fighting Irish squad closed out their regular season on Nov. 30 with a 49-35 victory over unranked USC. Following a surprising Week 2 loss to Northern Illinois, Notre Dame won out, winning 10 straight games.
The first-round playoff game will be the 30th meeting between the two teams. It will be the first since 1991, however, when Notre Dame won 49-27 at home. Notre Dame is 23-5-1 overall against Indiana. The Irish are 13-1-1 against the Hoosiers at home. Indiana’s last win over Notre Dame came in 1950 in Bloomington.
