After a pair of thrilling semifinal games in the College Football Playoff, oddsmakers established Ohio State as a 9 1/2-point favorite to defeat Notre Dame in the title game on Jan. 20 in Atlanta.
The Buckeyes (13-2), seeded eighth in the inaugural 12-team CFP format, will face the seventh-seeded Fighting Irish (14-1).
Three leading sportsbooks — FanDuel, DraftKings and BetRivers — were unanimous in listing Ohio State as the clear favorite over Notre Dame.
The books differed on the total, however. BetRivers set the over/under at 45 1/2, while the other two listed it at 46 1/2.
Ohio State, which defeated Texas 28-14 on Friday in the Cotton Bowl for its third CFP win of the new format to advance to the championship game, scored two touchdowns in the final seven minutes.
The last score came with Texas threatening to score a tying touchdown in the closing minutes of the fourth quarter, but Buckeyes defensive lineman Jack Sawyer forced a fumble from quarterback Quinn Ewers, made the recovery, then rumbled 83 yards for the clinching score.
Notre Dame punched its ticket to the title game on Thursday with an equally dramatic 27-24 victory over Penn State in the Orange Bowl. Mitch Jeter’s 41-yard field goal with seven seconds left provided the winning points. The Fighting Irish also had to win three playoff games to get to the title game.
–Field Level Media
