CFP Page 4 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Ohio State favored to repeat as Big 10, SEC dominate odds
Fresh off the program's first national title since 2014, Ohio State has been installed as the favorite to repeat as the College Football Playoff champions next season.,The Buckeyes defeated Notre Dame 34-23 on Monday night and are already the +450 favorites at DraftKings to repeat the feat.,Texas, w...

Ohio State starts hot, holds off Notre Dame for national title
ATLANTA -- Quinshon Judkins had two rushing touchdowns and one receiving score and quarterback Will Howard had a near-perfect first half as No. 8 seed Ohio State held off No. 7 seed Notre Dame 34-23 in the College Football Playoff championship game on Monday.,The Buckeyes (14-2) led 31-7 in the thir...

CFP Title Game: Ohio State-Notre Dame Preview, Props & Prediction
The first 12-team College Football Playoff comes to a conclusion when Ohio State and Notre Dame meet on Monday night.,In the previous four-team format, neither the No. 7 seed Fighting Irish (14-1) nor the eighth-seeded Buckeyes (13-2) would have made the CFP. Now, two of the most storied programs in...

CFP format still could be subject to ‘tweaks’ in 2025
Could more changes be on the way to the College Football Playoff, which hasn't yet finished its first year with a 12-team field?,There were no major decisions made when the FBS conference commissioners and university presidents convened in Atlanta on Sunday, one day before the national championship ...

CFP notebook: Coaches count on veterans to lead Notre Dame, Ohio State
ATLANTA -- Notre Dame and Ohio State have first- and second-year players they hope will make impacts when the teams meet in the College Football Playoff Championship Game on Monday.,The No. 7 seeded Fighting Irish point to cornerback Leonard Moore, named last week the defensive freshman of the year ...

CFP director: More on-campus playoff games possible
Future editions of the College Football Playoff could feature more games hosted at campus sites, CFP executive director Rich Clark told reporters Saturday.,Clark said FBS commissioners will discuss the idea of potentially playing quarterfinal games at campus sites when the CFP Board of Managers gath...

CFP notebook: Will Howard, Riley Leonard go from campers to competitors
ATLANTA -- Sports make for strange bedfellows -- or in this case, roommates, as Ohio State quarterback Will Howard and his Notre Dame counterpart Riley Leonard discovered.,The pair roomed at the Manning Passing Academy in Thibodaux, La., last summer and will be leading their respective teams in the ...

Top defenses collide as Ohio State, Notre Dame battle for CFP title
ATLANTA -- It's nearly impossible to predict what will decide Monday night's College Football Playoff Championship between Notre Dame and Ohio State, but one individual matchup could carry plenty of weight.,That involves the No. 7 seed Fighting Irish (14-1) trying to shut down Ohio State star freshm...

CFP's 12-team format produces major ratings drop
Television ratings for the College Football Playoff semifinals were down about 17 percent in the first season of the expanded 12-team format.,Taking place later in January than under the previous four-team CFP, last weekend's games averaged 19.2 million viewers across ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU.,That mar...

Jack Sawyer turns dreams into reality, leads Ohio State to CFP final
ARLINGTON, Texas -- Jack Sawyer remembers wearing an Ohio State jersey, playing catch with his dad in the backyard of their Ohio home that sits not too far from campus. He dreamed of playing for the Buckeyes one day, making plays to help them win a championship.,That dream became a reality on Friday...

Ohio State set as 9 1/2-point favorite over Notre Dame in final
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 Fi...

Defensive TD seals Ohio State's semifinal win over Texas
ARLINGTON, Texas -- Jack Sawyer returned a fumble 83 yards for a scoop-and-score touchdown, ending a potential game-tying drive by Texas and sending Ohio State to a 28-14 victory in a College Football Playoff semifinal on Friday night.,No. 8 seed Ohio State (13-2) advances to face No. 7 seed Notre D...

Late field goal lifts Notre Dame past Penn State, into CFP final
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. -- Mitch Jeter's 41-yard field goal with seven seconds left lifted Notre Dame to a 27-24 comeback win over Penn State in the Orange Bowl -- one of the College Football Playoff semifinals -- on Thursday.,The seventh-seeded Fighting Irish (14-1) won their 13th game in a row and adv...

CFB schedule, chaos has coach pining for Commish Saban
MIAMI -- Penn State coach James Franklin knew he was in trouble when his phone rang. Only a few days passed between Franklin's unsolicited nomination of retired coach Nick Saban as the first ever commissioner of college football, a nomination Franklin was pretty sure the national title-collecting el...

CFP quarterfinals earn mixed TV ratings
The new-look College Football Playoff had an average of 16.9 million viewers tune into the quarterfinals on ESPN platforms, a 59 percent jump from the 10.6 million who watched the first-round games. ,In its first year with a 12-team field, the CFP has generated plenty of buzz. The most-watched quart...

CFP denies request to flip dates of semifinal games
The College Football Playoff semifinal games will be played as scheduled, despite a request for an alteration.,Southeastern Conference commissioner Greg Sankey said on "The Paul Finebaum Show" on Thursday that he wanted the CFP committee to flip the dates of the Orange Bowl and Cotton Bowl.,His requ...

Ohio State, Notre Dame open as favorites in CFP semifinals
If the semifinals unfold the way Las Vegas sees it happening, Ohio State and Notre Dame will play for the College Football Playoff national title.,No. 7 seed Notre Dame was installed as a 1.5-point favorite over No. 6 seed Penn State at various major sportsbooks on Thursday night, shortly after the ...

Notre Dame stymies Georgia at Sugar Bowl, moves on to CFP semis
NEW ORLEANS -- Jayden Harrison had a record kickoff return for a touchdown, Notre Dame's defense dominated and the No. 7 seed Fighting Irish defeated No. 2 seed Georgia 23-10 in the College Football Playoff quarterfinal game at the Allstate Sugar Bowl on Thursday.,The Irish's Riley Leonard passed fo...

Coaches pocket big bonuses with CFP semifinal runs
A berth in the College Football Playoff championship game will be on the line when Texas and Ohio State meet Jan. 10 in one national semifinal, but so will hundreds of thousands of dollars for their head coaches.,Both Steve Sarkisian of Texas and Ryan Day of Ohio State stand to cash in big bonuses w...

No. 2 Georgia, No. 7 Notre Dame meet in Sugar Bowl after tragedy
Georgia and Notre Dame will take the field Thursday afternoon at the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans amid heightened security and carrying the emotions of more than a berth in the College Football Playoff semifinals on the line.,The two teams are grappling with the aftermath of a suspected terrorist attac...