By The Numbers: Notre Dame

ATLANTA – The number one is the most important game when it comes to the upcoming game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium with Notre Dame, as in there is one game left. There are no second chances, there are no polls to go to, just one game, four quarters, 60 minutes of football and one lifetime to remember the outcome of the game.

The Buckeyes have run into two major hurdles along the way, a loss at Oregon and a home loss to Michigan. But sometime adversity tests what you are made of and the Buckeyes faced plenty of adversity.

None of that matters now. This could be one of the greatest wins in Ohio State program history, capping off an improbable season coming out of the ashes of what felt like the latest disappointment. Or it could fall the other way.

We don’t want to talk about the other way, however.

For a final time of the season (okay, we will probably do one after the game) let’s head to the numbers and look at a few key numbers that have everything (or nothing) with the upcoming game.

.600 – This is the winning percentage of both Ohio State and Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff up until this point. Someone is going to add to that number, and someone will fall, obviously. Ohio State has done that with a 6-4 record, including a win in the 2014 Championship Game. Notre Dame has had fewer appearances, but is sitting at 3-2 overall, all three wins taking place this season.

.700 – For all the talk about college football belonging to the SEC, the Big Ten is at a .700 mark in the past two CFP runs. That includes going 5-3 thus far in the 2024-25 playoffs and a 2-0 record in the previous season, the last year of the four-team playoff. With the Big Ten being one win away from its second consecutive CFP National Championship, when does the narrative really shift to northern football and the Big Ten? No time soon if you are listening to Paul Finebaum and others who even with the shortcomings of the SEC as of late, are not ready to secede control of college football to the northern aggressors.

2 – There are two years between Ohio State and Notre Dame where each team “may” claim a national championship. The old bowl system and championship system was flawed and confusing. With so many different groups that awarded national championships beyond the AP, FWAA and UPI (among others), who really was the champion that season and who wasn’t. That is now why we have “claimed” championships and ones that are not claimed. So, if they are not claimed, why do we even talk about them? 1970 is a year where Ohio State claims a championship while Notre Dame has an unclaimed championship. Ohio State would lose to Stanford in the Rose Bowl and Nebraska would get the AP title while Ohio State and Texas would share the NFF honors. Notre Dame defeated Texas in the Cotton Bowl but a loss to USC in the season finale would be Notre Dame’s lone loss. Fast Forward to 1973 Notre Dame would go unbeaten and defeat Alabama 24-23 in the Sugar Bowl to get the AP title. Ohio State would go 10-0-1, the tie coming to Michigan, resulting in a conference AD vote to send Ohio State to the Rose Bowl. Ohio State would be named champions by the National Championship Foundation, Poling System, David Rothman (statistician) and the Sagarin Ratings, but Ohio State does not claim this title, nor can you see it on the facing of C deck in the north end of Ohio Stadium.

3 – There are three conferences that have never appeared in the College Football Playoff. Those are Conference USA, MAC and Sun Belt. With the expansion to 12 teams as of this year, the chances of smaller “group of five” leagues getting into the field are improved, but will we see a point where some of these other leagues get in? What will be the status of the Pac-Two and the Mountain West? If they remain a G5 league, the majority of the bids could come out of that group or the American Athletic Conference.

8.25 – Can’t do this piece without having some sort of series type of number. Ohio State is outscoring Notre Dame by 8.25 points per game over the course of this series. That is an eight-game series to this point, with Ohio State holding a 6-2 edge, winning the last six games. Ohio State holds a 15 PPG scoring edge in postseason games against Notre Dame, but that is a much smaller set of numbers, just two games with Ohio State winnings games in the Fiesta Bowl against the Irish.

9 – Ohio State has played nine (of 15) games against top 30 scoring defenses national this season. That would be eight teams (playing Oregon twice). The Buckeyes have scored an average of 29.6 points per game against these eight opponents this season (again, in nine games). That is about six points lower than Ohio State’s scoring average overall this season, but it does show that Ohio State is equal opportunity when it comes to putting points up on the board and why Notre Dame’s No. 2 scoring defense is something to note but not fear.

+800 – The Buckeyes were plus-800 to win the national championship at the start of the year according to at least one book. For those who are not gamblers, that means a 100-dollar bet on Ohio State would have paid you 800 dollars in profit (meaning you would receive your original 100 dollars back as well as 800 dollars in profit). The number was greater for Notre Dame, which was +2500 to win the national championship. Currently the only odds that are available are just game lines with the two teams remaining. As of Thursday afternoon, Ohio State is anywhere from minus-350 to minus-455 to win (meaning a bet of 350 to 455 dollars would net a 100-dollar profit) while Notre Dame is between plus-280 to plus-325. If you are interested in tracking your bets, shopping lines, signing up for books, or even looking to buy and sell bets, check out our partners at WagerWire and download their app either on the Apple or GooglePlay stores.

1966 – This is the year of the last Big Ten national championship by a team not named Ohio State or Michigan. Yes, other teams who are currently in the Big Ten have won national championships, but not while in the conference, so USC, Nebraska and Penn State need not apply for this stat, at least currently. Strangely enough, that 1966 Michigan State team split the national championship with Notre Dame. The two teams played and tied 10-10 in a game dubbed “The Tie”. Neither team would go to the postseason and the powers that be were split on who to award the title to.

3,893 – This is the number of miles that the Buckeyes traveled this postseason, and that number only totals from the facility to each of the bowl venues, with the first-round game not appearing since it was a home game. The longest trip was to the Rose Bowl, which accounts for 2,236 miles (and change) while the trip to Atlanta comes in under 575 miles. Notre Dame comes in at 2,960 miles with trips to New Orleans, Miami and now Atlanta.

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