Underdog Mentality: Notre Dame will be against the odds in National Championship Game

Notre Dame has defied the odds at several different points of the 2024 season, and if the Irish want to capture their first national title in over 35 years, they're going to have to do it one more time.

Of course, their final hurdle might be their toughest: a date with the Ohio State Buckeyes in the College Football Playoff national championship game on Monday, Jan. 20. As if a matchup with the red-hot Buckeyes — who turned away Texas in the Cotton Bowl in dramatic fashion on Friday night after blasting Tennessee and Oregon in the first two rounds — wasn't daunting enough, Notre Dame will also have to do it short-handed.

Left tackle Anthonie Knapp and right guard Rocco Spindler both went down in the semifinal win over Penn State, forcing tackle Charles Jagusah — whose pectoral injury in fall camp thrust Knapp into the starting lineup in the first place — to make an emergency return at guard. Star defensive lineman Rylie Mills and cornerback Benjamin Morrison are already out for the year, and defensive tackle Howard Cross, QB Riley Leonard and running back Jeremiyah Love are all playing hurt right now.

That's quite the MASH unit, and while Notre Dame has been able to survive three playoff games anyway, this Ohio State team looks like another matter entirely. So it shouldn't come as a surprise that oddsmakers aren't wild about Marcus Freeman's team keeping things competitive in Atlanta.

Notre Dame opens as heavy underdogs to Ohio State in CFP national title game

According to the latest odds from Fanduel, Ohio State is currently a 9.5-point favorite over Notre Dame with more than a week to go until the national title game. The Buckeyes are -400 on the moneyline, and the over/under is set at 45.5.

Again, this shouldn't be much of a surprise. It seemed like Notre Dame was at risk of being run out of the Orange Bowl against Penn State in the first half, before 17 unanswered points around the end of the first and the start of the second half flipped the script. The Irish have shown impressive toughness and resilience during this run, staying just as physical and ferocious as ever no matter which players are forced to miss time. They roll deep in the trenches on both sides of the ball, and you know OC Mike Denbrock and DC Al Golden will have them coached up.

Still, Ohio State is playing as well as anyone in the country right now, the sort of test that Notre Dame hasn't had to solve on this playoff run. Indiana was outclassed physically, while a Georgia team playing its backup quarterback and a Penn State team that didn't complete a single pass to a wide receiver all night were ripe for exactly the sort of slugfest in which the Irish thrive. Will Howard, Jeremiah Smith and Co. are another matter entirely, and that's not to mention an Ohio State defense that is as good if not better than what Notre Dame has seen to date.

Of course, the Irish have been counted out before, and they just keep winning anyway. And the Buckeyes have shown a tendency to let other teams drag them into the muck, especially teams that can match them up front — just ask Michigan. We'll find out in 10 days whether Vegas knows something we don't.