Updated College Football Playoff bracket after Notre Dame breaks Penn State's heart

It looked like the Notre Dame Fighting Irish might be heading home from the College Football Playoff on Thursday night in the Orange Bowl. The Penn State Nittany Lions were able to jump out to a 10-0 first-half lead and seemed to have everything in check. Then, when Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard left the game with a potential concussion late in the second quarter, it seemed all hope might be lost.

Turns out, that was not the case.

Fighting Irish backup Steve Angeli came in and led a nice drive for a half-ending field goal to cut the deficit to one score. Leonard then returned for the second half after being cleared and put together a stellar performance over the final 30 minutes. Even after seeing Penn State tie it late and then not getting into field goal range late, the Irish didn't panic either. The defense quickly picked off Drew Allar to set up the thrilling game-winning field goal from Mitch Jeter.

Notre Dame is now heading to the National Championship Game, but let's take a look at the updated College Football Playoff bracket after the stellar Orange Bowl.

Updated CFP bracket after Notre Dame downs Penn State in thriller

Notre Dame is now sitting in the catbird seat with their spot in the natty secure and in a spot that seemed nearly impossible for the Irish to reach early in the regular season. Sure, they opened the year with a win over Texas A&M, but then followed that soon with a loss to Northern Illinois.

Let's now take a look at the remaining College Football Playoff schedule:

The only thing left to decide what the CFP National Championship Game will look like will be the Cotton Bowl between the Texas Longhorns and Ohio State Buckeyes. That should be a fascinating semifinal matchup on Friday given that Texas is among the most talented teams in the country but has not yet played four quarters up to its potential and they now face an Ohio State team that fit that exact same bill until the Playoff, when they've been an absolute juggernaut.

Notre Dame certainly may have been the beneficiaries of an advantageous path to this spot. While Georgia may look daunting on the bracket when written down, this wasn't the elite-level Dawgs teams we've seen in the past and they were playing with Gunner Stockton instead of Carson Beck. That came after blasting an Indiana team that had a phenomenal season but simply couldn't hang against the athletes on Marcus Freeman's team.

Now looking ahead to the National Championship Game, though, it could be fascinating for Freeman and Notre Dame. In all likelihood, they'll be underdogs in either matchup and both Texas and Ohio State have a deeper and more talented roster overall. That hasn't stopped the Irish at any point, though.

More than that, though, a matchup with the Buckeyes would be juicy. Notre Dame fans were ready to turn on Freeman just last season when the head coach left 10 players on the field on the biggest defensive play of the game in the final moments, allowing OSU to get the game-winning touchdown. Wouldn't it be poetic if the Irish were able to get revenge on Ohio State to get back to national championship glory?