NCAA
After the Buffalo Bulls’ victory over the Liberty Flames in the Bahamas Bowl at the weekend, the college football bowl season is now in the midst of a brief hiatus.
For the second straight day, there will be no NCAA football today, Monday, January 6. However, the bowl-season action will resume later this week, when the College Football Playoff semi-finals get underway.
In the final non-CFP bowl game of the 2024-25 season, the Bulls beat the Flames 26-7 in Nassau, kicker Upton Bellenfan scoring four field goals as Buffalo became the first team to win the Bahamas Bowl for a second time.
Bowl season continues on Thursday, January 9, when the Penn State Nittany Lions face the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the Orange Bowl. The 91st edition of the Miami event, the Orange Bowl doubles up as the first semi-final of the 2024-25 College Football Playoff tournament, which this year is being played in a new, 12-team format.
The Nittany Lions and the Fighting Irish will both be making their sixth appearance in the Orange Bowl, as they each bid to book their ticket to the National Championship Game later this month. Penn State are four-time Orange Bowl winners, most recently in 2006; Notre Dame have won the game twice in their history, in 1975 and 1990.
The 13-2 Nittany Lions have made it to the CFP semi-finals by beating the SMU Mustangs in the first round of the playoffs, before a quarter-final triumph over the Boise State Broncos. The 13-1 Fighting Irish, meanwhile, have seen off the Indiana Hoosiers and the Georgia Bulldogs.
Coming 🔜 to a TV near you 📺#WeAre x #CFBPlayoff pic.twitter.com/Ncck2o0k9W
This year’s Orange Bowl will be the 20th all-time meeting between Penn State and Notre Dame, and the teams’ second ever bowl clash. So far, the head-to-head series is tied at 9-9-1. The colleges’ one previous bowl meeting came in the 1976 Gator Bowl, which the Fighting Irish won 20-9. Penn State and Notre Dame last faced off in 2007, with the Nittany Lions earning a 31-10 triumph.
Held at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, Florida, Thursday’s Orange Bowl is scheduled to kick off at 7:30 p.m. ET/4:30 p.m. PT. If you’re in the US, you can watch the CFP semi-final on ESPN, and can stream ESPN’s coverage on the online platform fubo, which offers a free trial.
Due to take place on Monday, January 20, the National Championship Game will see the winners of Penn State vs Notre Dame take on either the Ohio State Buckeyes or the Texas Longhorns. The title decider will be played at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia.
Thursday, January 9:
Orange Bowl, CFP semi-finals: Penn State vs Notre Dame
Friday, January 10:
Cotton Bowl, CFP semi-finals: Texas vs Ohio State
Monday, January 20:
National Championship Game: Penn State/Notre Dame vs Texas/Ohio State
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NCAA
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About the author
William Allen
British journalist and translator who joined Diario AS in 2013. Focuses on soccer – chiefly the Premier League, LaLiga, the Champions League, the Liga MX and MLS. On occasion, also covers American sports, general news and entertainment. Fascinated by the language of sport – particularly the under-appreciated art of translating cliché-speak.
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