The earliest line for the Notre Dame vs Ohio State national title game has the Buckeyes as a 9.5 favorite over the Irish. And for good reason. The Buckeyes have been the most dominant team in the CFP field thus far with playoff victories of 42-17 over Tennessee,

Notre Dame's Anthonie Knapp has been ruled out of the College Football Playoff championship game against Ohio State with an ankle injury, but coach Marcus Freeman said Sunday Rocco Spindler is on track to play.

Notre Dame (14-1) and Ohio State (13-2) will meet on Jan. 20 in Atlanta to claim the first championship of the 12-team CFP.

Ohio State has a loaded roaster full of top-end talent. Despite some offensive line concerns, the Buckeyes are a much healthier team entering this contest than the Irish are. It makes perfect sense that they are a decent favorite.

At BetMGM, the Buckeyes opened up as 9.5-point favorites to defeat Notre Dame in Atlanta on January 20th, marking just the second time all season the Irish have opened as underdogs. The only other instance was a Week 1 matchup at Texas A&M (-3) in the season opener for both schools. The Irish won outright, 23-13.

First, the Texans’ defense carried the team to a 32-12 upset win over the Chargers as Justin Herbert stumbled through possibly the worst game of his career. L.A.’s quarterback threw four interceptions, one more than he had over the entire regular season. 🤯

SportsLine's model simulated Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs. Ohio State Buckeyes in the 2025 CFP National Championship game 10,000 times

Ohio State is favored by 9 1/2 points over Notre Dame in the College Football Championship national title game.

Here's a look at the early betting odds for the College Football Playoff championship between Ohio State and Notre Dame on Jan. 20:

Marcus Freeman has shown us his game plan, and our early college football expert predictions are leaning toward a closer final score than the oddsmakers predict.