ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit with hi dog Peter during the fourth quarter of the Orange Bowl on Jan. 9, 2025. Joe Hermitt | [email protected] Joe Hermitt | [email protected]

The first 12-team College Football Playoff is back to a familiar spot with four teams remaining in the hunt for a national championship. Only this time, obviously, they had to play to get here. With four teams left,

As Notre Dame and Penn State look to claim their first national championship since the Reagan administration—the Irish last won the title just 18 days before the Gipper left the White House in 1989, while the Nittany Lions claimed their second natty two years earlier—ESPN will be blessed with what amounts to an open field.