Intrastate Notre Dame-Indiana game to launch expanded College Football Playoff bracket

MIAMI, Dec. 9 (UPI) -- Notre Dame will host Indiana in the first game of the expanded College Football Playoff, with the intrastate game Dec. 20 at Notre Dame Stadium. The three other first-round games will be held Dec. 21.

The seventh-seeded Fighting Irish (11-1) will host the No. 10 Hoosiers (11-1) at 8 p.m. EST in Notre Dame, Ind. The first-round game will air on ABC and ESPN, with the winner facing the No. 2 Georgia Bulldogs (11-2) in a College Football Playoff quarterfinal -- the Jan. 1 Sugar Bowl in New Orleans.

"Our guys will be ready to go," Fighting Irish coach Marcus Freeman told reporters Sunday. "The stats show that this offense has done a really good job with the passing game and passing attack.

"It will be a great opportunity for us to come up with a good plan and go compete."

A mixture of potent offense and stingy defense led the Irish and Hoosiers to this meeting. Both schools ranked inside the Top 3 in the nation in points per game, with Indiana's 43.3 and Notre Dame's 39.8 trailing only Miami's 44.2.

But they leaned on different strengths to produce those results.

Running back Jeremiyah Love and quarterback Riley Leonard helped the Irish produce No. 10 rushing attack and No. 2 scoring offense in the nation. They will face a Hoosiers defense that ranked No. 1 against the run and allowed the second-fewest overall yards (244.8) per game.

The Hoosiers, who led the nation in pass efficiency and had the No. 2 scoring offense behind quarterback Kurtis Rourke, will face their toughest test yet against an Irish unit that ranked first in pass efficiency defense and allowed the third-fewest passing yards (157.9) per game.

The Irish opened as 7.5-point favorites.

"It's a place I haven't played before, so I'm just kinda looking forward to the opportunity," Rourke told reporters. "I was really excited to play whoever we were going to, but just know Notre Dame is a historic place.

"They are a historic team and have had great teams in the past and are a good team this. Just knowing that, but also know we are a good team, as well."

The No. 6 Penn State Nittany Lions (11-2) will host the No. 11 SMU Mustangs (11-2) in the first game Dec. 21. That first-round meeting will kick off at noon and air on TNT and MAX.

The winner of the Penn State-SMU contest will face the No. 3 Boise State Broncos (12-1) in the quarterfinals at the Dec. 31 Fiesta Bowl. The Nittany Lions are nine-point favorites to advance.

The No. 5 Texas Longhorns (11-2) will host the No. 12 Clemson Tigers (10-3) in the third first-round matchup. That game will air at 4 p.m. Saturday on TNT and MAX.

The winner will meet the No. 4 Arizona State Sun Devils (11-2) in the quarterfinals at the Jan. 1 Peach Bowl. The Longhorns are favored to beat the Tigers by 11 points.

The No. 8 Ohio State Buckeyes (10-2) will host the No. 9 Tennessee Volunteers (10-2) in the final first-round game at 8 p.m. Dec. 21 in Columbus that will air on ABC and ESPN. The winner will play the No. 1 Oregon Ducks (13-0) in the Jan. 1 Rose Bowl. The Buckeyes are 7.5-point favorites over the Volunteers.

The two College Football Playoff semifinals will be held Jan. 9 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla., and Jan. 10 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington Texas. The national title game will be Jan. 20 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.

The Ducks are favored to win the title. The Bulldogs, Longhorns, Buckeyes and Nittany Lions are the other Top-5 favorites to win the first edition of the expanded, 12-team playoff. The Broncos and Hoosiers own the longest odds of winning it all.

The Top 4 seeds in the College Football Playoff all received byes, while the next four highest-seeded teams will host first-round games. All of those teams are favored to advance.

In addition to the 11-game College Football Playoff, 36 other games will be held, starting Saturday, as part of bowl season.

The Jackson State Tigers (11-2) will face the South Carolina State Bulldogs (9-2) in the first game of that gauntlet -- the Dec. 14 Celebration Bowl. The Tigers and Bulldogs will collide at noon at Mercedes-Benz Stadium and air on ABC.

See below for a full list of the 47-game bowl season schedule.

Dec. 28 is the busiest day of the slate, with eight games planned -- starting with an 11 a.m. matchup between UConn (8-4) and North Carolina (6-6) in the Fenway Bowl inside the Boston Red Sox's Fenway Park.

The Miami Hurricanes (10-2), who were the No. 13 team in the College Football Playoff rankings but were bracket snubs, earned a trip to the Dec. 28 Pop-Tarts Bowl, where they will take on the No. 18 Iowa State Cyclones (10-3).

The Alabama Crimson Tide (9-3), who ranked No. 11 but also missed the playoff, will face the Michigan Wolverines (7-5) in the Dec. 31 ReliaQuest Bowl.

The No. 15 South Carolina Gamecocks (9-3) will battle the No. 20 Illinois Fighting Illini (9-3) in the Dec. 31 Cheez-It Citrus Bowl. The No. 14 Ole Miss Rebels (9-3), another playoff snub, will meet the Duke Blue Devils (9-3) in the Jan. 2 Gator Bowl.

Bowl season schedule

All times EST

Saturday

Celebration Bowl

South Carolina State vs. Jackson State at noon on ABC

Salute to Veterans Bowl

South Alabama vs. Western Michigan at 9 p.m. on ESPN

Dec. 17

Frisco Bowl

Memphis vs. West Virginia at 9 p.m. on ESPN

Dec. 18

Boca Raton Bowl

James Madison vs. Western Kentucky at 5:30 p.m. on ESPN

LA Bowl

UNLV vs. California at 9 p.m. on ESPN

Dec. 19

New Orleans Bowl

Sam Houston vs. Georgia Southern at 7 p.m. on ESPN2

Dec. 20

Cure Bowl

Ohio vs. Jacksonville State at noon on ESPN

Gasparilla Bowl

Florida vs. Tulane at 3:30 p.m. on ESPN

CFP first-round

Indiana at Notre Dame at 8 p.m. on ABC/ESPN

Dec. 21

CFP first-round

SMU at Penn State at noon on TNT/MAX

Clemson at Texas at 4 p.m. on TNT/MAX

Tennessee at Ohio State at 8 p.m. on ABC/ESPN

Dec. 23

Myrtle Beach Bowl

Coastal Carolina vs. UTSA at 11 a.m. on ESPN

Famous Idaho Potato Bowl

Northern Illinois vs. Fresno State at 2:30 p.m. on ESPN

Dec. 24

Hawai'i Bowl

South Florida vs. San Jose State at 8 p.m. on ESPN

Dec. 26

GameAbove Sports Bowl

Pittsburgh vs. Toledo at 2 p.m. on ESPN

Rate Bowl

Rutgers vs. Kansas State at 5:30 pm. on ESPN

68 Ventures Bowl

Arkansas State vs. Bowling Green at 9 p.m. on ESPN

Dec. 27

Armed Forces Bowl

Navy vs. Oklahoma at noon on ESPN

Birmingham Bowl

Georgia Tech vs. Vanderbilt at 3:30 p.m. on ESPN

Liberty Bowl

Arkansas vs. Texas Tech at 7 p.m. on ESPN

Holiday Bowl

Syracuse vs. Washington State at 8 p.m. on Fox

Las Vegas Bowl

USC vs. Texas A&M at 10:30 p.m. on ESPN

Dec. 28

Fenway Bowl

UConn vs. North Carolina at 11 a.m. on ESPN

Pinstripe Bowl

Boston College vs. Nebraska at noon on ABC

New Mexico Bowl

TCU vs. Louisiana at 2:15 p.m. on ESPN

Pop-Tarts Bowl

Miami vs. Iowa State at 3:30 p.m. on ABC

Arizona Bowl

Colorado State vs. Miami University at 4:30 p.m. on CW Network

Military Bowl

NC State vs. East Carolina at 5:45 p.m. on ESPN

Alamo Bowl

BYU vs. Colorado at 7:30 p.m. on ABC

Independence Bowl

Army vs. Marshall at 9:15 p.m. on ESPN

Dec. 30

Music City Bowl

Missouri vs. Iowa at 2:30 p.m. on ESPN

Dec. 31

ReliaQuest Bowl

Alabama vs. Michigan at noon on ESPN

Sun Bowl

Louisville vs. Washington at 2 p.m. on CBS

Cheez-It Citrus Bowl

South Carolina vs. Illinois at 3 p.m. on ABC

Texas Bowl

LSU vs. Baylor at 3:30 p.m. on ESPN

Fiesta Bowl - CFP quarterfinal

Boise State vs. TBD at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN

Jan. 1

Peach Bowl - CFP quarterfinal

Arizona State vs. TBD at 1 p.m. on ESPN

Rose Bowl - CFP quarterfinal

Oregon vs. TBD at 5 p.m. on ESPN

Sugar Bowl - CFP quarterfinal

Georgia vs. TBD at 8:45 p.m. on ESPN

Jan. 2

Gator Bowl

Ole Miss vs. Duke at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN

Jan. 3

First Responder Bowl

North Texas vs. Texas State at 4 p.m. on ESPN

Duke's Mayo Bowl

Minnesota vs. Virginia Tech at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN

Jan. 4

Bahamas Bowl

Liberty vs. Buffalo at 11 a.m. on ESPN2

Jan. 9

Orange Bowl - CFP semifinal

TBD vs. TBD at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN

Jan. 10

Cotton Bowl - CFP semifinal

TBD vs. TBD at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN

Jan. 20

CFP National Championship Game

TBD vs. TBD at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN