CFP NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP: Staff picks for Notre Dame VS Ohio State

The last one

It’s finally January 20th, and the National Championship game is here. The Notre Dame Fighting Irish will face the Ohio State Buckeyes for the title in the first year of the expanded 12 team playoff. It’s been an incredible season, and no matter what happens on Monday night (almost) this will be a team that will go down in Irish history as one of the best in Irish history.

(The podcast above has the game picks for this week, and our full preview for the upcoming game).

For reasons beyond my understanding, God has decided to curse my body and I was ridiculously sick for about a week. This meant that my normally loud and proud hoarse voice was barely a whisper most of the week, and even during the best of times, it was Vito Corleone on his deathbed. This meant that my usual in-depth prediction on the podcast (which is generally the one spot I put my predictions) was missing this week. So… I’ll be brief:

This doesn’t have to be close.

Notre Dame has forced more turnovers than any team in the country, and after 15 games, that isn’t a luck thing — it’s a skill thing. Notre Dame is +2 on the turnover margin, and flips this game during the middle eight like they are known to do. Riley Leonard plays well, and keeps the Irish on schedule throughout the night. While the Irish won’t keep Jeremiah Smith completely in check, they do enough to keep from getting gutted. I think it will be 24-20 Notre Dame late in the fourth quarter, and then the Irish take one of those turnovers and turns it into points to make the final — Notre Dame 31, Ohio State 20 for an emphatic national championship.