ATLANTA — (AP) — Ohio State and Notre Dame arrived in Atlanta on charter flights Friday as the teams moved closer to the College Football Playoff national championship game Monday night.
The Buckeyes are big favorites but the Fighting Irish might have an advantage. Coach Marcus Freeman's team has previously played in Atlanta — and in Mercedes-Benz Stadium — this season.
In a game that strengthened Notre Dame's playoff hopes, the Fighting Irish beat Georgia Tech 31-13 on Oct. 19 as quarterback Riley Leonard ran for two touchdowns.
Is the familiarity with the stadium an advantage for Notre Dame?
“We hope so,” Freeman said at the Atlanta airport. “Now we are on the other side of the field and in a different locker room, but we have played here. We know what it’s like. Each team will have two opportunities to go into the stadium and practice so by the time Monday gets here I think both teams will be comfortable with the environment.”
The Buckeyes opened as 9.5-point favorites, according to BetMGM Sportsbook.
Atlanta is the home of the College Football Hall of Fame and is the self-proclaimed “Capital of College Football.” The city hosts the Peach Bowl, Southeastern Conference championship game and such other high-profile games such as the Chick-fil-A Kickoff game.
Atlanta is a short drive from Athens and the University of Georgia, which won the 2021 and 2022 national championships. The South's claim to be the base of power in the game is up for debate as Ohio State could give the Big Ten its second consecutive national champion and Notre Dame also traveled from the Midwest.
Michigan beat Washington in last year's title game to give the Big Ten its first national championship in football since Ohio State's last title in 2014.
Notre Dame (14-1) and Ohio State (13-2) survived the first 12-game playoff to reach the championship game.
Ohio State coach Ryan Day said he believes his team prepared well for the long season.
“We talked about it all year,” Day said minutes after exiting the plane. "I think we are. Our energy actually picked up week in and week out. I feel the momentum. You know, when you have momentum, you've got to keep it. I feel like we’ve continued to get stronger as the season’s gone on.
“We’ve had a plan on how we are going to do that. And so now again, we have to be at our best. The whole plan has been to get to this point right now. And so we have got more days to get prepared to go do it. ”
Freeman said the playoff schedule included "a lot of meaningful games.”
“You don’t play in the national championship every week," Freeman said. "We know that. But we’ve played in a lot of meaningful games and we understand what the expectations are. Monday will be different. We know the excitement and the lights will be brighter.”
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