Latest score from 7.30pm ET kick-off in AtlantaEmail [email protected] with your thoughtsHello and welcome to our live coverage of the inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff, national championship game: Notre Dame v Ohio State. Did I say that right? The branding is a bit complicated but that hasn’t stopped millions upon millions of football devouring Americans from watching these games in droves. This tournament, featuring some of the biggest collegiate programs in the nation, has been a complete commercial success, with those invested reaping the ratings and the rewards. It also must be the longest college football season ever, with both of these teams about to suit up for their 16th game, as the final continues to move farther and farther away from college football’s traditional New Year’s day sweetspot.But never mind all that, we’ve got a ball game to play and for Notre Dame, it just doesn’t get any bigger. One of the most revered and historic football programs in the United States, the Fighting Irish were the very first program to get an “America’s Team” moniker, annoying just about everyone except Notre Dame fans. Even with all the glamor attached to the program, they haven’t won a national title since 1988, and that they’re in the final is something of a surprise, especially when you consider that they lost to Northern Illinois earlier in the season. Once upon a time, losing to a 28 point underdog, one who Notre Dame paid $1.4m just to come and play at South Bend, would have been a death sentence to national title aspirations. With 12 teams, rather than four now being invited to the playoffs, there’s now room for error. So the ensuing 13-game winning streak that these Irish ripped off earned them an invite, and then their stunning defeat of Penn State in the semifinals got them a spot in Atlanta for a shot at all the marbles. Continue reading...