The first champion of the 12-team College Football Playoff era will be crowned Monday night as Ohio State and Notre Dame face off at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. It is a rematch of a 2023 regular-season thriller,

The winner claims the national championship in the first year of the expanded 12-team College Football Playoff and longest college football season ever. Ohio State is trying for its sixth title, and first since its 2014 team won the inaugural CFP. Notre Dame is going for its 12th title, and first since 1988.

Ohio State has rolled through the CFP. The Buckeyes have been favored in all three games — vs. Tennessee, Oregon and Texas — and covered comfortably in all three. It got a little iffy late in the CFP semifinal against the Longhorns. But the Buckeyes have mostly cruised.