Closing the college football season, Ohio State and Notre Dame will play for a national title in the College Football Playoff championship game Monday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. It will close a largely successful first year with a 12-team playoff format.
The two teams don’t have a lot of history facing off, but this certainly isn’t the first time they’ve played each other. Going into the game, the Buckeyes are 8.5-point favorites over the Fighting Irish, according to BetMGM.
So ahead of the College Football Playoff national championship game, here are a few things to know about Ohio State and Notre Dame’s football history together.
1. Ohio State vs. Notre Dame football all-time record
Monday’s national championship game will be the ninth overall meeting between the Buckeyes and Fighting Irish, with the first game being nearly a century ago. Ohio State leads the series, 6-2, with the first matchup being in 1935 and the most recent in 2023 prior to the CFP title game.
2. Last time Notre Dame beat Ohio State in football
The series has been a little rough for the Fighting Irish in relatively recent years. Notre Dame’s two wins in the series against Ohio State were in back-to-back seasons, but those seasons were also in the 1930s.
Notre Dame’s last win over Ohio State was a 7-2 victory on October 31, 1936. In 1935, the Fighting Irish also beat the Buckeyes, 18-13, but beyond that, Ohio State owns the recent series history.
3. Last time Ohio State beat Notre Dame in football
While the Fighting Irish won consecutive matchups against the Buckeyes in the 1930s, Ohio State controls recent series history. Since 1995, the two teams have played six games, and the Buckeyes won all of them, most recently a 17-14 victory on September 23, 2023.
4. Was the last Ohio State-Notre Dame game normal? Nope.
Ohio State’s most recent win over Notre Dame during the 2023 season ending in unusually embarrassing fashion for the Fighting Irish.
With seconds left on the clock, Notre Dame had a 14-10 lead over the Buckeyes, but then the Fighting Irish lined up with just 10 players on the field for the last two plays. Instead of a goal-line stand to win, Ohio State punched in a go-ahead touchdown in the last three seconds to win.
Notre Dame had only 10 men on the field for the final two plays 👀 pic.twitter.com/mVnL87yrxV
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) September 24, 2023
5. When was Ohio State’s last football national championship?
The Buckeyes have a chance to win their first national championship in a decade. Their last title was during the 2014-15 season during the College Football Playoff’s debut with a four-team format. They topped Oregon, 42-20.
Overall, Ohio State enters Monday’s CFP national championship game with eight claimed titles: 1942, 1954, 1957, 1961, 1968, 1970, 2002 and 2014.
6. When was Notre Dame’s last football national championship?
The Fighting Irish and their fans have been waiting a lot longer than Ohio State for a national title. They enter Monday’s College Football Playoff national championship game with 11 claimed titles, but the most recent one was in 1988 when Lou Holtz was Notre Dame’s coach. That team finished the season as undefeated national champs after beating West Virginia in the Fiesta Bowl.
7. Ohio State and Notre Dame football series history
Here’s a look at how every Ohio State-Notre Dame football game ended, ahead of Monday’s CFP national championship game.
November 2, 1935: Notre Dame 18, Ohio State 13
October 31, 1936: Notre Dame 7, Ohio State 2
September 30, 1995: Ohio State 45, Notre Dame 26
September 28, 1996: Ohio State 29, Notre Dame 16
January 2, 2006 (Fiesta Bowl): Ohio State 34, Notre Dame 20
January 1, 2016 (Fiesta Bowl): Ohio State 44, Notre Dame 28
September 3, 2022: Ohio State 21, Notre Dame 10
September 23, 2023: Ohio State 17, Notre Dame 14
