Orange Bowl Preview: Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs. Penn State Nittany Lions

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the Penn State Nittany Lions will face off in the 2025 Orange Bowl and the College Football Playoffs Semifinals! This game will take place on January 9, 2025, from the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, with a kickoff scheduled for 7:30 PM ET.

The folks over at MyBookie have listed the Fighting Irish as 2-point favorites, with the total over/under being 46.5.

Notre Dame Fighting Irish Preview

The Fighting Irish will play in their 7th Orange Bowl. The Irish got here by beating the Georgia Bulldogs 23-10. The Fighting Irish were 1-point favorites in the game and dominated the Bulldogs!

The Irish played in a much closer game prior, beating the Indiana Hoosiers 27-17 as 7-point favorites. The Irish are now sporting a 13-1 record, with their only loss being a very close 16-14 loss to the Northern Illinois Huskies in week 2 (September 7).  

They’ve rolled off 12 straight wins and now face their toughest test of the year, the Nittany Lions, who are equally good on both sides of the ball.

Penn State Nittany Lions Preview

The Penn State Nittany Lions advanced to the semifinals of the 2025 College Football Plays by beating the Boise State Broncos.

The Nittany Lions will be playing in their 6th Orange Bowl. They last played here in 2006, where they beat the Florida State Seminoles in a very close game, winning 26-23 in overtime.

Penn State only had two blemishes on the resume this year. They lost to Ohio State by a touchdown back on Nov. 2, 2024 by the score 20-13 and then lost to Oregon in the BIG-TEN Championship 37-45.

The Nittany Lions defense is something special! They’ve held 6 of their last 8 opponents to 14 points or less but will have their hands full with this Notre Dame offense!

Orange Bowl Handicapping Preview

When we look at both teams side by side, we give the edge to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. They are just a better team and playing very good on Defense.

We question how Penn State will be able to move the ball on this fast and speedy Notre Dame Defense. When you look at the College Football Playoffs, teams that are winning are defensive oriented teams, which is what Notre Dame is.

We expect they will control the clock and put Penn State into some bad spots. Expect Penn State to be placed in some bad spots here and force them to make decisions they wouldn’t normally make.

With that said, MyBookie lists the Irish at -2. We will forego the odds and the line, and play Notre Dame on the moneyline at -131.

Pick: Notre Dame -131