College football picks from ESPN's College GameDay for semifinal game

As college football prepares to kick off a historic round of semifinal playoff games, the guys on ESPN’s College GameDay have offered their final predictions for the first of the two big matchups.

Those games will be what ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit called a ratings dream for his network, with four of college football’s biggest, blue-blood programs all facing off with everything on the line.

Notre Dame and Penn State square off in the Orange Bowl semifinal on Thursday night, before Ohio State and Texas meet in the Cotton Bowl game on Friday.

And the winners of those two games will meet to decide the national championship.

What can we look forward to as some major and historic College Football Playoff games get underway around the country?

Let’s take a turn around college football and lock in our final predictions and picks for the first semifinal game with the help of analysts from ESPN’s College GameDay.

College football picks from ESPN’s College GameDay

Orange Bowl Semifinal

Notre Dame vs. Penn State

Desmond Howard: Penn State over Notre Dame

Nick Saban: Notre Dame over Penn State

Pat McAfee: Penn State over Notre Dame

Kirk Herbstreit: Notre Dame over Penn State

Lee Corso: Notre Dame over Penn State

College Football HQ picks: Penn State over Notre Dame, given the Nittany Lions have more of a vertical threat to balance their offense more than the run-centric Irish can.