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Notre Dame Received Huge Payout For Defeating Penn State In Orange Bowl

Originally posted on The Spun | By Tzvi Machlin | Last updated Jan 10, 2025 9:38 AM ET

For years the Notre Dame Fighting Irish have been mocked for not joining a college football conference. Well, after receiving their payout from beating Penn State in the Orange Bowl - and not having to share a penny with a conference - the only ones laughing are the folks wearing the blue and gold.

Joe Pompliano of The Joe Pomp Show pointed out late last night that by virtue of their appearance in the national title game, Notre Dame are taking home a crisp $20 million that they'll be keeping all to themselves.

"Now that Notre Dame is in the national championship game, they are guaranteed to take home $20 million from this year's College Football Playoff. And since they are an independent football program, they get to keep every single dollar of that for themselves. Crazy," Pompliano wrote.

Now that Notre Dame is in the national championship game, they are guaranteed to take home $20 million from this year's College Football Playoff. And since they are an independent football program, they get to keep every single dollar of that for themselves. Crazy.
— Joe Pompliano (@JoePompliano) January 10, 2025

Notre Dame has often been in a very precarious position as far as being a national title contender. Back when college football conferences didn't have championship games to give their top teams an extra win that'd push them over the top, there were a couple of times where the Fighting Irish were snubbed by a team that enjoyed an extra win due to their conference championship win.

That said, Notre Dame would have been hard-pressed to even make the College Football Playoff under the previous four-team format and would definitely have been left out of the title picture under the BCS system over a decade ago.

Notre Dame still have one game left though. They'll be taking on the winner of the upcoming Cotton Bowl Classic between Ohio State and Texas, which takes place later today. The title game will be the Monday after next.

The 2024 season will already go down as an historic one as they've set a single-season wins record with 14. A championship win would make them only the fifth team to ever win 15 games in a season.

This article first appeared on The Spun and was syndicated with permission.

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