SportsLine's model simulated the Ohio State Buckeyes vs. Texas Longhorns 2025 College Football Playoff semifinal Cotton Bowl matchup on Friday 10,000 times

The first College Football Playoff semifinal will feature Penn State and Notre Dame. A breakdown of the keys to victory in the Orange Bowl.

With only four teams left in the College Football Playoff, two games will decide who gets the opportunity to play in the national championship game. The quarterfinal round solidified Ohio State as the odds-on favorite to win the title (-110).

No. 7 seed Notre Dame and No. 6 seed Penn State will face off in the Orange Bowl on Thursday night in the first of two College Football Playoff semifinal matchups. On the line is a spot in the College Football Playoff National Championship as both programs are hunting for their first national title in almost 40 years.

Now that the expanded 12-team College Football Playoff is down to four teams remaining — the size of the field the previous 10 seasons — things really don't look that much different. The final quartet includes two teams from the Big Ten,

The CFP semifinals kick off Thursday with two 1980s rivals, Notre Dame and Penn State, playing a game that almost couldn't possibly be closer on paper, and then the hottest team in all the land (Ohio State) facing Texas and its clutch former Buckeyes quarterback ( Quinn Ewers) on Friday.

It is a blue blood Final Four in the College Football Playoff semifinals. The teams left standing -- 6-seed Penn State, 7-seed Notre Dame, 8-seed Ohio State and 5-seed Texas-- have combined for 20 national championships.