When Texas announced plans to enter the SEC, the Longhorns immediately embarked on a 5-7 season in 2021 that was historic for all the wrong reasons. Since that moment, Texas has truly brought itself back from the brink and now stands alone as the only SEC team remaining in the first 12-team College Football Playoff.

Notre Dame and Penn State have traveled shockingly similar paths to reach this year's College Football Playoff semifinal. Both are amongst the sports blue blood class of schools, both have struggled to find any kind of national success in recent decades,

Notre Dame is playing a historical 15 th game this season and the next opponent up is Penn State. The two program will be meeting each other for the Orange Bowl down in Miami, which is acting as a site for the 2024 College Playoff Semifinals.