Traditions live, despite changes
The path to Monday’s college football championship game has not been an easy one for either Notre Dame or Ohio State.
For the Fighting Irish, troubles began on Sept. 7, when they suffered a 16-14 loss to Northern Illinois. That defeat set up a scenario where Notre Dame had to be perfect for the remainder of the season and win 13 games in a row to have any chance at the national title.
For the Buckeyes, the low spot was not a 32-31 loss to Oregon on Oct. 12 — it was a 13-10 loss to hated-rival Michigan in Ohio Stadium on Nov. 30 that left the team and its fans reeling and created big questions about how the players and coaches would fare once the expanded College Football Playoff began.
As it turns out, both have answered all of the questions their supporters — and doubters — have asked and now are the last two teams standing as the first 12-team playoff tournament comes to an end in Atlanta.
Notre Dame rolled through the playoffs with wins over Indiana, Georgia and Penn State, while Ohio State sandwiched a win in a rematch against Big Ten-rival Oregon with wins over Tennessee and Texas, which both represented the Southeastern Conference — victories that just mean more (we just couldn’t resist.)
It all set up Monday’s showdown between two of the Midwest’s — make that the country’s — top programs, whose resumes place them among the true blue bloods of college football. The fan bases of both teams are among the most passionate in sports and stretch across the country — make that around the world. That means you’re likely to see a lot of scarlet and gray and blue (or green) and gold on display during the next few days.
Those will continue to be constants even while the world of college sports in general, and football in particular, continues to change.
Thanks to the transfer portal; the money that flows from name, image and likeness deals; and conference realignment brought on by growing media rights agreements that bring in staggering amounts of money, the lines have been blurred between college athletes and their professional counterparts.
What remains through all of those changes, though, is tradition — the legends of Woody Hayes and Archie Griffin, of Knute Rockne and a couple of Joes — Montana and Theismann; of Urban Meyer, Ara Parseghian and Lou Holtz — and the current coaches, Ohio State’s Ryan Day and Notre Dame’s Marcus Freeman; of “Hang on Sloopy,” Script Ohio and dotting the I and playing near the Golden Dome; of Brutus and the Leprechaun — those are the things that bring fans of all generations together, and continue to make the game special.
That’s why we will be watching Monday night, whether you can’t wait for the men of scarlet and gray to drive, drive on down that field, or plan to cheer, cheer for old Notre Dame.