Ohio State, Notre Dame set for premier slot on ABC, College GameDay

Ohio State and Notre Dame will have a ton of eyeballs for their 2022 season-opening matchup in Columbus on Sept. 3. The two teams just announced that they got the 7:30 p.m. slot on ABC for the Saturday game and College GameDay will host from the Ohio State campus.

The Ohio State Buckeyes, led by Ryan Day, went 11-2 overall in the 2021 season. They get to open the season at home with a night game for the first time since 2010 versus Marshall. College GameDay’s presence will only add to the hype around the game that features two of the top programs in the nation. The show has gone live from Columbus 21 times in the history of the broadcast.

On top of Ohio State-Notre Dame, the opening Saturday of the season has several key matchups like Oregon-Georgia, Arkansas-Cincinnati, Utah-Florida and more.

Ohio State, Notre Dame coaches prepping for primetime

Notre Dame is coming off of a head coaching transition, going from Brian Kelly to Marcus Freeman. The Fighting Irish are 13.5-point underdogs so far in Vegas with a full summer to go before the first kickoff. Freeman scoffed at the margin after he learned of the spread, saying, “make it 14.” The new skipper explained why he said that during a university-sponsored virtual live chat and doubled down.

“This group will be ready,” Freeman said. “It’s natural for any competitor — and that’s who I am, a competitor, and the guys in our program are competitors — any time you’re challenged, competitors love to step up to being challenged. So if you’re the underdog, that’s why I said I don’t care if it’s 13.5 points. Make that thing 21 points. I want everybody in our program to know everybody is counting you out. Good. Good. If you’re a competitor, you’ll step up to a challenge.”

The Buckeyes had the season-opener in mind when they decided it was best to tackle in the spring game last month. It’s all to build up toughness heading into September and that pivotal matchup.

“The first game of the year, we played Notre Dame at home,” Ohio State coach Ryan Day said. “We have to be ready to roll. So, you know, once you get into the preseason, you start getting closer and closer to that first game, you start to really hold your breath because you don’t want to lose guys. But we also have to tackle. We have to play physical, we have to be tough. I mean, if we want to reach our goals this year, we’re going to have to be that way. We’re gonna have to play that way.”