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‘What a great storyline’: All eyes on the state of Indiana this week as IU football, Notre Dame usher in the new College Football Playoff era

Notre Dame and IU football set to usher in the new era of the College Football Playoff, with all eyes set to be on the the state of Indiana.

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Notre Dame and IU football set to usher in the new era of the College Football Playoff, with all eyes set to be on the the state of Indiana. (Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images)

Friday night will be the first time the College Football Playoff will be played on college campuses, home games for higher seeds. It will also be the first time in the 21st century that Notre Dame and IU football have played — just the second time since 1958.

So not only will this week be a significant moment for college football, as IU and Notre Dame kick off the beginning of the new playoff era this year, it’ll also be a major moment for the state of Indiana — normally known for its history on the basketball court.

“I think it’s a great game for the state in general, for Indiana and Notre Dame to be playing in the College Football Playoff,” IU head coach Curt Cignetti said. “I think the series began in 1898, and Notre Dame has pretty much had the upper hand. I don’t know the series records.”

The records? A 23-5-1 advantage for the Irish. But both teams are in a much different phase within their program’s history than the last time they met — back in 1991. The landscape of college football is unmistakably much different, too.

No matter the history. No matter the environment. No matter what’s at stake. It’s still the ‘same objective’ for Cignetti and his IU football team.

“Regardless of who we play, this is the playoffs. You win or go home, and we’re in it to win it,” Cignetti said. “I mean, our odds of probably making the College Football Playoff at the beginning of the season, I don’t know what they were, but they were pretty darn low, I’m sure. We were picked 17th out of 18 teams in the Big Ten. Our odds of winning the next four games are probably significantly higher than they were of making the college football playoffs in the first place. So we’ve climbed that mountain.

“Regardless of who we were going to play in the first round, the objective is the same.”

After a historic 11-1 season in his first year on the sidelines for Indiana, Cignetti has clearly raised expectation levels — as he said he would do on day one on the job. But, nobody could see this type of turnaround coming, after IU had totaled just nine wins combined over the last three years.

“Coach (Cignetti) has done a wonderful job to take this program to win 11 games in the Big Ten and in a Big Ten season, and to have this team ready to make a run in the playoffs. It’s a credit to the coach,” Irish head coach Marcus Freeman said. ” … He’s done a great job, and we expect a great opponent.”

While Indiana hasn’t been here before, Notre Dame has. While a different route, the Irish played for the National Championship in 2012 and have reached a bowl game in all but three seasons in the last 20 years. With Freeman leading the charge, specifically, they’ve won back-to-back bowl games and have finished the year with nine wins, 10 wins and now sit at 11-1. In fact, the Irish have had 10+ wins in seven of the past eight seasons.

“They’re a historic team,” IU quarterback Kurtis Rourke said. “They’ve had great teams in the past, and they’re a good team this year. So just knowing that but also knowing that we’re also a pretty good team as well.”

While Friday will be the first playoff game for both teams — one could argue they’ve both been in ‘playoff’ mode since the start of the season. Nobody expected IU football to be in this situation, and with its schedule, it needed to make statement after statement. That it did. For Notre Dame? An early season loss at home to an unranked Northern Illinois squad had the Irish on the outside looking in, more so than another high major program would have been if it were in a similar situation. With no conference championship game to fall back on for the Irish, it was nearly a win or go home game every week.

Both teams were counted out early and often throughout the majority of the year. Now, all eyes will be on the state of Indiana and on the Irish and the Hoosiers this Friday.

“What a great storyline,” Freeman said. “What a great opportunity it’s going to be to have two in-state teams playing each other in the first playoff game on campus, and it’s going to be an exciting time and a great game.”

SEE ALSO: ‘I took a minute and Googled him’: Marcus Freeman discusses Curt Cignetti, IU football ahead of College Football Playoff

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Alec Lasley is the owner of Hoosier Illustrated, a comprehensive site covering news, updates and recruiting for Indiana University athletics. Alec has covered Indiana for six years and is a credentialed media member. He has previously worked for both Rivals and 247Sports.

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