Who Is Performing During Notre Dame vs. Penn State Halftime Show? While the Band of the Fighting Irish and the Penn State Blue Band marching bands are in attendance at the Orange

The Fighting Irish are slight favorites over the Nittany Lions, who are getting some love from the algorithms.

SportsLine's model just revealed its College Football Playoff semifinal picks for No. 6 seed Penn State vs. No. 7 seed Notre Dame in the 2025 Orange Bowl on Thursday

Here’s what you need to know to get you set for this CFP matchup: Notre Dame vs Penn State in the 2025 Orange Bowl.

What got the Nittany Lions to the College Football Playoff semifinals will be instrumental in getting them past the Fighting Irish.

Penn State and Notre Dame will square off at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami for a spot in the national title game. If the Nittany Lions win, they’ll face either Ohio State or Texas in the CFP final at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on Jan. 20.

Penn State’s longtime mascot is a common mountain lion, the kind that roamed the mountains near the school’s State College campus until the late 19th century. One of the Nittany Lions’ historic rivals, the Pitt Panthers, has a similar taxonomic nickname for a similar reason.