Notre Dame’s Marcus Freeman or Penn State’s James Franklin will become the first Black coach to lead a team into the national title game at college football’s highest level.

OSU and OU were on the front lines of hiring black coaches in college football. No Alabama. No Georgia, Florida or Tennessee. Black head coaches have been hired at only 29 of the 68 power-conference schools.

A couple of years ago, colleague Andy Nesbitt, writing for For The Win, authored an article arguing that college football’s national championship game being on Monday night is one of the dumbest things in sports.

While meritocracy may be embodied on the field, it frequently isn’t on the sideline. Marcus Freeman is an exception.

which is more than double the schools that have a chance to play in the College Football Playoff. Basketball also had Thompson, Temple's John Chaney, Nolan Richardson and other top Black coaches ...

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — In college basketball, the scene of an African American coach cutting down the nets on their way to a national title is not new, even if it is still a relative rarity.

Either Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman, left, or Penn State head coach James Franklin, posing with the Orange Bowl trophy on Wednesday in Dania Beach, Fla., will make history by reaching the College Football Playoff championship game. It’s taken 17 years, but college football is finally having its Super Bowl 41 moment.

A GRIP ON SPORTS • A winter’s day. In a deep and dark January. The walls built against the freshly fallen shroud of snow will break down a little tonight. Thanks to the joyful melody of a college football playoff game feature two programs that have sunk like rocks in big games the past decade or so.

In college basketball, the scene of an African American coach cutting down the nets on their way to a national title is not new, even if it is still a relative rarity. John

One of the wackiest seasons in college football history will end with two schools whose traditions are as old as the game itself — Ohio State and Notre Dame — playing for a national championship.

Leave it be. Enjoy the show. Let a good thing be a good thing. This 12-team College Football Playoff format works beautifully.

In 10 seasons, top-seeded teams in both the AFC and NFC were 14-4 in the postseason, combining for a 28-8 overall record. Top seeds won by an average of 14.1 points per game, and their losses came by an average of 5.8 points per game.