Notre Dame and Ohio State will be facing off in the 2025 College Football Playoff National Championship game. How did each team get here? Notre Dame — coming off playoff wins against Indiana, Georgia and Penn State — is riding a 13-game winning streak. But the Irish are a heavy underdog in the title game matchup. Ohio State — which went through Tennessee, Oregon and Texas in the playoffs — brings its top-ranked defense in a quest to capture its ninth national championship. This will be the first time Notre Dame reaches the title game in the CFP era after falling in the semifinal in the 2018-19 and 2020-21 seasons. The Buckeyes will be playing in their third CFP title game since winning the inaugural game in 2014.

Here’s a tale of the tape between the two squads ahead of Monday’s CFP National Championship game.

Established: 1890

Conference: Big Ten

Stadium: Ohio Stadium (102,780 capacity)

Head coach: Ryan Day (2019-present)

2024 season record: 13-2

2024 season leaders:

2024 AP Top 25 final ranking: No. 6

Total championships: Eight (2014, 2002, 1970, 1968, 1961, 1957, 1954, 1942)

All-time record: 977-335-53 (.744)

Bowl record: 26-23 (.531)

Heisman winners:

Head-to-head vs. Notre Dame: 6-2, 25.6 points scored per game

Established: 1887

Conference: Independent

Stadium: Notre Dame Stadium (80,795 capacity)

Head coach: Marcus Freeman (2021-present)

2024 season record: 14-1

2024 season leaders:

2024 AP Top 25 final ranking: No. 3

Total championships: 13 (1988, 1977, 1973, 1966, 1964, 1949, 1947, 1946, 1943, 1930, 1929, 1924, 1919)

All-time record: 962-338-42 (.740)

Bowl record: 23-18 (.561)

Heisman winners:

• Tim Brown, 1987

• John Huarte, 1964

• Paul Hornung, 1956

• John Lattner, 1953

• Leon Hart, 1949

• John Lujack, 1947

• Angelo Bertelli, 1943

Head-to-head vs. Ohio State: 2-6, 17.4 points scored per game

Check out the ESPN college football hub page for breaking news, features, schedules, rankings and more.

Zaxby’s, a popular fried chicken chain, is getting its first Ohio location in Liberty Township.

A 56-seat Zaxby’s restaurant and drive-thru is planned to open at Freedom Pointe, next to Costco. The development, which was initially planned to be a hotel, will also house three other eateries: E+O Kitchen, which has locations at The Banks, Hyde Park and Loveland; Bismarck Donut and Coffee Shop and El Rancho Grande, said Christy Gloyd, Liberty Township’s marketing and events manager.

Costco opened near Interstate 75 on Cox Road in 2022. Construction on the new restaurants starts this summer, Gloyd said.

“We’re just really excited to be growing over there at Freedom Pointe,” she told The Enquirer. “Having Costco as the anchor is huge. Just to have another family-friendly restaurant and have the variety – to have the Zaxby’s and E+O and El Rancho Grande – I think it’s really going to be a nice offering for our residents.”

Atlanta-headquartered Zaxby’s has over 900 locations in 17 states, mostly in the South and Midwest. The chain is known for its chicken fingers and wings, sandwiches and salads. The closest Zaxby’s locations currently open are over an hour away, in Shelbyville, Indiana and Louisville, Kentucky.

Sales for license plates featuring Dolly Parton’s face began Monday for $25. All proceeds will go to fund her Imagination Library

Fans of country music legend Dolly Parton can show off their pride for the singer with a new Ohio license plate.

Ohio drivers can now purchase license plates featuring Parton for $25. The money from each plate will go to Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library of Ohio, a charity that gives children ages 5 and younger a free book each month. The state began selling the plates Monday.

Specifically, the funds will go to the purchaser’s local county program of the library, which it says will pay for mailing a child 12 books, enough for an entire year. Ohio is the second state to offer a license plate supporting the library after Parton’s home state of Tennessee.

More: Dolly Parton Day declared for Aug. 9 by Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine to celebrate Imagination Library

First lady Fran DeWine has focused on expanding the Imagination Library in Ohio since her husband Gov. Mike DeWine took office in 2019. She was inspired when she saw her grandchildren receive books through the program and by 2020, it had expanded to all of Ohio’s 88 counties.

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“I’m excited to see Ohio as the second state to offer a specialty Dolly Parton license plate to support her program, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, in Ohio,” Fran DeWine said in a press release. “With each purchase, $25 will go back to supporting the local program, helping to ensure the program remains available to all families in Ohio.”

The plates are available to purchase online at OPlates.com or in-person at a local deputy registrar license agency.

Opinion: Dolly Parton’s generosity can help Columbus kids struggling to read

Gov. DeWine signed House Bill 315 which included the Parton Plates on Jan. 2. The original bill, sponsored by Senate Minority Leader Nickie Antonio, D-Lakewood, received unanimous yes votes in both chambers before the license plate language was put into the larger HB 315.

Donovan Hunt is a fellow in the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism’s Statehouse News Bureau.