The teams in this year's College Football Playoff semifinals all have something in common: they're all among the sport's elite, but are also all attempting to return to the sport's pinnacle for the first time in quite a while.

Now that the expanded 12-team College Football Playoff is down to four teams remaining — the size of the field the previous 10 seasons — things really don’t look that much different.

The College Football Playoff field has been narrowed to four teams, with (6) Penn State, (7) Notre Dame, (5) Texas, and (8) Ohio State remaining in the national title hunt. The Nittany Lions defeated (3) Boise State in the first quarterfinal game on New Year's Eve to set up a date with the Fighting Irish in the Orange Bowl on Thursday.

The Orange Bowl between Penn State and Notre Dame could be a rock fight, and Texas can keep it close against Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl.

Orange Bowl College Football Playoff predictions, picks, odds for Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs Penn State Nittany Lions on Thursday, Jan. 9. Who wins?

James Franklin finally has an opportunity to change the narrative that surrounds his program. But he's got to win a big game to do it.

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.

We share our thoughts and final score predictions below. Charlie: Both teams are so similar yet one just feels more like a national championship caliber team than the other. The Fighting Irish might not have the explosive downfield passing attack,