Notre Dame and Penn State have traveled shockingly similar paths to reach this year's College Football Playoff semifinal. Both are amongst the sports blue blood class of schools, both have struggled to find any kind of national success in recent decades,

No. 7 seed Notre Dame and No. 6 seed Penn State will face off in the Orange Bowl on Thursday night in the first of two College Football Playoff semifinal matchups. On the line is a spot in the College Football Playoff National Championship as both programs are hunting for their first national title in almost 40 years.