Under Bowden and head coach Marcus Freeman's guidance in 2024-25, Notre Dame finished 14-2 on a campaign that included a dominant 13-game win streak. The Fighting Irish's loss to Ohio State in the CFP National Championship on Monday night was their first since September 7.

Despite making the inaugural 12-team College Football Playoffs, Tennessee has a lot of remodeling to do over the offseason. Josh Heupel has taken an aggressive approach in the college football transfer portal and landed another commitment from former Notre Dame offensive tackle Sam Pendleton.

As expected when he entered the transfer portal with a non-contact tag, former Notre Dame offensive lineman Sam Pendleton has committed to Tennessee. His decision to come to Knoxville comes under a week after playing in the National Championship with the Fighting Irish.

Then, for the biggest play of the game, Notre Dame decided to leave Ohio State wide receiver Jeremiah Smith on an island. It was third and 12 and the Fighting Irish would get the ball back with a stop with a chance to tie the game. Smith completely burned his defender and he was wide open for a huge gain, and he iced the game.