SOUTH BEND, Ind. — A high of 35 degrees Fahrenheit with a low of 25, and a 24% chance of something falling from the sky.

It’s hardly a not to Grantland Rice, but it is the historical backdrop for the Notre Dame Football team’s historic, first-ever College Football Playoff game played at Notre Dame Stadium.

Now can the No. 7 seed Irish (11-1) make a historic run?

It will start with a Dec. 20 Friday night matchup with 10 seed Indiana (11-1) as the first of four possible playoff opponents in the first-ever 12-team version of the CFP and the 11th edition overall.

The College Football Playoff selection committee announced the pairs and final Top 25 on Sunday during a four-hour special on ESPN.

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It’s Notre Dame’s third-ever playoff appearance, with the Irish ranked and seeded third in 2018 four-team playoff and fourth in the 2020 version. Head coach Marcus Freeman and the Irish are seeking the school's first national title since 1988 — two years after the third-year ND program head was born.

This time the seeding and ranking don’t match for the Irish, a product of an insistence by the new format’s architects that the four conference champs ranked the highest among the nine who held conference championship games this past weekend get first-round byes AND seeded 1-4.

A fifth conference champ also automatically makes the field, but isn’t given a bye of top seeding.

Which capped Notre Dame’s seeding at 5 as well as anyone who lost in their conference title game or didn’t reach it. Seeds 5-8 do host first-round playoff games, however.

So, the final CFP top 12 appeared as follows, with No. 11 Alabama excluded from the field because of the seeding rules, which are already under fire before the first 12-team playoff game is even in the books:

1. Oregon (13-0), 2. Georgia (11-2), 3. Texas (11-2), 4. Penn State (11-2), 5. Notre Dame (11-1), 6. Ohio State (10-2), 7. Tennessee (10-2), 8. Indiana (11-1), 9. Boise State (12-1), 10. SMU (11-2), 11. Alabama (10-2) and 12. Arizona State (11-2).

But the seedings are as follows: 1. Oregon (Big 10), 2. Georgia (SEC), 3. Boise State (MWC), 4. Arizona State (Big 12), 5. Texas, 6. Penn State, 7. Notre Dame, 8. Ohio State, 9. Tennessee, 10, Indiana, 11. SMU, 12. Clemson (ACC). The Tigers (10-3) are ranked 16th.

Should the Irish advance past the first-round, they’d play 2 seed Georgia in the quarterfinals Jan. 1 in the Sugar Bowl in New Orleoans. The semis are Jan. 9 (Miami Gardens, Fla.) and Jan. 10 (Arlington, Texas), with the championship set for Jan. 20 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta — a venue the Irish are familiar with, having beaten Georgia Tech there, 31-13, back on Oct. 19.

The AP and coaches polls also came out on Sunday. The AP top 12 looked this way: 1. Oregon, 2. Georgia, 3. Notre Dame, 4. Texas, 5. Penn State, 6. Ohio State, 7. Tennessee, 8. Boise State, 9. Indiana, 10. Arizona State, 11. Alabama and 12. SMU.

The Crimson Tide and SMU were separated by a single poll point.

All times Eastern

FIRST ROUND (Dec. 20-21)

Friday, Dec. 20: 10 Indiana (11-1) vs. 7 Notre Dame (11-1), 8 p.m. | ABC/ESPN

Saturday, Dec. 21: 11 SMU (11-2) vs. 6 Penn State (11-2), 12 p.m. | TNT

Saturday, Dec. 21: 12 Clemson (10-3) vs. 5 Texas (11-2), 4 p.m. | TNT

Saturday, Dec. 21: 9 Tennessee (10-2) vs. 8 Ohio State (10-2), 8 p.m. | ABC/ESPN

QUARTERFINALS (Dec. 31-Jan. 1)

Fiesta Bowl: Penn St./SMU vs. 3 Boise State (12-1), 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 31 | ESPN

Peach Bowl: Texas/Clemson vs. 4 Arizona State (11-2), 1 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 1 | ESPN

Rose Bowl: OSU/Tennessee vs. 1 Oregon (13-0), 5 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 1 | ESPN

Sugar Bowl: Notre Dame/IU vs. 2 Georgia (11-2), 8:45 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 1 | ESPN

SEMIFINALS (Jan. 9-10)

Orange Bowl: Fiesta Bowl winner vs. Sugar Bowl winner, 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 9 | ESPN

Cotton Bowl: Rose Bowl winner vs. Peach Bowl winner, 7:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 10 | ESPN

CHAMPIONSHIP

CFP National Championship Game: 7:30 p.m. Monday, Jan. 20 | ESPN

Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Ga.

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