Penn State Nittany Lions head football coach James Franklin has a singular focus this week of getting his program ready to face the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the College Football Playoff semifinal at the Orange Bowl,

Nick Saban was not happy with James Franklin suggesting he should be college football’s commissioner, per Franklin. Franklin recently suggested Saban should be the commissioner of college football with the many changes the sport is going through.

"I was on a call the other day with Nick Saban and he wasn't real happy about me promoting him for the Commissioner of college football." James Franklin shares his thoughts on the idea of adding a ...

The only bad news in State College was defensive coordinator Tom Allen’s departure for Clemson after just one season, but Penn State’s run of top-10 defenses spans three coordinators (Brent Pry, Manny Diaz and Allen).

As Pete Sampson, who covers Notre Dame for the Athletic, wrote, “He might as well have patted the 38-year-old on the head and told him what a good job he was doing.’’ That’s apparently how Freeman took it as well. He returned to Notre Dame’s hotel and shared the tone of the presser with his players.

Notre Dame football returned to a championship level on Thursday night, it’s Leprechaun mascot dancing deep into a historic night at Hard Rock Stadium.

The first matchup of the semifinals comes in Miami, Florida, where the No. 6 seed Penn State Nittany Lions battled the No. 7 Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the Orange Bowl. The second and final game of the final four includes the No. 5 Texas Longhorns and No. 8 Ohio State Buckeyes, who will face off in the Cotton Bowl on Friday.

Paul Finebaum dismissed the idea of Nick Saban, or anyone else, becoming the sole commissioner of college football.

There's no sugarcoating it: As Penn State 's coach, James Franklin owns an abysmal 4-19 record against opponents ranked in the Associated Press top 10 -- and is just 3-10 in such games when his team is also in the top 10.

The coach who will eventually hoist the national championship trophy in Atlanta on the evening of Jan. 20 will do so for the very first time. Here’s hoping he’s prepared for the heft — both literally and figuratively.

Ohio State’s Ryan Day, Texas’ Steve Sarkisian, Notre Dame’s Marcus Freeman and Penn State’s James Franklin are the final four. None has won a national championship as a head coach, making this season the third out of the last four in which the title will go to a head coach who has never won one.