How to Watch the Rose Bowl - Alabama vs. Notre Dame
The defensive oriented Nick Saban is bringing one of his best offenses to the CFP Semifinal. Does Notre Dame have any shot of an upset? GETTY IMAGES

No one expects Notre Dame to win this game. Vegas certainly doesn't putting them at near three touchdown underdogs against Alabama. Certainly the pundits don't. It's sounding like even Notre Dame doesn't. Coach Brian Kelly said that the team has nothing left to prove after a blowout loss to Clemson in the ACC Championship game. If the Fighting Irish's goal is to have really good regular seasons and never win the National Championship, then yes, Notre Dame has nothing left to prove.

What TV Channel is the Rose Bowl between #1 Alabama and #4 Notre Dame on?

The Rose Bowl will be shown on ESPN at 4:00 p.m. ET. You can live stream NCAA Football Games on fuboTV.

How to Watch #1 Alabama vs. #4 Notre Dame

When: Friday, January 1
Where: AT&T Stadium - Arlington, TX
Time: 4:00 p.m. ET
TV: ESPN
Live Stream: fuboTV (watch NCAA Football free with fuboTV)

Notre Dame is here for a reason though. They went undefeated in the regular season and won one of the most thrilling games of the season against Clemson in OT. Of course that game didn't feature Trevor Lawrence and they promptly got thumped 34-10 in the ACC Championship rematch when Lawrence was available.

The problem for Notre Dame, especially under Kelly, seems to be that this is a trend. In the BCS and College Playoff eras, Notre Dame has been in six New Year's Bowls. They are 0-6 in those games, they've been outscored by 144 points and not one game was decided within 14 points. On the big stage, it's not even close.

The last time Notre Dame met Alabama was in the penultimate BCS National Championship game where they lost 42-10. After a terrible Alabama blowout of LSU in the National Championship the year before, it was a large contributing factor of why the NCAA moved to the College Football Playoff in the first place. It hasn't slowed Alabama down any of their winning but at least the championships are more competitive now.

Most recently in their NY6 games, Notre Dame lost 30-3 to Clemson in the 2018 Cotton Bowl. Enough ragging on the Irish, this team can score led by QB Ian Book. He might not go first round in next year's draft but he absolutely should be picked up in the pros. He is the winningest QB at the historic program and that includes Joe Montana who Dabo Swinney compared him to. He is also second all time in passing yards only behind Brady Quinn. The Irish will need to keep it close to Alabama to have any shot in this one. No team has come close to stopping this historic offense who is AVERAGING 49.7 points per game.

An interesting fact about the game that doesn't have to do with these two teams is that this is the first Rose Bowl to played outside of Pasadena, CA for the first time since 1942. While the 2021 version is moved because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the 1942 Rose Bowl was moved to Durham, NC. There was enough fear after Pearl Harbor and in the midst of World War II that the government prohibited large public gatherings on the West Coast. Duke hosted Oregon State that year so the Rose Bowl was essentially a home game for the Blue Devils.

While nothing has been normal this year, Alabama keeping their winning ways going has been about the only consistent thing about this season. They seem to be a team of destiny and if Notre Dame wins, it will be compared to David and Goliath or the Americans beating the Soviet Union in the 1980 Olympics. Let's just hope Notre Dame keeps the gap close and it's something to build on for future Notre Dame football.

Alabama Odds: -19.5
Notre Dame Odds: +19.5
Money Line: Alabama -1,100 - Notre Dame +700
Over/Under: 65.5