Ohio State fans are arriving in Atlanta ahead of the CFP National Championship game against Notre Dame. [DOWNLOAD: Free WHIO-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] News Center 7s

Ohio State wide receiver Emeka Egbuka (2) is tackled by Texas linebacker Anthony Hill Jr., bottom left, and defensive back Jaylon Guilbeau during the first half of the Cotton Bowl College Football Playoff semifinal game, Friday, Jan. 10, 2025, in Arlington, Texas. AP Photo/Gareth Patterson

Ohio State and Notre Dame arrived in Atlanta on charter flights Friday as the teams moved closer to the College Football Playoff national championship game Monday night. The Buckeyes are big favorites but the Fighting Irish might have an advantage.

As the national championship game approaches, fans are making their way to Atlanta, with many departing from John Glenn International Airport

It’s a busy weekend in Atlanta. Thousands of people are visiting for the College Football National Championship game on Monday.

Ohio State Buckeyes place kicker Noah Ruggles (95) reacts after he missed a field goal wide left at the end of the fourth quarter of the College Football Playoff Semifinal between

And of course, quarterback Riley Leonard is from Fairhope, Ala., southeast of Mobile. He came to Notre Dame via transfer from Duke, but he also grew up a Fighting Irish fan, his great grandfather having played for Notre Dame in the 1940s.

But evolution is also a choice. The dinosaurs didn't have to walk into the tar pits. And college football programs -- even old-timers such as Ohio State and Notre Dame -- don't have to walk into the quicksand of mediocrity, led there by the blinders of obligation to keep on keeping on the same way that Knute Rockne and Woody Hayes did.

For Ohio State, Ed Terwilliger, the director of high school relations, and a few other staff have been out on the trail keeping tabs on the 2026, 2027 and 2028 classes. Earlier in the month, despite position coaches not being on the road, a myriad of offers went out to a handful of prospects.

Monday will mark the first-ever meeting between Ohio State and Notre Dame football in a football national championship game.

Ohio State wide receiver Jeremiah Smith was able to keep a team-first approach after having extra defensive attention make him almost invisible in the Buckeyes’ Cotton Bowl win over Texas in the College Football Playoff semifinals.