Fiesta Bowl 2016: Notre Dame vs. Ohio State TV Schedule, Time and Odds

They might not be in the College Football Playoff, but No. 8 Notre Dame and No. 7 Ohio State seem ready to put on a championship-caliber showdown in Friday's Fiesta Bowl.

The contest has a little bit of everything. Both teams feature some of the nation's best players, such as Ohio State's Ezekiel Elliott and Joey Bosa, and Notre Dame's Jaylon Smith and Ronnie Stanley.

Both share negatives, too. Ohio State watched a field goal by then-No. 9 Michigan State tank its CFP hopes in November. Notre Dame suffered the same fate against then-No. 9 Stanford the week after. Ohio State will be without star power such as defensive lineman Adolphus Washington due to suspension. Notre Dame just suspended safety Max Redfield, according to ESPN.com's Austin Ward.

Friday's game seems like the perfect pairing, clearly. Here's everything to know about the encounter.

Game Details

When: Friday, January 1, at 1 p.m. ET

Where: University of Phoenix Stadium, Glendale, Arizona

Television: ESPN

Live Stream: WatchESPN

Tickets: ScoreBig.com

Over/Under: 57

Spread: Ohio State (-6.5)

Team Injury Reports

NAME	POS	STATUS
Devin Butler	CB	Out Fri
Max Redfield	S	Out Fri
C.J. Prosise	RB	Prob Fri
James Onwualu	LB	Prob Fri
Alex Bars	OL	Out for season
Drue Tranquill	S	Out for season
Durham Smythe	TE	Prob Fri
Malik Zaire	QB	Out for season
Tarean Folston	RB	Out for season
Shaun Crawford	DB	Out for season
Ishaq Williams	DL	Out for season
Jarron Jones	DL	Prob Fri

NAME	POS	STATUS
Tommy Schutt	DL	Ques Fri
Adolphus Washington	DL	Ques Fri
Johnnie Dixon	WR	Out indefinitely
Erick Smith	S	Out for season
Nick Conner	LB	Out for season
Cam Burrows	DB	Out for season
Corey Smith	WR	Out for season
Noah Brown	WR	Out for season

Injury reports courtesy of USA Today.

Holding Strong 

Marcio Jose Sanchez/Associated Press

Notre Dame had a tough go of it this year by standing as the only team to play five teams in the CFP rankings, making the year's accomplishments all the more impressive.

Coming up short on the road against then-No. 12 Clemson, 24-22, hurts, as does the 38-36 last-second loss to the Cardinal. But otherwise, the Fighting Irish weathered the storm behind the efforts of sophomore DeShone Kizer after losing starting quarterback Malik Zaire.

Kizer completed 63.4 percent of his passes with 19 touchdowns to nine interceptions and used his legs to gain 499 yards and nine scores, placing him only behind the team's top two leaders in rushing:

NAME	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD
C.J. Prosise	156	1032	6.6	11
Josh Adams	103	757	7.4	5

Kizer might have to use his legs a lot while running from Bosa and an elite defense unless Stanley, a top NFL prospect, has something to say about it.

Stanley spoke with Bill Landis of Cleveland.com about his upcoming encounter with Bosa: "He's a great player, he makes plays. You gotta account for players who make plays. We're not gonna do anything drastically different, we just need to lock in on our fundamentals to keep him at bay."

In a way, Stanley needs to personify what the team has done all year by holding out against the best of the best. If he and the line struggle to give Kizer time, Ohio State could run away with the game. 

Defending the Title

Ohio State had plenty to overcome this year as well and surely wants to end Friday by proving it deserved a chance to defend its national title.

The wild ride for the Buckeyes began at the start of the season with the quarterback controversy between Cardale Jones and J.T. Barrett. Barrett eventually replaced Jones for consistency's sake, only to get arrested for DUI before returning to start the final three games.

Elliott caused controversy as well after the last-second loss to Michigan State by showing frustration over his number of opportunities and revealed he's NFL-bound.

Regardless, here are the Buckeyes with a Bosa-led defense that has let up more than 20 points in a game just three times. Barrett completed 63.8 percent of his passes with 781 yards and 10 touchdowns, pairing with Elliot—the Big Ten offensive player of the year—on the ground for some eye-popping numbers:

NAME	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD
Ezekiel Elliott	262	1672	6.4	19
J.T. Barrett	92	586	6.4	11

Ohio State will lean on the explosive offense in the hopes of pulling away from Notre Dame while the defense pressures Kizer into mistakes.

Though a tumultuous season, Urban Meyer's team has executed most every time it needed to. The Buckeyes need to do it one more time against a fellow legendary program.

Prediction

Though playing for a consolation prize and ready to leak talent to the pros, don't expect Ohio State to come out unprepared and give the underdog a chance. 

The Buckeyes are too explosive on the ground and too disruptive on defense to stumble here against a backup quarterback and a defense missing several big names.

Notre Dame's explosive in its own right, but rarely did the Fighting Irish have to deal with a defense as strong as Ohio State's, so Kizer won't break free as easily as he did most of the season.

Look for the Buckeyes to jump out to an early lead and ride the clock with Elliott, especially once the Notre Dame turnovers start flowing.

Prediction: Ohio State 35, Notre Dame 28

Statistics courtesy of ESPN unless otherwise specified. All betting information courtesy of Odds Shark.