Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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12 MARCH 2025 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED UNDER THE DOME Nick Candela — Fencing The junior from Las Vegas paced Notre Dame to a 5-0 win over Northwest- ern Feb. 1 in Evanston, Ill. The epee specialist posted a 10-4 record at the event, which helped the Fighting Irish men improve their re- cord this season to 31-2. When Notre Dame com- petes at the ACC Championships Feb. 22-23 in Chapel Hill, N.C., Candela will be looking to improve upon his 12th-place finish as a sopho- more last season. Jordan Faison — Lacrosse The sophomore midfielder from Fort Lau- derdale, Fla., was named a first-team preseason All- American by Inside Lacrosse. Last year, he scored 22 goals and notched 8 assists, while helping Notre Dame to its second straight national title. Faison earned the accolade less than three weeks after helping the Fighting Irish football team reach the national champi- onship game. The two-sport star came to Notre Dame as a lacrosse recruit but has since earned a football scholarship. Nibi Ghosh — Tennis The senior from Kend- all Park, N.J., helped Notre Dame to its seventh straight victory by recording wins at both No. 4 singles and No. 2 doubles in a 4-2 victory over Columbia Feb. 2. The seven- game winning streak is the longest for the Irish women to start a spring season since 2006. Ghosh went undefeated against the Lions in New York City, winning 6-2, 6-2 in singles and 7-5 in doubles. Madison Schmidt — Track and Field Only two weeks after break- ing the Notre Dame program indoor high jump record by clearing 1.84 meters (6.04 feet), the graduate student from Blaine, Minn., bested her record with a 1.86-meter (6.1 feet) jump at the Meyo Invite on the Notre Dame campus Feb. 1. Schmidt won the high jump at the 2024 ACC Outdoor Championships, and also competed at the NCAA Championships last season. TOP TOP OF THE CLASS OF THE CLASS Irish student-athletes excelling on the field and in the classroom ✦ GIMME FIVE The average ticket price for the College Football Playoff Championship Game between Notre Dame and Ohio State was $2,637 per TickPick as of Jan. 17, making it the most expensive title championship ticket since that website began tracking it in 2011. According to TickPick, the cheapest ticket sold for the national championship prior to the CFP semi- finals was for $1,573. The morning after Notre Dame beat Penn State, the get-in price was $2,036 (29 percent more expensive). The morning after Ohio State beat Texas, the get-in price jumped again to $2,208. It did become more manageable in the subsequent days and was at $1,830 as of Jan. 17. This year's matchup between the Irish and Buckeyes was 36 percent more expensive than last sea- son's Michigan-Washington game ($1,934). — Steve Downey CHARTING THE IRISH RATINGS GOLD The landscape of sports on television is changing every year, with streaming becoming more prevalent and pay-TV subscribers down. However, Notre Dame football remains a draw for television viewers. Per Medium.com, the Fighting Irish were among 40 college football teams that played in at least one game that cracked 4 million viewers — a benchmark number in the eyes of TV networks — with its season-opening matchup at Texas A&M (7.92 million viewers). The Irish were also among 12 schools that averaged at least 2.5 million viewers per game during the regular season, slightly down from last year's average of 4.1 million. That may be due in part to the fact their game at USC Nov. 30, televised by CBS, was not counted due to the fact its parent company Para- mount's contract with the Nielsen ratings service expired during the football season. The first season of the 12-team College Football Playoff proved to be an overall success. The ratings of individual games did not reach the same heights as previous seasons, but the expanded format and the added meaning it carried to a wider number of games generated increased interest down the line. Most notably, the number of games that exceeded 10 million viewers nearly doubled from eight in 2023 to 15 in 2024. All four of Notre Dame's CFP games exceeded 13 million viewers and were among the top-10 most watched games of the 2024 season. Not surprisingly, the championship game matchup with Ohio State produced the most viewers at 22.1 million. However, that was down approximately 11.7 percent from last year's title game between Michigan and Wash- ington (25.1), and nowhere near the CFP title game record of 33.4 set back in 2014 when Ohio State played Oregon in the first championship game of the four-team era. — Steve Downey MOST WATCHED COLLEGE FOOTBALL GAMES OF 2024 Rk. Game Date Viewers 1. Ohio State vs. Notre Dame$ Jan. 20 22.10M 2. Ohio State vs. Oregon$ Jan. 1 21.09M 3. Ohio State vs. Texas$ Jan. 10 20.60M 4. Notre Dame vs. Penn State$ Jan. 9 17.80M 5. Texas vs. Arizona State$ Jan. 1 17.30M 6. Georgia vs. Texas* Dec. 7 16.63M 7. Notre Dame vs. Georgia$ Jan. 2 15.80M 8. Tennessee vs. Ohio State$ Dec. 21 14.68M 9. Penn State vs. Boise State$ Dec. 31 13.86M 10. Indiana vs. Notre Dame$ Dec. 20 13.39M $ College Football Playoff; * SEC Championship MOST EXPENSIVE NATIONAL TITLE GAMES Rk. Matchup Year Site Avg. Ticket Price 1. Notre Dame vs. Ohio State 2025 Atlanta $2,637 2. Washington vs. Michigan 2024 Houston $1,934 3. Ohio State vs. Alabama 2021 Miami $1,626 4. TCU vs. Georgia 2023 Los Angeles $1,072 5. Alabama vs. Georgia 2022 Indianapolis $1,035 ✦ Don't assume the post office knows your vacation or moving schedule! ✦ ALL addresses are cross-referenced with the USPS National Change of Address database. Your home address will be automatically changed to the mailing address on file with the US Postal Service. ✦ Most forwarding requests expire in 60 days and DO NOT include periodical mail. ✦ Issues are discarded at the discretion of the USPS. MOVING? To prevent missed issues, please notify the US Postal Service ASAP and verify your delivery address with your local post office.