$20 million jackpot for Marcus Freeman's program as Notre Dame crushes Penn State in Orange Bowl

The Marcus Freeman-coached Notre Dame Fighting Irish overcame the Penn State Nittany Lions in the Orange Bowl 27-24 on Thursday to proceed to the national championship game. The Fighting Irish became the first team in college football history to win two bowl games in the same postseason after their victory in front of a sellout crowd at Hard Rock Stadium.

The Fighting Irish made further history by reaching the national championship game. Teams that reach the natty game are usually awarded $20 million, which is shared with teams in their conference, but due to Notre Dame's independent status, the Fighting Irish will get to keep the whole pot.

The news was broken by sports finance expert Joe Pompliano on X.

"Now that Notre Dame is in the national championship game, they are guaranteed to take home $20 million from this year's College Football Playoff. And since they are an independent football program, they get to keep every single dollar of that for themselves. Crazy," Pompliano tweeted.

Notre Dame's independence attacked

Not everyone is happy with the Fighting Irish staying independent. During his weekly news conference, embattled Penn State Nittany Lions coach James Franklin took a subtle shot at the program for its status.

"This is no knock to ND, but I think everyone should be in a conference," Franklin said. "Things need to be consistent."

Franklin was not the only one who attacked the Fighting Irish's independence. During Wednesday's segment of "First Take," ESPN analyst Paul Finebaum called coach Marcus Freeman's team "arrogant" for not joining a conference.

“What I don't like about Notre Dame is the arrogance that they're too good for everyone else," Finebaum said. "By the way, Stephen A. (Smith), you know where ND is in basketball? You know where they are in all the other sports? They're in the ACC. And guess what happened during COVID, Doggy?

"When N.D was out in the cold with nowhere to go, the ACC let them into the league for one year and they played in the championship game and they got in the playoffs. So that really rubbed me the wrong way.

"Then when the ACC said, 'Hey, you want to play football in the ACC?' They already play five conference games a year. That's mandated by their agreement. They said, 'No, we're good.' That's what I don't like.”

The Fighting Irish are one of the biggest brands in the country and have so far resisted the winds of change that have blown through college sports, forcing teams into conference expansion and realignment moves.