Snow buffeted South Bend, Indiana, overnight and into Friday morning as (7) Notre Dame prepares to host its first-ever College Football Playoff game against in-state foe (10) Indiana. Temperatures aren’t expected to rise past 33 degrees and will only plummet throughout the day towards kickoff.
On Friday, Notre Dame posted a visual on social media that had Notre Dame Stadium looking like a winter wonderland just hours before the Irish and Hoosiers kick off the 12-team CFP era.
Though a majority of the snow has passed, flurries and periodic showers are forecasted through the rest of the day. Temperatures could drop as low as 30 degrees by 8 p.m. ET with a “real-feel” temperature in the teens, per data collected from the National Weather Service.
So while Notre Dame’s grounds crew will have plenty of time to clear the field and stands inside Notre Dame Stadium, frigid conditions could still impact the matchup. Fortunately, both teams are well-adjusted to the cold.
Indiana quarterback Kurtis Rourke hails from Canada, so he’s likely used to much worse. As for Notre Dame, even though the Fighting Irish boast plenty of players from the southern United States and other areas where temperatures don’t often drop below freezing, snow games are nothing new — especially since late-November temps can drop quite low in northern Indiana.
