The 12-team College Football Playoff field is set. Notre Dame gets a No. 7 seed and a home game against No. 10 Indiana. Did the selection committee get it right? How could the format be tweaked, even now, to better improve the process/product?

What about the weather? Tickets? Hotels? We discuss everything that surrounds the first-ever CFP post-season game at Notre Dame Stadium on Friday, December 20 game - but not the game itself. That hype train will pick up serious steam next week.

For now, we look back on the 2024 regular-season finale against USC and take a peek and what the next week holds for the Irish.

We go Army heavy in this week's Pod as No. 6 Notre Dame (9-1) hosts No. 17 Army (9-0) at Yankee Stadium as part of the Shamrock Series game. We talk with Ken Kraetzer of the West Point Football Report on what makes the Black Knights so dangerous this season - it's more than just quarterback Bryson Daily, who's really good. We also talk former Granger, Indiana resident Richard Cacioppe, author of the book “Black Knights and Fighting Irish: A Rivalry, a Game, and America One Year After the End of World War II” about what this rivalry once was so many years ago.

We briefly review the Virginia game (particularly the fake punt call), muster up a Pod of Old that included a memorable escape against Army in the Meadowlands in 1995 (the Ivory Covington game), and close with one hot take and one prediction for this weekend's game.

NDI's Tom Noie and Mike Berardino and WNDU's Jackson Neill preview this week's game against Virginia, review the win over Florida State, talk College Football Playoff rankings, take a trip down Memory Lane with our Pod of Old segment, answer the question of the week and spend some time with former Notre Dame quarterback Brandon Wimbush on a variety of topics.

Wimbush touches on life in the spotlight as the Notre Dame quarterback, on if he had as much play-calling/changing freedom as Riley Leonard and how Leonard has adjusted to being the Irish starting quarterback.

We close with one hot take and hot prediction from each of the three hosts heading into Senior Day at Notre Dame Stadium. 

NDI columnist Tom Noie, beat writer Mike Berardino and WNDU sports coordinator open this episode by recapping what the first College Football Playoffs rankings show means to Notre Dame and its chances of possibly even hosting a first-round playoff game.

We (somewhat reluctantly) preview this weekend's game against a Florida State team that has the look of a team that long gave up trying to compete. Why are the Seminoles this baaaaaaad?

We recap Notre Dame's previous game against Navy and take a trip down Memory Lane in our latest Pod of Old, which really isn't that old. Keep listening to our Pod of Gold question of the week before we close the show with our hot takes (for what will be a cold night) and a prediction for Saturday's game. 

In this episode, South Bend Tribune columnist Tom Noie, beat writer Mike Berardino and WNDU sports coordinator Jackson Neill preview Saturday's matchup with No. 24 Navy and the problems the Midshipmen present as an undefeated and ranked opponent.

They also recap the Georgia Tech game, including the out-of-left-field commentary/opinions offered by the ESPN crew about how Notre Dame needed to score style points for College Football Playoff consideration.

This week's Pod of Old segment looks back on a big road win over Florida State, 22 years to the day on Saturday which got the Irish thinking of a national championship.

Our guest interview is Don Doxsie, author of “Elmer Layden: Notre Dame’s Quiet Hero.” The question of the week centers on, what else, the Irish quarterback situation.

We close the show by offering one hot take (or two or three) and a prediction for Saturday's game against Navy at MetLife Stadium.

NDI columnist Tom Noie and beat writer Mike Berardino and WNDU sports coordinator Jackson Neill open the show by previewing Saturday's neutral-site game against Georgia Tech, and what it means in terms of a possible path back toward a College Football Playoff berth. We also bury the lead by discussing a possible season-swinging injury to a key Notre Dame captain.

The Stanford game is recapped - briefly - because this one wasn't much of a game after Notre Dame trailed 7-0, then scored 49 unanswered points. Our Pod of Old is a look back at a classic - Notre Dame 31, Miami 30 in 1998.

Our special guest Gene Watson, director of player devleopment for the Chicago White Sox, stops by to talk his love for Notre Dame football and his 25 years spent in baseball. We close the show with each of the three hosts offering one hot take and a prediction for Saturday's game against Georgia Tech in downtown Atlanta.

 

In this special edition of Pod of Gold, NDI columnist Tom Noie and Irish beat writer Mike Berardino and WNDU sports coordinator Jackson Neill stray from the usual pod script.

The three preview Stanford (a little bit) and touch on the Notre Dame football news of the week (injuries, depth chart, Georgia Tech kick time, etc.) before welcoming former NFL defensive lineman Marc Spindler, the father of Irish offensive guard Rocco Spindler, for a special conversation.

Marc Spindler touches on his role as a father to a college football player, what college football player looks like now (he doesn't recognize it), his son's touching promise to his Marc's father (Rocco's grandfather) and what his son attending Notre Dame means to him every time Marc Spindler steps on campus.

We asked Marc Spindler for 15 minutes, but talked with him for 30. It could've gone 90.

The pod closes with each reporter offering one hot take and one prediction for Saturday's game.

NDI's Tom Noie and Mike Berardino and WNDU's Jackson Neill preview a critical/key (big) home game against Louisville for Notre Dame, which has won two straight. They recap the less-than-appealing home win over Miami (Ohio) and recap the latest depth chart changes, injury news and roster movement.

In the weekly Pod of Old segment, they look back on the 2019 Notre Dame victory at Louisville, the first game the program ever played in the state of Kentucky.

Finally, it's hot take and prediction time. Does anyone think Notre Dame won't win this one? Tune it and find out.

In this episode, Tom Noie, Mike Berardino and Jackon Neill set the stage for Notre Dame's home game against Miami (Ohio) - can the Irish handle success two weeks in a row. They look back on the wipeout of Purdue and rewind to this week's Pod of Old - Notre Dame's road win in 1996 at Texas in the final seconds thanks to the right leg of Jim Sanson.

Author Mark O. Hubbard joins them to discuss his authorized biography on Notre Dame legend Ara Parseghian. They close with the question of the week before hot takes and predictions for the Miami (Ohio) game.

SOUTH BEND — How does Notre Dame football pick itself up from the canvas after a stunning blow from Northern Illinois last Saturday. Well, it starts with taking out that frustration from its unthinkable 16-14 loss to the Huskies on Purdue Saturday.

Kickoff on CBS is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. at Ross-Ade Stadium in West Lafayette.

South Bend Tribune Notre Dame football beat writers Tom Noie and Mike Berardino, along with WNDU sports director Jackson Neill, unpack the stunning loss to NIU and breakdown Saturday's game against the Boilermakers (1-0) on this week's Pod of Gold Notre Dame football podcast.

Special guest this week is Sam King, Purdue football beat writer for the Lafayette Journal & Courier. This week's show was recorded in the studios of news gathering partner WNDU.