Who is refereeing CFP championship game? SEC officiating crew assigned Ohio State-Notre Dame
Editor's note: Follow Ohio State vs. Notre Dame live updates, scores and highlights from the national championship game.
The College Football Playoff comes to a close Monday night in Atlanta with two of college football's titans squaring off in the national championship game.
No. 7 Notre Dame and No. 8 Ohio State will meet up against each other at 7:30 p.m. ET on Monday, Jan. 20 inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium for the right to hoist the CFP championship trophy — a moment that would put a closing chapter on a journey that started this time last year for both teams.
Ohio State is playing for its first national championship title since 2014, while Notre Dame is playing for its first since 1988.
To make it to Atlanta, Ohio State had to defeat No. 9 Tennessee at home in the first round, No. 1 Oregon in the CFP Rose Bowl quarterfinal and most recently No. 5 Texas in the CFP Cotton Bowl semifinal. A win on Monday would cap off an impressive four-game bounce back for Ryan Day's Buckeyes since their upset to Big Ten rival Michigan on Nov. 30 at home.
As for the Irish, Notre Dame had to defeat No. 10 Indiana at home in the first round, No. 2 Georgia in the CFP Sugar Bowl quarterfinal and most recently No. 6 Penn State in the CFP Orange Bowl semifinal. Similarly to the Buckeyes, a Notre Dame win at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Monday would give Marcus Freeman's squad their 14th straight win since their upset at home to Northern Illinois in Week 2.
Here's what you need to know about who is serving as the officiating crew for Monday's CFP championship game between Ohio State and Notre Dame:
What conference's referees are working the CFP championship game?
Monday's College Football Playoff championship game between No. 7 Notre Dame and No. 8 Ohio State will be worked by an SEC crew.
Per the CFP website, it is the first time that an SEC crew is working the national championship game since the start of the CFP era in 2014.
As noted by FootballZebras.com, crew assignments for all CFP games are "made in coordination with the College Football Playoff administration." The reason it is a SEC crew is, the ACC and Big 12 had crews working the CFP semifinals and the Big Ten was removed from consideration because of Ohio State. Notre Dame, of course, is not affiliated with a conference as it competes as an independent in football.
As noted by the Action Network's Brett McMurphy on X (formerly Twitter), the SEC crew that is working Monday's championship game also worked the CFP Fiesta Bowl quarterfinal between No. 3 Boise State and No. 6 Penn State.
Officiating crew for CFP championship game
Here's a full position-by-position breakdown of Monday's CFP championship game officiating crew, per FootballZebras.com:
- Referee: Steve Marlowe
- Umpire: Brent Sowell
- Head judge: Chad Green
- Line judge: Jeremiah Harris
- Field judge: Phillip Davenport
- Side judge: Justin Larrew
- Back judge: Keith Parham
- Center judge: Jason McArthur
- Alternate: David Smith
- Replay official: John Allmond
- CO: Bryan Greenwood
The Paste BN app gets you to the heart of the news — fast. Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more.