First and foremost, as they do every year for the postseason, the Irish will have their names on the back of their jerseys. Unlike past navy blue bowl game uniforms, the lettering is solid gold.

Notre Dame will also wear patches featuring the College Football Playoff logo on its chests and the back of its helmets. The former will read “Playoff First Round, Presented By Allstate.” Additionally, the Irish will have a gold patch with the blue “ND” logo and gold numbers reading “24” and “25” on the back of their jerseys, just below the neckline.

Everything else is the same as Notre Dame’s standard home blues: the white numbers with gold trim, the gold “ND” on their shoulder pads, the gold pants with the blue/gold trim “ND” logo at the top.

The Irish and Hoosiers will kick off at 8 p.m. ET on Friday night at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend.

Pete Bevacqua did not care.

He knew Notre Dame would be the No. 5, 6 or 7 seed in the first 12-team College Football Playoff when the field was announced on Dec. 8. He was indifferent as to whether the Irish being independent — and thus missing the chance to improve their résumé by participating in a conference championship game — played a role in their final draw. 

Only one thing mattered to the first-year Notre Dame athletics director.

“I wanted to host a playoff game,” Bevacqua said Tuesday. “After that, I didn’t care.”

That’s been Bevacqua’s goal since the season began and the University’s goal from the beginning, going back to former AD Jack Swarbrick‘s days as one of the key players in designing the 12-team system. And the Irish accomplished that goal in Year 1 of the new format, finishing the regular season with an 11-1 record and earning the No. 7 seed.

Still, questions persisted about the extent to which this would truly be a “home game,” aside from the host site. Notre Dame lost the weather advantage when their draw turned out to be No. 10 Indiana, who will travel to South Bend at 8 p.m. ET on Friday for the first-round battle.

Those questions were amplified when multiple outlets reported that Indiana will have its intro video played before the game. But Bevacqua quelled any concerns in the most emphatic way possible: “It’s going to feel like a Notre Dame home football game.”

“This is not like hosting an NCAA Tournament game in Purcell Pavilion or anywhere else on campus, where it feels like you’re at an NCAA event,” Bevacqua said. “This is made and meant to feel like you’re at a Notre Dame home game, giving us the home-field advantage.”

For the full story, click here: AD Pete Bevacqua on College Football Playoff: ‘It’s going to feel like a Notre Dame home football game’