Notre Dame’s Marcus Freeman or Penn State’s James Franklin will become the first Black coach to lead a team into the national title game at college football’s highest level.

Thursday and Friday’s College Football Playoff semifinals have the potential to be some of the most exciting in years with Notre Dame taking on Penn State and Ohio State going to Texas to face the Longhorns.

Either Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman, left, or Penn State head coach James Franklin, posing with the Orange Bowl trophy on Wednesday in Dania Beach, Fla., will make history by reaching the College Football Playoff championship game. It’s taken 17 years, but college football is finally having its Super Bowl 41 moment.

The winner of Thursday's semifinal will become the first Black head coach to advance its team to a national title game.

On Thursday's edition of ESPN's " College GameDay ," analyst Desmond Howard reacted to the historic feat. "I remember sitting there with my children and I'm saying, 'You know what this means, right?'" Howard said. " They were like, 'We're going to have a Black coach in the national championship game for the first time ever.'"

Notre Dame's coach remains focused on his team's performance despite making history of his own at the Orange Bowl

Buy tickets here The first ever 12-team College Football Playoff wraps up on Monday ... after college hoops and 18 years after Tony Dungy broke the same barrier in the NFL (in the same stadium ...

None of the four coaches left in the College Football Playoff have won a national title ... “It just kind of makes me think of when Tony Dungy and Lovie Smith played in Super Bowl XXXXI in 2007 — that was the first Super Bowl featuring a Black head ...

In line with the 12-team playoff's historic nature, the CFP semifinals feature a matchup that will guarantee more history in the national championship game.

It was Tony Dungy’s Indianapolis Colts against Lovie Smith ... in the Orange Bowl at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, it will be a College Football Playoff semifinal matchup that features two Black head coaches. The winner, in turn, will be the first Black coach ...

After Notre Dame beat Penn State, Marcus Freeman will be the first Black coach in college football's national championship game.