Riley Leonard and Will Howard, the soon-to-be starting quarterbacks at Notre Dame and Ohio State, attended the famed Manning Passing Academy at Nicholls State over the summer. They were roommates, getting ready for the pressure cooker of big-time college football at two of the biggest brands in the sport.

Quarterbacks Will Howard of Ohio State and Riley Leonard of Notre Dame will put their friendship on hold for one night to play for a national championship.

Neither QB was ranked in the top 600 nationally. Leonard signed with Duke, Howard with Kansas State. Here's the backstory.

Ohio State's Will Howard and Notre Dame's Riley Leonard will meet in the national title game, months after they were roommates at a prestigious camp.

Ohio State had a couple snoozers to start things off as they dominated their first two CFP games. Ohio State blew out Tennessee at home in the first round as they won 42-17, and then they smoked one seed Oregon in the quarterfinals as it was 31-0 halfway through the second quarter. They cruised to a 41-21 win.