Notre Dame vs. Alabama live stream: Watch the Rose Bowl right now

The Notre Dame vs. Alabama live stream is about to begin, and the race for the national title is on. We're down to four teams facing each other in a postseason playoff, with the winners squaring off in the national championship on Jan. 11 in Miami Gardens, Florida.

First, though, come the semifinals led by Notre Dame vs. Alabama in the Rose Bowl. The Fighting Irish are a controversial addition to the NCAA championship picture leap-frogging undefeated teams thanks to a strong schedule. Notre Dame hopes to pull an upset over Alabama, which is looking for its first national championship since 2017. And oddsmakers currently favor Alabama by a hefty 19.5 points. 

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The Notre Dame vs. Alabama game is officially the Rose Bowl, though the game is being moved from its traditional home in Pasadena, Calif., to Arlington, Texas, as COVID-19 restrictions would prevent fans from attending the game in California. The winner of this game faces the winner of Clemson vs. Ohio State in the Jan. 11 title game.

It's easy to find a Notre Dame vs. Alabama live stream no matter where you are in the world. We'll show you where you can watch the game and give you options for using a VPN to find the live stream available in your area.

How to use a VPN to live stream Notre Dame vs. Alabama

If you're not living in an area where a Notre Dame vs. Alabama live stream is readily available, a virtual private network, or VPN, can come to your rescue. With a VPN, you can make it seem as if you're surfing the web from anywhere in the world, which can give you access to live streams that might not otherwise be available to you.

We've tested many different options, and our pick for the best VPN overall is ExpressVPN. Based on our testing, ExpressVPN offers superb speeds and excellent customer service.

ExpressVPN: We think the speed, security and simplicity make ExpressVPN second to none. During our tests, we saw fast connection times, and we're impressed by the service's ability to access more than 3,000 services spread out across 160 locations in 94 countries. There's a 30-day money-back guarantee if you're not satisfied.

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Notre Dame vs. Alabama live streams in the U.S.

ESPN has the rights to air both of college football's semi-final playoff games, and so you'll find Notre Dame vs. Alabama on ESPN. The game kicks off on Friday, Jan. 1.

If you've got a cable or satellite TV subscription, you can live stream Notre Dame vs. Alabama on ESPN's website. The network also lets you stream coverage from its mobile app (Android, iOS). However, you'll have to sign in with your cable provider's login info, so this approach is a non-starter for anyone who's dropped their cable TV service.

Instead, you could sign up for a streaming TV service that includes ESPN in its package of channels. Top options include two of our favorites — Sling TV and Fubo.TV.

Sling.TV: Pay $30 a month for Sling's Orange package, and you'll get ESPN along with 24 other channels. A promotion at Sling right now takes $10 off your first month of service.

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Fubo.TV: ESPN and its family of channels is now included with Fubo, which costs $65 a month. A 7-day free trial lets you try out the service, and a cloud DVR feature lets you record programs to watch later.

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Notre Dame vs. Alabama live streams in the U.K.

College football fans in the U.K. can tune into BT Sport ESPN at 9 p.m. GMT to watch Notre Dame vs. Alabama. You can get BT Sport through BT as well as an add-on to Sky. BT Sport subscribers are able to stream Notre Dame vs. Alabama on the BT Sport website or by using the channel's dedicated app (Android, iOS). A monthly BT Sport pass will cost you £25.

Notre Dame vs. Alabama live streams in Canada

TSN carries the Notre Dame vs. Alabama game in Canada, with coverage kicking off at 4 p.m. ET.