Notre Dame 2018 Betting Odds
- To win the National Title: +4500
- To make College Football Playoff: +650
- To make a NY6 Bowl: -110
- Win Total: 9.5 (over +115, under -135)
Always shop for the best line.
Notre Dame 2018 Schedule, Betting Odds
The Action Network Projected Wins: 9.7
Bet To Watch
Notre Dame to make a New Year's Six Bowl -110
Ask two different consumers about Notre Dame's 2018 season and you may get two completely different projections.
The good: first in defensive returning production, the talented Ian Book backing up quarterback Brandon Wimbush and a top-20 kicker in his fourth year.
The bad: NFL losses at running back and offensive line, defensive coordinator Mike Elko leaving for Texas A&M and a secondary that ranked 97th in havoc.
Last season, Notre Dame looked like a College Football Playoff contender against USC and like a Music City Bowl team against Miami.
The Irish are just tough to predict.
After opening the season as a home underdog to Michigan, the schedule gets even trickier as the season moves on, with only two home games after the month of September.
The good news is the toughest games come in South Bend (Michigan, Stanford and Florida State), which is much different than 2017, when Notre Dame got blown out on the road a few times.
The loss of Elko, the defensive coordinator, is worth noting, but his replacement, Clark Lea, had worked under Elko all the way back in 2012 at Bowling Green. Lea is capable of running an Elko defense. The bigger challenge is creating havoc immediately against quarterback Shea Patterson and Michigan.
I am wagering on Notre Dame to make a New Year's Six Bowl -110 as my Irish future. The infusion of Patterson could make Michigan the best team Notre Dame plays all season, and a loss in that spot might get my attention for an Irish national title future, but the safer bet is taking the Irish to sweep in South Bend. That should guarantee a high ranking in the College Football Playoff and a trip to a New Year's Six Bowl.
What else you need to know about Notre Dame
With Pac-12 previews still to come, I will dispense with any suspense and say that USC will have a rough season. The Trojans' highest power rating might come in the preseason, before the rest of the nation sees that Utah and Arizona are legit contenders in the South. Even if the Trojans win the Pac-12 South, they would face a lookahead spot Nov. 24 against Notre Dame the week before the Pac-12 Championship Game.
The big area where Notre Dame can be beaten is in the secondary, which is why I think a team such as Michigan has a much better shot than USC to defeat the Irish.
>> All odds as of Aug. 13. Download The Action Network App to get real-time college football odds and track your bets.
Take the current Notre Dame +1, as the Irish should have all the motivation to make a case for the College Football Playoff.
