Notre Dame Football Preseason Predictions And Betting Odds Tracker
When Notre Dame joined the ACC and learned its new schedule for the 2020 season, the immediate reaction was it had a manageable path to reaching the title game.
Most national writers’ preseason predictions and oddsmakers see it the same way. Preseason polls say Notre Dame, the No. 10 team in the Associated Press poll itself, will play only two ranked opponents — both in November. It’s a favorable mix for Notre Dame's bid for a fourth straight 10-win season.
Here is a look at how several sportsbooks and national media outlets view Notre Dame’s 2020 potential.
Betting Lines
National title: VegasInsider.com gives Notre Dame 16/1 odds to win the national title, tied with Texas for the sixth-best odds. Clemson (2/1), Alabama (3/1), Georgia (4/1), Florida (12/1) and Oklahoma (12/1) are the only teams who have better odds.
ACC title: VegasInsider has Notre Dame with the second-best odds to win the ACC, at 5/1, behind Clemson’s 2/7. William Hill Sportsbook set the Irish ACC champion odds at 13/2, or +650, also behind only Clemson. SportsBettingDime.com had the odds lower, at 10/1, but gave Notre Dame 5/2 odds to appear in the conference title game.
Heisman Trophy: VegasInsider gave Irish quarterback Ian Book the sixth-highest Heisman Odds, at +2000, or 20/1. He is behind five other quarterbacks who will play this fall: Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence, Miami’s D’Eriq King, Oklahoma’s Spencer Rattler, LSU’s Myles Brennan and Auburn’s Bo Nix. Georgia’s Jamie Newman and Ohio State’s Justin Fields are also above Book, but Ohio State is not playing and Newman opted out. SportsBettingDime gave Book 35/1 odds.
Win totals: VegasInsider set Notre Dame’s over/under win total at nine. SportsBettingDime put it at eight.
Predictions
CBS Sports: Seven panelists predicted the standings, and all but one had Notre Dame finishing second. Jerry Palm had the Irish third, behind unanimous first-place Clemson and North Carolina.
The staff bold predictions heavily featured Notre Dame. Three of them predicted Notre Dame would beat Clemson in their Nov. 7 regular-season meeting. CBS’ Ben Kercheval predicted a Pitt upset of the Irish, while Tom Fornelli wrote he sees Clemson and Notre Dame as the only ACC teams with fewer than three losses. Palm predicts this one-year sojourn will lead Notre Dame to full-time ACC membership.
Sporting News: Notre Dame was picked second, behind Clemson, with North Carolina following.
“The schedule is friendly leading up to November showdowns against Clemson (Nov. 7) and North Carolina (Nov. 27),” SN's Bill Bender wrote. “What if Notre Dame uses the ACC championship to vault back into the College Football Playoff? It's one of the more interesting hypotheticals to think about from all angles.”
Athlon Sports: Three panelists picked the game-by-game results: Steve Lassan and Jon Kinne have Notre Dame at 9-2, with losses to North Carolina and Clemson, while Mark Ross picked Notre Dame to go 10-1 and lose only to Clemson.
“The Irish have some question marks on their roster, but their overall talent level and track record under Brian Kelly immediately make them arguably the Tigers' biggest threat to their ACC supremacy,” Ross wrote. “As long as Notre Dame can avoid any slip-ups and handle a couple of tough road tests, fans should get not one, but two helpings of Irish vs. Tigers this season, the latter taking place in Charlotte.”
Urban Meyer: The former national title winner and one-time Irish assistant sees Notre Dame reaching the College Football Playoff.
"I'm all in on the Notre Dame bandwagon," Meyer said in a FOX Sports roundtable discussion. "Notre Dame will be favored in all but one (game), it's in a conference that's struggling and the SEC will beat each other up. At the end of the day I believe Notre Dame and Clemson will be standing tall in the playoff.
"Notre Dame has an excellent coach, a very strong culture and he's recruited well. In the preseason we talked about strong culture, returning offensive system and returning quarterback. Check the marks. I know they've gone through (offensive coordinators), but that's Brian Kelly's offense, and it should be. He's that good of a coach."
----
• Learn more about our print and digital publication, Blue & Gold Illustrated.
• Watch our videos and subscribe to our YouTube channel
• Sign up for Blue & Gold's news alerts and daily newsletter
• Subscribe to our podcast on iTunes
• Follow us on Twitter: @BGINews, @BGI_LouSomogyi, @Rivals_Singer, @PatrickEngel_, @MasonPlummer_ and @AndrewMentock.
• Like us on Facebook.