NCAAF Top 25 futures: Notre Dame looks forward to a strong season

No. 12 Notre Dame Fighting Irish 2023 Win Total

Over 9 +135 / Under 9 -160

This is another top team that is not expected to repeat recent levels of success. Notre Dame won nine games last season, after five straight seasons with at least 10 wins under Kelly (they have been winning a lot lately). I have to admit that I generally root against the Irish, all I can say is that I have my reasons (and they are totally justifiable). One of them is that they always get the benefit of the doubt. That does not seem to be happening this season based on the market pricing so I am actually a bit intrigued, even though it goes against my nature to root for them. The prices are intriguing. 

Notre Dame kicks off the season by taking on Navy in Dublin, Ireland. The Middies can be tricky sometimes, but that should be a romp if the Irish are truly a top team this season. Notre Dame has no conference affiliation and their schedule is pretty interesting this season. They have three games against Top Ten 10 programs in Clemson, Ohio State, and USC. The latter two are at home but I would expect them to be underdogs in all three of those contests. The rest of the schedule is very manageable, although a trip to Louisville could be tricky since that team projects to be better than a year ago. If they are going to get that over they have to be able to knock off one of the big boys. If you think they can the payoff of that over is enticing. 

Sam Hartman put up great numbers in his career at Wake Forest, but that is no guarantee he will light it up for ND. The Demon Deacons run a totally different kind of offense and he is only going to start in South Bend for this season so they are not going to totally change things up just for him. Still, he is the most competent QB they have had in some time and that will make a big difference. 

On defense, the Irish need to be better if they are going to take down the best teams on their schedule. The best player on the D is probably cornerback Benjamin Morrison. He had six picks last season but interceptions are hard to forecast from year to year. He and fellow corner Cam Hart are going to have to lead the defense from the backend for the team to be better than they were a year ago. 

I hate being aligned with the market, but that is the way to play Notre Dame this season. They are going to be good, maybe very good, but against that schedule with so many elite teams, there is no room for error on that over. The under makes more sense even though there is not much value there.