• Notre Dame Football Results History
• Notre-dame Vs Northwestern Odds

The week of the Notre Dame vs Navy contest in San Diego, a Fighting Irish blogger posted an “original, unique” article (copy/pasted from about 200,000 other blogs) dishing the opinion that Navy is a “worthless” opponent for Notre Dame to keep on the schedule.

As someone who makes it a point to respect service academy teams (as opposed putting a “but they’re still Army/Navy/Air Force though” asterisk on everything) I find such writing reprehensible.

Notre Dame at Northwestern Gambling Odds and Best Pick By Kurt Boyer on October 29, 2018 The week of the Notre Dame vs Navy contest in San Diego, a Fighting Irish blogger posted an “original, unique” article (copy/pasted from about 200,000 other blogs) dishing the opinion that Navy is a “worthless” opponent for Notre Dame to keep on the. Notre Dame has a really good offensive line, an excellent group of tight ends, two good running backs and a solid receiving corps. If Alabama gets to 45, all you need out of Notre Dame is 21.

Notre Dame-Northwestern Betting Odds. Spread: Notre Dame -10.5; Over/Under: 53; Time: 7:15 p.m. ET; TV: ESPN; Before the season, Notre Dame’s trip to Northwestern didn’t seem like one of its toughest tests on a schedule filled with land mines.

1. Northwestern Total Pick. 4 Notre Dame take its offense on the road and pick up a high total when it faces Northwestern on Saturday at 7:15PM ET? Game Snapshot & Odds. 355 Notre Dame at 356 Northwestern. Saturday, November 3, 2018. 7:15PM ET – Ryan Field.
2. Northwestern vs Notre Dame: Vegas Odds and Analysis. Saturday’s underdogs allowed a mediocre Michigan State offense 400+ combined yards on the following weekend, while the Northwestern run-blocking effort hit its low point against the Spartans. But somehow the Wildcats won by 10 points on the road, Thorsen coming alive with 3 touchdown passes.

Yes, it’s unfortunate for UND to have to play any struggling mid-major teams in a year in which the Irish are unbeaten and could potentially reach the College Football Playoff. But some rivalries and traditions are too good to quit, which is why Notre Dame has made the right choice to continue the series. Navy is usually an excellent team and will rebound from its current 2-6 campaign.

On the other hand, maybe it’s a blessing that a few easy opponents are on the Gold & Blue schedule. All pundits agree that if Brian Kelly’s squad goes undefeated all season, it will earn a spot in the 4-team playoff in January. The #1 goal shouldn’t be to schedule Alabama, LSU and Clemson next year to make the schedule fatter (and more dangerous). Instead, the Irish will be just fine if they keep beating whoever is in front of them.

This Saturday’s opponent, however, could be a doozy.

The Northwestern Wildcats of the Big Ten are at a very solid 5-3, having beaten Purdue, Michigan State and Wisconsin and managed a 4-game winning streak after a September slide. They’ll host Notre Dame on Saturday at the same field on which the Badgers fell by 2 touchdowns last weekend.

Notre Dame at Northwestern: Sportsbook Odds and Analysis

Our friends at Sportsbetting.ag had an extremely-brief hiccup last week, preventing me from using the book’s lines on at least one preview in particular. But overall the site is one of the best and most reliable out there, and while the soccer odds may include a lot of Asian Handicaps (the bane of my very existence) the (American) football lines at the sports betting site are usually straightforward.

But not many books put out moneylines first thing on Monday morning. Some odds-makers want to wait and see more of the injury reports from last Saturday and early-week practice. Others likely want to see which direction the betting action will move the point spread before offering additional markets. Over/Under totals can be equally hard to find very early in the week, which is why most of my O/U picks tend to fall later in the week as well.

So we’ll confine ourselves to a couple of Vegas lines for now. Sportsbetting.ag has opened ATS betting on Northwestern vs UND by taking (-8) points away from the Irish. The consensus opening moneyline out of Sin City is (-320) on the 8-0 favorites and (+265) on an underdog win.

And what about those injuries? Neither team is exceptionally banged-up, though head coaches would always disagree. Notre Dame’s Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa won’t play on the defensive line, but he’s been out almost since the 2018 season began.

Northwestern is a little bruised in the RB ranks, but of bigger concern to bettors might be the health and effectiveness level of PK Drew Luckenbaugh. He’s a walk-on replacement for injured starter Charlie Kuhbander and is listed as probable for Saturday’s scrum, but the injury seems so minor that no Wildcat beat writers or bloggers are bothering to bring it up…at least not yet.

You’re 5 Foot Nothin’ and 100 and Nothin’

It’s somewhat ironic that Luckenbaugh, a Cinderella-story kicker out of Spring Grove, PA, will be competing against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. The in-step specialist has been compared to “Rudy,” the slow, under-sized UND icon Brian Ruettiger who labored for years on the Irish scout team before finally getting in a game and getting a tackle-for-loss against Georgia Tech to end the season.

For those who haven’t seen the movie, Rudy is played as an almost-perfect kid (though clumsy with women) who is nearly struck down by the evil presence of then-Notre Dame head coach Dan Devine who is portrayed in the movie as a cartoon villain. That’s probably because Rudy himself oversaw the production of the film. As Hollywood tells it, his only friend in the entire UND program was a groundskeeper (played in a phoned-in performance by Charles S. Dutton) who uses lots of double, triple, and quadruple negatives whenever he speaks. “Rudy, you ain’t got nothin’ to prove to nobody but yourself, and if you ain’t not haven’t done that by now, it ain’t gonna never happen!”

There’s only one problem. As any good Ramblin’ Wreck fan will tell you, Rudy was offsides.

It’s difficult for a placekicker to jump offsides given where he lines up on the kickoff and on field goal and XP attempts, so Northwestern’s “Rudy” will hopefully play a little more within the rules…and he will probably get a real job after college instead of spending the rest of his days making a movie about himself.

But jokes aside, if Northwestern can’t out-play Notre Dame on special teams, what advantages can the hosts hope to work with on Saturday evening?

Losing the TO Battle, Winning the Wars

When you think of upstart, spoiler programs in the Big Ten and other major conferences, a few general characteristics come to mind. Maybe the team is very physical and super-responsible on the field like the Iowa Hawkeyes, who pistol-whipped Ohio State to drop the Buckeyes from the ranks of the unbeaten. Or maybe Mississippi State, a team without an elite passer that nevertheless moves the chains and plays tough defense.

You certainly don’t think of a surprise 5-and-3 squad turning it over left and right.

But Northwestern is winning in spite of QB Clayton Thorsen’s TD-to-INT ratio, which is currently at an even 10-10…an absolutely horrible number in modern football. Thorsen tossed 3 picks in last week’s 31-17 triumph over Wisconsin, and he’s certainly not making up for it in the ground game like Nick Fitzgerald of MSU. The slow-footed QB’s running stats are a big fat negative on the season.

It’s not as if the Wildcats have a crushing ground game to buoy Thorsen. The team is averaging a poor 2.6 yards per carry.

So how is Northwestern winning games against quality programs? The answer is that there’s no single formula. The ‘Cats are simply finding ways to scrape out victories on a weekly basis. They hung around for 4 quarters against Michigan in a 20-17 home loss, thanks mostly to a stubborn defense.

The squad allowed a mediocre Michigan State offense 400+ combined yards on the following weekend, while the Northwestern run-blocking effort hit its low point against the Spartans. But somehow the Wildcats won by 10 points on the road, Thorsen coming alive with 3 touchdown passes.

Northwestern put out another uneven performance last weekend against ailing Wisconsin. The Badgers rushed for over 5 yards per carry while Thorson served-up gimmes to visiting DBs. But frosh running back Isaiah Bowser, whose family apparently took its surname from the Super Mario Brothers villain, had his 2nd 100-yard game in a row as the Wildcat defense did its own number on Wisconsin QB Jack Coan and a frustrated group of Badger receivers.

The program from Chicago might be the most unpredictable handicap in college football this season. They can run the ball, except when they can’t at all. They can pass, but often pass it right to the other team. Defense is hot and cold, and the special teams is led by a walk-on….who has connected on 4 out of 5 field goal attempts so far.

It’s one thing to prove the experts wrong, but another to prove them right and still win anyway.

However, unless the Wildcats can put it all together on all 3 units this weekend, they’re unlikely to challenge a #3 ranked powerhouse that may be under-valued thanks to a pair of closer-than-expected results over the last 2 weeks.

The Northwestern fight song is hummable, and fans are hoping that Notre Dame players get it stuck in their head after giving up home-team touchdowns. Instead, I’m thinking a different song might be repeated ad-nauseum by a marching band (confined to the seats) in Week 10.

“Cheers, cheers for old Notre Dame…”

You Get the Whiskey, I’ll Get the Wine

It’s important for bettors to know when to stop under-estimating a top team.

Personally, I thought Michigan was going to beat UND in Week 1. It didn’t happen – instead the Fighting Irish defense humiliated Jim Harbaugh’s souped-up 2018 offense as seniors Jerry Tillery and Te’von Coney lived in the Wolverine backfield.

Then the Irish barely slipped past teams like Ball State and Vanderbilt for a couple weeks. Again, they were written off as an eventual loser who would fall to better competition. Instead, Notre Dame romped over Stanford and Virginia Tech. What junior QB Ian Book has taken away from the running game (coaches do not want him running as often or as aggressively as Brandon Wimbush) he adds with his passing arm. Kelly’s new starter behind center has hit some roadblocks against rivals Pittsburgh and Navy over the past 2 games, but he has also thrown just 12 incompletions on around 70 attempts over the last 8 quarters. His accuracy gives the offense a new dimension.

Finally, what about those final scores against Pitt and the Navy Midshipmen? Sure, the Irish let down in the 3rd quarter against the Middies, but the 44-22 tally was deceptive. Navy was playing for pride in the 2nd half after getting blown away in the 1st half.

Notre Dame has proven this year that close results against tough, if not elite Power-5 teams (and even the occasional mid-major) is not much to worry about. The point-scoring is ready to cycle upward again.

My Prediction and Best Bet for Northwestern vs Notre Dame

The point spread is too thin. Northwestern has found ways to hang around and win games, especially at home, but the Wildcats can’t do it against a well-balanced and more athletic team on a hot streak.

Expect the Irish to give their best effort and dismiss the ‘Cats by the 4th frame.

Derek Mason Vanderbilt

Championship Week has arrived in college football and at least three of the title games will directly shape the College Football Playoff field. In the Big Ten Championship Game No. 4 Ohio State is favored by 18.5 points against No. 14 Northwestern, according to the Week 16 college football odds from William Hill Sportsbook. Top-ranked Alabama is -17 against No. 7 Florida in the SEC Championship Game. No. 2 Notre Dame is a 10.5-point underdog against No. 3 Clemson in the ACC Championship Game.

No. 5 Texas A&M (-14) vs. Tennessee and No. 9 Cincinnati (-14.5) vs. No. 23 Tulsa are among other games on the Week 16 college football schedule that could impact the playoff picture if there's chaos elsewhere. Which lines should you target in your Championship Week college football bets? Before locking in any college football picks for Championship Week, be sure to see the latest college football predictions and betting advice from SportsLine's proven model.

The SportsLine Projection Model simulates every FBS college football game 10,000 times. Over the past four-plus years, the proprietary computer model has generated a stunning profit of over $3,500 for $100 players on its top-rated college football picks against the spread. It is a sizzling 54-34 on all top-rated picks through 15 weeks of the 2020 college football season, returning over $600 in profit already. Anybody who has followed it is way up.

Now, it has turned its attention to the latest college football odds for Championship Week from William Hill and locked in picks for every FBS matchup. Head here to see every pick.

Top Championship Week college football predictions

One of the top Championship Week college football picks the model is recommending: No. 14 Northwestern (+18.5) keeps it within the spread against No. 4 Ohio State in the 2020 Big Ten Championship Game on Saturday at noon ET. The Wildcats were 6-1 against the spread this season. They also covered both times they were listed as underdogs.

Ohio State, meanwhile, failed to cover in two of its last three games. The model shows the Wildcats holding Justin Fields to around 250 passing yards as they cover in over 50 percent of simulations. The under (55.5), meanwhile, hits almost 70 percent of the time.

Another one of the Championship Week predictions from the model: the No. 24 San Jose State Spartans (+6.5) stay within the spread in the 2020 Mountain West Championship Game against Boise State in a 4 p.m. ET kickoff in Las Vegas on Saturday. Oddsmakers have regularly underestimated San Jose State this season. The Spartans have cruised to a 6-0 record against the spread and they've covered with a lot of room to spare in their last two games against Nevada and Hawaii.

Boise State, meanwhile, is 3-3 against the spread and has failed to cover in its last two games. The Spartans rank second in the Mountain West in scoring defense (17.5 ppg) and the model predicts that they'll be able to contain Boise State's offense enough to keep this one competitive. SJSU quarterback Nick Starkel also throws for around 250 yards as the Spartans keep it within the spread more than 50 percent of the time.

How to make Championship Week college football picks

The model has also made the call on who wins and covers in every other Championship Week FBS matchup, and it is calling for a shocking upset in one of the conference title games. You can only get every pick for every game at SportsLine.

So what college football picks can you make with confidence? And which underdog should you be all over? Check out the latest college football odds for some of the week's most notable games below, then visit SportsLine to see which teams win and cover the spread, all from a proven computer model that has returned over $3,500 in profit over the past four-plus seasons, and find out.

Championship Week college football odds (via William Hill)

Saturday, Dec. 19

Big Ten Championship: Northwestern vs. Ohio State (-18.5)

SEC Championship: Alabama vs. Florida (+17)

Big 12 Championship: Iowa State vs. Oklahoma (-6)

ACC Championship: Clemson vs. Notre Dame (+10.5)

AAC Championship: Tulsa vs. Cincinnati (-14)

Mountain West Championship: Boise State vs. San Jose State (+6.5)

Florida State vs. Wake Forest (-7)

Texas A&M vs. Tennessee (+14)

Washington State vs. Utah (-10.5)

Air Force vs. Army (-5.5)

Notre Dame Football Results History

Ole Miss vs. LSU (-1.5)

Missouri vs. Mississippi State (+1.5)

Notre-dame Vs Northwestern Odds

Minnesota vs. Wisconsin (-11)

Penn State vs. Illinois (+14.5)

Stanford vs. UCLA (-7)

Arizona State vs. Oregon State (+7)