CFB Futures – 2024 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Win Total Odds

The Marcus Freeman era in South Bend didn’t start very well, but the coach showed he can lead the storied Notre Dame Fighting Irish program and he has his guys in the thick of a return to the College Football Playoff, though it helps that the field expanded. After losing his first three games, the Irish closed 2022 winning six of their last seven. With his fingerprints all over the program the Irish won nine regular season games and finished 2023 at 10-3 with close losses to Ohio State and Clemson. There’s been turnover on both sides of the football, but Irish fans will argue it’s for the better. The 2024 squad is set up for success but there’s little margin for error with BetMGM setting the Irish win total at 10.5.

Regular Season Wins for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Over 10.5 ( +130 )

Under 10.5 ( -165 )

I think Notre Dame might be one of the most overrated programs in college football. Okay, Irish fans won’t admit it and winning at least 10 games in six of the last seven seasons might suggest otherwise. But given the resources the program has and their independent status, they should be fighting for a playoff berth every year. And when they do put together a national championship contender the Irish get scorched. They have earned respect with their win total this year, or are they just overrated again? Only a handful of teams have a double-digit total with Georgia and Ohio State really, really good. Notre Dame?

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Roster

Notre Dame had success last season with transfer Sam Hartman. All he did was throw 24 touchdown passes for the seventh-highest scoring offense in the country. The Irish hit the portal again this time luring one of the better QBs on the market in Riley Leonard. A dual-threat, Leonard had a monster year in 2022 helping Duke win the second-most games in the program’s history. He threw for nearly 3,000 yards with 20 TD passes and only six interceptions. In addition he rushed for 699 yards and 13 scores. 

There are some concerns, though, making the OVER a more uncertain CFB futures odds bet. Leonard was limited to just seven games by an ankle injury last year, and he completed just 57.6 percent of his passes. Keeping Leonard healthy is key to the success of the offense with inexperience at the backup. Steve Angeli started the bowl win over Oregon State, hitting 15 of 19 passes with three TDs and is the likely backup. The group of receivers is strong and deep, giving Leonard the best options of his career.

A factory for offensive linemen over the years, the Irish have some holes to plug with three starters gone. It’s hard to call the position a weakness, though, and the group will have talented backs to block for. Playing second fiddle last year it’s now time for Jeremiyah Love to shine. He had only 71 carries but averaged 5.4 yards and is a breakaway threat. Jadarian Price was third in rushing yards amassing nearly 6.0 yards per pop with three TDs. Despite all the new faces and starters this offense has potential to be much better than last year’s.

There are a number of changes to a defense that was among the best in the country last season, so some regression is expected. The Irish held five opponents to less than 10 points and possessed the seventh-best scoring defense in the country. They also finished among the top 5 against the pass and in total defense. They added some beef up front and the secondary could be the strongest area after intercepting 16 passes a season ago, seven of them by Xavier Watts.

Schedule

There are no games on the slate that you could consider a loss at this point, and that’s a good thing for the Irish. However, there are some matchups that are questionable, and with little margin for error one guffaw screws things up. The season is bookended with classics; the Irish open at Texas AM and close at USC. They also have a Week 11 home contest against Florida State. There are a few iffy games in there as well, like in Week 5 against Louisville and the Week 8 encounter at Georgia Tech. 

Prediction

If I had to choose between laying the juice on the UNDER or taking the OVER I’d probably pass on this CFB bet. There are too many questions with all the new faces and Leonard has been held out of camp practices, though I’m not sure if it’s precautionary. The lingering injuries will reduce his effectiveness and losing the opener at Texas AM puts the OVER in jeopardy of cashing. I’ll admit too that I’m not a big Irish fan and going below the total is my hope as well as my bet.

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