College Football Playoff: 3 Reasons to Bet on Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Written by on November 15, 2017

If you’re looking for reasons to bet on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the 2017 College Football Playoff, then you’re probably not alone. College football bettors everywhere want to know why they should throw down some cold hard cash on Notre Dame once the postseason gets underway as we get set for Week 12. While it’s admittedly a tough sell at this point, I have come up with a trio of great reasons why you should consider backing the Fighting Irish odds once the postseason gets underway, so let’s get to it!

College Football Playoff: 3 Reasons to Bet on Notre Dame Fighting Irish

2017 College Football Playoff Rankings (Week 12)

  • 1-Alabama Crimson Tide
  • 2-Clemson Tigers
  • 3-Miami Hurricanes
  • 4-Oklahoma Sooners
  • 5-Wisconsin Badgers
  • 6-Auburn Tigers
  • 7-Georgia Bulldogs
  • 8-Notre Dame Fighting Irish
  • 9-Ohio State Buckeyes
  • 10-Penn State Nittany Lions

3 Reasons to Bet Against Notre Dame in the NCAAF Playoffs

Notre Dame Fighting Irish Record (November 15th)

  • All: 8-2
  • Home: 5-1
  • Away: 3-1
  • ATS: 7-3
  • Over/Under: 6-4

The Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Syndrome

Whether it’s the NFL or college football, in today’s gridiron times, you often see what I refer to as the ‘Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde’ syndrome. This simply means that one week, a team looks like a national championship title contender and the next week, they look like a team that couldn’t beat a parochial school named the ‘Sisters of the Blind! Outside of perennially powerful Alabama and maybe, this year, Miami and Oklahoma as well (and oh, the still unbeaten Wisconsin Badgers) every team in the CFP Top 25 looks like they could be beaten on any given day and most have suffered at least one really ugly loss. Clemson lost to lowly Syracuse, Auburn lost to the same Clemson team that lost to the Orange, not to mention they also fell against LSU. Previously No. 1 Georgia got blown out of the water by Auburn and Ohio State got smacked around at home by Oklahoma and got beaten to a pulp by Iowa, which should have them completely out of the CFP picture if you ask me. Penn State suffered a memorable late-game collapse against the Buckeyes and then lost to Michigan State by a field goal. I mean, when you get down to it, only unbeaten Alabama, Miami and Wisconsin, and oh yeah, No. 15 Central Florida, can really lay claim to being the best team in all college football. Everyone else in the CFP chase has been beaten and again, most of them suffered horrific losses. Who knows what could happen over the next coming weeks of conference championship play. We could all see some crazy ass results that vault Notre Dame right back into the playoff mix – even if their humbling loss to Miami will be tough to forget.

They’ve Still Got a Ton of Talent

I know the Fighting Irish looked like an incomplete team with problems on both sides of the ball, but the fact of the matter is that Notre Dame still has plenty of talent up and down their roster. First, there’s supremely gifted junior running back Josh Adams (1,231 yards, 9 Tds), a player that will definitely be playing at the next level in the very near future. Notre Dame hopes to shine in the 2017 College Football Playoff are still alive. Then there’s dual-threat quarterback Brandon Wimbush (12 TD passes, 13 rushing Tds) who was in the midst of a phenomenal season before running into Miami. The Irish also have some likely future NFL performers linebacker Nyles Morgan, tackle Mike McGlinchey, guard Quenton Nelson and sophomore cornerback Julian Love. Make no mistake about it, the Irish have some big-time talent on their roster. Duh, it’s Notre Dame people!

The Coach

Brian Kelly may not have a national championship on his resume but has gone 67-32 since taking over at Notre Dame in 2010 and has recorded two double-digit winning seasons as the prestigious football factory. I know Kelly has also gone an identical 8-5 in three other seasons and a pitiful 4-8 in 2016, but he’s still a pretty good coach and way better than most if you ask me. Is Kelly ever going to win a national championship at Notre Dame? I definitely can’t say with any certainty. However, I also don’t believe he’s going to be the reason the Irish don’t win one. Kelly’s coaching looks good enough to get Notre Dame into the College Football Playoffs and give them a shot at winning it all, but I’m just not sure he’ll ever get enough elite talent to compete with the likes of Alabama, Clemson, and other elite gridiron programs, including the next College Football Playoff.