CFP Predictions: Why Notre Dame Could Win National Title

· Dec 13 - 5 minutes read

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The Indiana vs Notre Dame betting lines have the Fighting Irish as the favorite in the first round.
Can the Fighting Irish win their first national title since 1988?

Despite opening the season with a 10-point win on the road against a ranked Texas A&M team, there were those ready to write off Notre Dame after falling to Northern Illinois in its home opene. The Fighting Irish haven’t lost since.

CFP Predictions: Why Notre Dame Could Win National Title — Riley Leonard #13 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish | Quinn Harris/Getty Images/AFP

With the national following that the Fighting Irish have, it isn’t often that Notre Dame flies under the radar but that is certainly the case heading into the College Football Playoff.

Notre Dame is favored by 7½ points to Indiana by the sports betting odds in the first round as the Fighting Irish earned a home game as the No. 7 seed. That would set up a quarterfinal showdown with Georgia.

When looking at the college football futures odds, Notre Dame was tied for eighth at +2000 in the odds of winning the national championship. The +700 championship odds are tied for fifth heading into the start of the College Football Playoffs.

Keep on reading to see how Notre Dame can make a run at the national title.

4 Reasons Why Notre Dame Can Win National Title

1. Fighting Irish on a Roll

Notre Dame is the only team heading into the College Football Playoff having won each of its last five games by double figures. The naysayers might point to the lack of quality opponents: Navy and Army were the only ranked teams at the time that the Fighting Irish played them. However, there is something to be said for taking care of business.

Notre Dame hasn’t trailed since an Oct. 19 win at Georgia Tech. This is a team playing with plenty of confidence on both sides of the ball going into the College Football Playoff. Keep that in mind when making college football picks.

Getting a chance to open at home could only bolster the confidence level for Notre Dame if the Fighting Irish play its way into the matchup with Georgia. There are questions about the health of Georgia’s starting quarterback Carson Beck.

The NCAAF odds have listed Notre Dame as the favorite in each of its last 11 games so it will be interesting to see what happens if the Fighting Irish head into a game as the betting underdog.

2. Ball Security a Strength for Notre Dame

When analyzing the Notre Dame stats, Notre Dame is tied with Texas for the national lead with 28 takeaways this season amd the Fighting Irish are also tied for second among Football Bowl Subdivision programs in turnover margin.

Since being -2 in turnover margin in the loss to Northern Illinois, Notre Dame is +16 in turnover margin. The Fighting Irish rank in the top 10 nationally in total defense as Notre Dame is a hard team to drive the field against.

Most Interior DL Sacks in College Football This Season:

☘️ Notre Dame: 19.0 Sacks@NDFootball pic.twitter.com/2a4r2qAopJ

— PFF College (@PFF_College) December 10, 2024

3. Defense a Threat to Score

Throw the ball down the field against Notre Dame at your own risk. Per NCAAF betting trends, Notre Dame is tied with Tulane for the FBS lead with five interceptions returned for touchdowns. Six different defensive players have scored touchdowns in Notre Dame’s first 12 games so even if the offense isn’t clicking, the defense can set up the Fighting Irish in great field position.

Notre Dame knows what to do when it gets into the red zone. The Fighting Irish scored touchdowns on 75.5% of its drives reaching the red zone. Meanwhile, Notre Dame opponents score on less than 60% of the red-zone drives. Keep that in mind when making NCAAF picks.

4. A Veteran Notre Dame Team Could Be a Tough Out

Experience matters at this time of the season and Notre Dame has plenty of veterans to call upon.

Quarterback Riley Leonard was a three-year starter at Duke before transferring to Notre Dame. Leonard’s 2,092 passing yards might not seem that impressive. However, 16 touchdown passes and just five interceptions to go with 14 scoring runs make Leonard a difficult quarterback to contend with.

Three of the top four pass catchers are also seniors. There are also plenty of seniors on defense. That could be huge when things get interesting late in games during the College Football Playoffs.

When looking at the Notre Dame player prop options, Leonard is far from the only player to consider. Sophomore running back Jeremiyah Love has 15 TD runs and is closing in on 1,000 yards while senior safety Xavier Watts has more yards on interception returns than more than half of the FBS programs this season.

🇺🇸0️⃣

Xavier Watts has been named a PFF First Team All-American#GoIrish☘️ pic.twitter.com/c4GDTicJCz

— Notre Dame Football (@NDFootball) December 13, 2024

Questions Of The Day

What were Notre Dame’s odds of winning the national championship at the start of the season?

Just four of the teams in the College Football Playoff had shorter odds than Notre Dame at +2000 in the odds of winning the national title at the beginning of the season.