With college football season on the horizon, ESPN Chalk's college football experts -- Phil Steele, "Stanford Steve" Coughlin and Chris Fallica -- combine to give you betting previews of the top 25 teams, according to the ESPN College Football Rankings. They break down each team's strengths and weaknesses, along with season win total bets and national title odds.
Odds from Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook as of Sept. 1.
Notre Dame Fighting Irish
National title odds: 18-1
Season win total: 9
Phil Steele
Strengths: The Irish defense was playing very well last season when the team went into Florida State and came away a penalty call from upsetting the Seminoles. The D was hit hard by injuries, the biggest being Joe Schmidt.
Weaknesses: The Irish rank in the top 20 in six of the eight units in the front of the magazine, and their only units that fall outside the top 20 are QB (No. 28) and special teams (No. 86). The QB depth does concern me if Zaire goes down.
Over/under: While 11 of Notre Dame's 12 opponents could end up in a bowl this year, the schedule is manageable. The Fighting Irish do face Clemson and Stanford on the road and have to play USC at home. As long as those defensive injuries don't crop up again -- they did lose solid DT Jarron Jones in August -- I have Notre Dame as my No. 3 surprise team, so I think they could contend for the title. I can't see them losing four games, and nine wins is a push, so I like the over.
National title: If the Irish lose one game or are tied with a one-loss team that is also a conference champ, then they are at a disadvantage in the current system. Odds of 18-1 is about the right price for this team, so if you are an Irish fan, they are worth a small wager. Otherwise, there isn't much value.
"Stanford Steve" Coughlin
"Cheer, cheer for ole Notre Dame, Notre Dame ..."
True story: When I went to camp there before my senior year and was thinking about going there, one night we were stuck inside after rain canceled practice, and Lou Holtz made us memorize the Notre Dame fight song. So my dislike for the Fightin' Irish is pretty long rooted, but when it comes to preseason thoughts on the boys from South Bend, I am always all in.
It's always fun to be able to tell who is a Notre Dame fan and who isn't: All you have to do is ask them what they think of Notre Dame's schedule for the upcoming season. If the person says its easy, he hates the Irish; if the person says the schedule is hard, he loves them. It's pretty evident by the end of last season and this offseason that Kelly is putting all his eggs in the basket of Zaire. I have to admit, I thought Zaire would be more of an athlete and elusive in the pocket when I first heard about him and watched him at Elite 11, but one thing I will never do is disagree with what Kelly does with his current QB situation -- the guy simply knows how to pull the strings.
Now, what I love about the Irish: They have some serious NFL talent on the defensive side of the ball, including one of the best in LB Jaylon Smith, who is one of my favorite guys in the country. Nothing against one-dimensional LBs, but I just love watching great athletes on defense who can run, cover, tackle and simply dominate -- and Smith is at the top of that list when you talk about players across the country. I mentioned in the USC write-up how I think the Notre Dame game could be the "first playoff game" of the season. So I think it's worth it to throw some money on Notre Dame to make the College Football Playoff, and I do like them to win a bunch of games this year and go over the total.
Chris Fallica
In the last 18 years, Notre Dame has been ranked in the preseason top 10 once, in 2006, when it was second. The Irish have not started and finished a season in the top 10 since 1993, when they were seventh in preseason and finished second. So it's been a while. While the Irish start the season at No. 11 in the AP Top 25, I don't think they will finish in the top 10. I'll be interested to see how defenses play Zaire after having the bowl game to use as a blueprint. Notre Dame also didn't beat a team that finished ranked last year, going 0-4, with two of those losses coming by at least 24 points. There will always be value for those wishing to fade Notre Dame. In the last three years, Notre Dame has been a double-digit favorite 17 times and is 5-12 ATS (16-1 SU, with its only loss coming to Northwestern last year).
O/U: Considering the Irish have won more than nine games once under Kelly, I think this is a sure-fire under team. The defense will improve from the one that allowed 40 PPG over the final eight games of 2014, but there are far too many loseable games on the slate.
Title odds: Public teams like the Irish will always attract money and be an underlay. At 18-1, this is again the case. Save your money or take a flier on a longer price somewhere else.