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 Aug. 15.
Notre Dame Fighting Irish
National title odds: 20-1
Season win total: 9
FPI win total projection: 8.6
Phil Steele
Strengths: The Irish have two quarterbacks capable of leading the team, and their running backs, offensive line, defensive line, defensive backs and special teams all rank in my top 27. They are more experienced than their nine returning starters indicate, as last year they lost numerous top players early to injury, most of whom return in 2016.
Weaknesses: Notre Dame loses
Over/under: Notre Dame's three "true" road games (games played in opposing teams' stadiums) are the fewest in the country. The Fighting Irish have three neutral site games where they could have the home edge, in addition to six home games. Currently, they are favored in 11 games, and that makes the total of nine wins appear cheap. I like the over.
National title: While the Irish have the capability of making the CFB Playoff, the fact that they can't win a conference championship means they lose out on some tiebreakers. I rate them a very good (but not elite) team at this point, so they are accurately priced at 20-1. No play from me here.
"Stanford Steve" Coughlin
O/U: Notre Dame recently had some trouble off the field, which resulted in head coach Brian Kelly throwing safety Max Redfield off the team. Redfield was the leader in tackles among returning players.
Anyway, enough about the negative, let's focus on the positives for the Fighting Irish. With the news of Kelly saying both Malik Zaire and DeShone Kizer will get time at QB in the season opener at Texas, I feel great about the Irish offense. This is a case of both guys being so good that the decision had to be made that both will see the field. I see this as a huge positive. First off, I love both players -- they each bring so much to the table, whether it be leadership, decision-making, arm accuracy or overall QB prowess. Both are so deserving of playing time. Second, Brian Kelly has proven in the past that he knows how to roll with the punches and take risks at the QB position, whether it was a couple years ago when the Irish played for the national title, or back when he was the head coach at Cincinnati. I have full confidence in Brian Kelly and the Irish hitting the over this year.
Title odds: I would totally jump in on the Irish winning it all at 20-1. They have the talent, the benefit of being ND -- which no one else does -- and most importantly, they will not have to play in a conference title game.
Chris Fallica
O/U: Talk about a great schedule. There are only three true road games -- Texas, NC State and USC -- and each of those teams will have a first-year starting QB. In fact, at least six of the nine Power 5 teams Notre Dame faces will have a first-year starting QB. So the defense gets a big break, and that's key considering they lose a lot off last year's team.
But all of last years' injuries could help the Irish this year, as many of the starters this year got valuable experience last year. Will a QB controversy hurt the team? Not many teams on the slate can match the Irish's talent level -- Texas, Michigan State, Stanford, Miami, USC would be the five. Will the Irish go worse than 2-3 in those games? I don't think so either. Over.
CFB Playoff odds: Public teams like Notre Dame are usually overvalued when it comes to national title odds. But 20-1 isn't a bad price for a team which really does have a shot at making the playoff. At 11-1, Notre Dame would be squarely in the mix. I'd take a shot at that price.