When you love college football betting, you end up noticing things that you perhaps otherwise wouldn’t — like the fact that Notre Dame’s first four games of the season are at home! Now that’s a sweet gig. Next thing you know, the Irish will parlay their NBC contract into the entire team getting to appear on “The Weakest Link.”
The Irish are coming off an easy 42-26 win against Florida State and now welcome the disappointing Louisville Cardinals to South Bend.
Let’s have a look at our best college football picks and predictions for Louisville at No. 4 Notre Dame, with kickoff set for 2:30 ET on Saturday, October 17.
Louisville Cardinals vs Notre Dame Fighting Irish betting preview
Weather
It’s going to be gross in South Bend on Saturday afternoon. We’re looking at a high of 58 degrees and a 42 percent chance of rain. Winds will be out of the south at 13 mph with gusts up to 22 mph. Not ideal, but not exactly unexpected for this time of year. Be sure to monitor the gametime conditions with our NCAA football weather info.
Key Injuries
Louisville: Kei'Trel Clark CB (Probable), Justin Marshall WR (Questionable), Marlon Character DB (Questionable).
Notre Dame: Paul Moala LB (Out), Jahmir Smith RB (Questionable), Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa DL (Questionable), Jack Kiser LB (Questionable).
Find our latest NCAA football injury reports.
Betting trend to know
The Fighting Irish are 6-1 ATS in their last 7 games following a straight-up win. Find more NCAA football betting trends for Louisville vs. Notre Dame.
Against the spread (ATS) pick
A few weeks ago, it looked like Louisville might be a solid Top-25 squad this season. Those expectations have not been met.
The Cardinals have lost three straight games, including a 46-27 loss to Georgia Tech last week. Quarterback Malik Cunningham can make plays — he’s got nine touchdowns and five interceptions on the season — but he doesn’t get much protection. Cunningham will also spread the ball around, though Tutu Atwell is the primary threat: he’s caught 25 passes for 281 yards and four scores this year.
The Irish haven’t just had the luxury of playing all of their games at home, they’ve benefitted from a fairly easy schedule. There’s no question that Notre Dame is a very good football team, but easy wins over Duke, South Florida, and Florida State haven’t served as a true barometer for how the Irish will measure up against the likes of Clemson or Alabama.
Louisville likely won’t, either.
Ian Book is the unequivocal leader of the Irish, but he hasn’t put up eye-popping numbers...because he hasn’t had to. Running back Kyren Williams sliced up the Seminoles for 185 yards and two touchdowns last week, and I expect another big performance against a Cardinals defense that allowed almost 200 yards rushing to Georgia Tech. I loved this line at Notre Dame -14, and I’m not crazy about it moving three points already, but I still think it’s the right side.
PREDICTION: Notre Dame -17 (-110)
Over/Under pick
Louisville may not be a great team, but the Cards won’t be caught off guard in South Bend — they’ve already played two ranked opponents. They have the athletes to put up some points, and they will.
The problem is that their defense gives up 34.3 points per game, and the Over is 8-1 in Louisville’s last nine contests.
PREDICTION: Over 64.5 (-110)
Louisville vs Notre Dame betting card
- Notre Dame -17 (-110)
- Over 64.5 (-110)
Did you know that if you parlayed today’s NCAA Louisville vs. Notre Dame picks, you could win $26.45 on a $10 bet?
Use our NCAA parlay calculator to create your own parlays and see their potential payouts.
Where can I bet on college football?
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