2010 College Football Season Odds – Notre Dame 66-1 to win BCS Title

Notre Dame Season Odds

Notre Dame is hungry for a winner but can Brian Kelly make the Irish a winner in his first season as head coach?

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Kelly enters his first season as head coach of the Fighting Irish, as he takes over for Charlie Weis, who was fired after a 6-6 season in 2009. Kelly has succeeded everywhere he has coaches as he took Grand Valley State to multiple Division II national championships, he guided Central Michigan to a Mid-American Conference title, and he took

Cincinnati to back-to-back Big East titles before heading to Notre Dame.

Kelly will bring a wide open, shotgun offense to Notre Dame. He will look to out-score as opposed to stop as he spreads the field frequently. His quarterbacks have a history of great success, which has to make Dayne Crist happy. The sophomore will start for the Irish this year, replacing Jimmy Clausen, who opted for the NFL after his junior year.

Crist will have a fair amount of weapons to work with in receiver Michael Floyd and running back Armando Allen. Floyd caught 44 passes for 795 yards and nine scores in 2009 despite missing five games with an injury. Allen led the Irish in rushing with 697 yards and three scores and also caught 28 passes for 216 yards.

A concern for ND will be on the offense line where it returns just two starters and will likely have a redshirt freshman starting in the left tackle position. Kelly’s offense can hit quickly, but Crist will need to feel comfortable in the pocket in order for it to be successful.

The Irish bring back nine started on defense this season. ND was poor on that side of the ball in 2009, allowing 25.9 points and just under 400 yards per-game. The Irish had just 19 sacks all of last season, which will be a point of emphasis for Kelly. He returns his entire starting front including end Ethan Johnson, who led the Irish with four sacks in 2009.

Oddsmakers from online sports book Sportsbook.com currently list Notre Dame as 66/1 long shots to win the 2011 BCS National Championship.

Notre Dame’s schedule is not terribly difficult. The Irish have just three true road games in Michigan State,

Boston
College, and USC. Aside from two neutral games against Navy and Army, Notre Dame plays the remaining schedule at home where it faces
Michigan, Stanford,
Pittsburgh, and

Utah, among others.

While Kelly has worked magic in the past, it has still been somewhat of a gradual process.

Cincinnati was in good shape when he took over, which allowed him to win 10 games in each of his three years. The Irish are another story. Poor recruiting has caused depth issues and is forcing Kelly to inherit somewhat of a young team. With Crist as just a sophomore, he will make some mistakes during the year, but the Irish should still be able to contend for nine wins and a potential BCS bowl. Just don’t look for it to contend for the national championship in 2010.

2010 Over/Under Win Total: 7.5

2011 BCS Championship Odds: Notre Dame 66/1

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Posted: 7/17/10 3:00PM ET