Notre Dame Season Odds
SOUTH BEND, IN (The Spread) – The Notre Dame Fighting Irish are in need of a breakout year if Brian Kelly hopes to remain off the hot seat. Here is a look at their odds for the 2012 College Football Season.
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Kelly is now in his third season as head coach of the Fighting Irish. Notre Dame has went 8-5 in both of his first two seasons. The Irish hired Kelly to get them back in the national picture and they have struggled to be in the top 25 during his time with the team. What makes it hard for Notre Dame is they have no conference championship to play for, which makes measuring success difficult.
This season, according to oddsmakers, Notre Dame has 30/1 odds to win the 2013 BCS National Championship, and their over/under total for wins has been set at 8.5. The Irish lack star power this season, as there isn’t a single player listed on the odds to win the 2012 Heisman Trophy.
This year, Kelly has 15 starters back from the 2011 team. Offensively, the Irish have 8 starters returning, including quarterback Andrew Hendrix, who slowly worked his was past Tommy Rees on the depth chart. Kelly is known for swapping quarterbacks, so don’t look for Hendrix to be exclusive to the offense. One players that should be exclusive is running back Cierre Wood, who rushed for 1,102 yards and nine TD’s in 2011. Tight end Tyler Eifert is back this year as well. He caught 63 passes for 803 yards and five scores. Three members of the offensive line are back as well, including left tackle Zack Martin.
Defensively, Notre Dame has 6 starters back from a unit that allowed 20.7 points and 345 total yards. The unit will be led by linebacker Manti Te’o, who led the team with 128 tackles and 8.5 tackles for loss in 2011. The Irish will have to replace three starters in the secondary, which could lead to a lot of high-scoring contests.
When looking at the schedule, Notre Dame has some tough opponents to get past if they hope to get to a BCS Bowl or to 9 wins. The Irish have road games at Michigan State, Oklahoma, Boston College, and USC this year and they also host the likes of Michigan, Stanford, and BYU. If they Irish aren’t on top of their game early, it could be a long season for Kelly.
For total odds for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish for the 2012 College Football Season, see below.
2012 Notre Dame Season Odds
2013 BCS National Championship Odds: 30/1
2012 Over/Under Win Total Odds: 8.5
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