College Football Playoff: Indiana vs. Notre Dame Picks, Predictions and Odds

The inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff field was announced on December 8 and the bracket has already been broken down and picked over from every angle.

There’s a little something for everyone in this weekend’s quartet of games, and it all starts with the battle for Indiana, as the upstart Hoosiers will take on Notre Dame in South Bend on Friday evening to kick off the festivities.

There’s no doubt that the bracket seeding went Notre Dame’s way, and with a lot of questions surrounding the health of Carson Beck at Georgia, the Fighting Irish are theoretically in a good position to make a deep run over the next few weeks.

However, while most college football fans and bettors alike have already penciled in Notre Dame as a championship dark horse, the Irish have to get past this Indiana team first, and that won’t be easy given what the Hoosiers bring to the table. 

Indiana vs. Notre Dame betting picks and predictions

Indiana +7.5 (-110)

Much has been made of Indiana’s poor strength of schedule to this point, and the Hoosiers didn’t exactly cover themselves in glory in a blowout loss to Ohio State back on November 23, their lone meeting against a team in the College Football Playoff field. 

With that said, this is a much better situational spot for the Hoosiers, as head coach Curt Cignetti and his terrific staff will have had multiple weeks to prepare for this game, which should at least lead to a very strong script and effort from Indiana in the first half.

The best win for Marcus Freeman’s team came all the way back in Week 1 against a Texas A&M squad that wasn’t even playing with its best quarterback under center in that game. 

The Irish have a strong statistical profile, particularly on defense, but those numbers have certainly been buoyed by a soft schedule.

In fact, there were some very concerning signs for Notre Dame’s defense in its most recent game against USC, in which the Irish allowed 557 yards and 7.2 yards per play. 

With that result in mind, it would be fair to suggest that all-Big Ten quarterback Kurtis Rourke and a trio of talented Indiana wide receivers could ask some questions of an Irish pass defense that has largely been untested by opposing offenses this season.

If this game ends up being close down the stretch, it’ll be Notre Dame that has to deal with all of the pressure of being a heavy favorite at home and the expectation that it has to win this game against an inferior program. 

The Hoosiers are a very good team that’s playing with a bit of house money and eager to get the bad taste of that Ohio State performance out of their mouths, so let’s back Cignetti and his squad to cover this number while it’s still over a touchdown.

Under 51.5 (-110)

While there are avenues for both teams to cover the spread in this game, there's a strong argument to lean toward the Under 51.5 (-110) in this contest.

For starters, the weather is certainly not going to be conducive to a high-scoring affair, as temperatures are expected to be in the mid-20s with winds between 10-15 miles per hour and a chance of some light snow showers as well.

That forecast indicates that we should be getting a game script that features a heavy dose of running on early downs from both sides, as both coaches will likely prioritize not making crucial mistakes through the air and winning the field position battle, particularly early in the game.

That is an ideal script for the under because it means that both sides should chew up plenty of clock and not give opposing defenses a chance to spring a turnover and set up their offense with a short field.

There’s also something to be said for the fact that both teams could be a bit nervous in a game of this magnitude.

We have seen plenty of coaches at all levels of football keep things pretty conservative in big moments, and that could be the case for some of this game, as the coaching staffs feel each other out and make adjustments. 

Quick scores are unlikely to be had on Friday, so let’s back the under in what should be a close, lower-scoring contest. 

Read more betting picks and predictions for the NCAAF on site.

Indiana vs. Notre Dame odds

Indiana	+225 ML
Notre Dame	-275 ML
Spread	Notre Dame -7.5
Total Points	O/U 51.5

Read Indiana vs. Notre Dame: How to watch, TV Channel, streaming start time, injury report and stats on site.

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This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.