Notre Dame Starts The Week As A Huge Underdog To Alabama
Notre Dame earned its spot into the College Football Playoff, but by losing to Clemson in the ACC Championship game the Fighting Irish earned the right to play the No. 1 Alabama Crimson Tide.
Alabama has won all but one of its games by at least 17 points, and eight of its 11 wins were by at least three touchdowns. The odds makers believe Notre Dame will have much the same success against Alabama, which is why Notre Dame starts this week as a 19.5-point underdog to the Crimson Tide.
The 19.5-point spread is the largest for a College Football Playoff game, topping the 14.5-point spread between Alabama and Oklahoma back in 2019. Alabama won that game 45-34, beating the Sooners and Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Kyler Murray.
Alabama enters the game scoring 49.7 points per game on offense while giving up 19.5 points per game on defense.
Notre Dame comes in at 35.2 points per game on offense while giving up 18.6 points per game on defense.
Notre Dame won eight of its 10 games by at least two touchdowns, but its 34-10 season-ending loss to Clemson has taken much of the shine of the season for the Fighting Irish.
Alabama is coming off a 52-46 victory over 8-3 Florida in the SEC Championship game, but the manner in which Notre Dame lost to Clemson, and the manner in which it lost to Clemson in 2018 (30-3) and Alabama in 2012 (42-14) when on a similar stage has most believing the Irish will once again be dominated with a championship on the line.
With all that doubt, and with the odds what they are, there is much less pressure on Notre Dame at this point, which means we should see a very loose Irish team on January 1.
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