Notre Dame Opens as Huge Favorite in Senior Day Date vs Syracuse

Notre Dame (8-2) closes out the home portion of its 2025 season on Saturday when it welcomes Syracuse (3-7) to South Bend. The Fighting Irish are coming off a dominant 37-15 victory at No. 22 Pittsburgh while the Orange come in having lost their last six games by an average of 22.5 points each.

One is counting down to a return trip to the College Football Playoff while the other is counting down until the end of the regular season. As you would probably expect, Notre Dame will enter Saturday's contest as a massive favorite.

Just how massive though, you ask?

Notre Dame vs. Syracuse Betting Information Released

Fan Duel released its initial betting line for Notre Dame's senior day game against Syracuse shortly after Saturday's games wrapped up. Notre Dame is a huge favorite, as you'd expect, as it sits two wins from an almost certain return to the College Football Playoff.

Fan Duel Latest Odds for Notre Dame vs. Syracuse (as of midnight ET on October 17):

Point spread: Notre Dame -35.5

Total: 51.5

Money lines: Notre Dame -50000, Syracuse +5000

Notre Dame vs. Syracuse All-Time Series History

Notre Dame and Syracuse will play for the 12th time in history on Saturday. The series dates back to 1914, but only two meetings were played between the two over the next 88 years.

Here's a quick look at all 11 all-time meetings between Notre Dame and Syracuse:

Nov. 26, 1914: Notre Dame 20, Syracuse 0 (at Syracuse)
Nov. 18, 1961: Notre Dame 17, Syracuse 15 (at Notre Dame)
Nov. 28, 1963: Syracuse 14, Notre Dame 7 (game played in New York City)
Dec. 6, 2003: Syracuse 38, Notre Dame 12 (at Syracuse)
Nov. 19, 2005: Notre Dame 34, Syracuse 10 (at Notre Dame)
Nov. 22, 2008: Syracuse 24, Notre Dame 23 (at Notre Dame)
Sept. 27, 2014: Notre Dame 31, Syracuse 15 (game played in East Rutherford)
Nov. 1, 2016: Notre Dame 50, Syracuse 33 (game played in East Rutherford)
Nov. 17, 2018: Notre Dame 38, Syracuse 3 (game played in Bronx, New York)
Dec. 5, 2020: Notre Dame 45, Syracuse 21 (at Notre Dame)
Oct. 29, 2023: Notre Dame 41, Syracuse 24 (at Syracuse)

Nick Shepkowski's Quick Thought:

Of the 11 times Notre Dame and Syracuse have met all-time, nine have been played in November or December. No disrespect to Syracuse, but the Orange aren't exactly a blueblood in college football. While others get to close their home seasons every other year against their biggest rival, Notre Dame gets to play a Syracuse or the like more often than not.

That's great in terms of usually picking up a win, but hardly exciting when it comes to closing the home slate.

That all said, this should be a "pick your number" type of game for Notre Dame on Saturday.