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I Guess You Can’t Let Underdogs Jump Around
Well, on Saturday the Notre Dame Fighting Irish did a thing. They put up THIRTY ONE points in the fourth quarter against a Wisconsin team. Did anyone think about the fact that Jump Around (by some Irish American guys) would actually energize the Irish? I guess not.
The Irish did more than cover the spread as underdogs - they DEMOLISHED that line by winning by 28 points. The Irish almost hit the over for the game total themselves. It all was truly remarkable. And, for the game against the Cincinnati Bearcats n Saturday, the Irish find themselves in a somewhat similar predicament when they come home to Notre Dame Stadium to host a Top-10 matchup.
ND vs. Cinci Betting Lines
As of right now on Tuesday, the Irish are AGAIN underdogs while AT HOME. This is somewhat absurd to me. Cinci might very well be one of the toughest games of the season for the Irish, but to consider the Irish underdogs at home in this game is a little much for me. The saying is always that home teams get about an additional 3 points on the spread, so if this game were to be played at a neutral site, Cinci would be a 5.5-point favorite? Very, very interesting.
So, as we see it right now, the Irish are 2.5-point underdogs. Additionally, the game total is still a modest number at 51 flat. The moneyline is a bit interesting, too, because the Bearcats are not that much of a favorite at -125, and the Irish are barely breaking even money at +105.
Oddsshark is buying into the hype that we see with this week’s game. They predict that Cinci will win by about 10 points and that the over will definitely hit. I am instead going to sit back and watch this one like I did last week, because I am genuinely confused about the lines again especially after the ND performance at the end of the game last Saturday.
Matty G’s Prediction
The Irish and Bearcats have never played each other, so there are no trends in the series. A couple of interesting trends that Oddsshark also mentions for this game, though, are that the Irish are 6-0 ATS in their last 6 Week 5 games. Additionally, Cincinnati is 1-7 ATS in their last 8 games against FBS Independents.
I am going to predict that both of those streaks continue. I just cannot predict an Irish loss right now, even with some of the struggles. The Irish are going to get the advantage on BK’s and Marcus Freeman’s former team. This is a home game, and the Irish have strong momentum. I think they cover the spread by winning the game outright. I also like the over in this game (what a surprise, right?). 51 points equates to a score of at least 28-24. I’m predicting both teams to score a little bit.
DAMHSA BUA Count
The OVER hit on this last week. I am going to set the total at 4.5. Do the Irish score more or fewer than 4 TDs in this Top-10 matchup? Let me know in the poll, and let us know in the comments what you think about this week’s betting lines.
Poll
OVER or UNDER 4.5 DAMHSA BUAs vs. Cinci?
Go Irish. Beat Bearcats.