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OFD Reacts: Fan Sentiment High Coming Into USC Game

Back-to-back blue bloods to close out season, you say?

Notre Dame Rhema McKnight... SetNumber: X77108 TK1 R2

Welcome back to OFD Reacts, where our readers answer a four-pack of Notre Dame Fighting Irish related questions.

Before we begin, a reminder to check out DraftKings Sportsbook, the official sportsbook partner of SB Nation. The Irish are now four-point underdogs, as of this writing.

Our first question is our baseline question, asking you to share your confidence in the direction of the Notre Dame football program. We’re up to 99 percent of people who say they are confident, with 63 percent going “very confident” (the highest tier). This is befitting a team that is now 8-3 with five consecutive wins.

There is a lot of confidence among the Irish faithful that Notre Dame will prevail tonight in Los Angeles. Since the Irish are given four points on any current DraftKings bet, perhaps it’s time to make some money off our collective confidence?

Let’s face it: Notre Dame’s bowl projections, at present, are underwhelming. Most predictors are assuming an Irish loss tonight, which puts them at 8-4 entering a bowl game. But I asked you to have a little fun with this. If only offered these four choices, who would you like to play? Thirty-eight percent said “give me the blue blood,” and they want Texas in Orlando. I do appreciate the 32 percent of you that want to make a bit of history, however, by playing the Arkansas Razorbacks for the first time.

Finally, we get to an oft-discussed topic that ultimately means very little. If the Irish are to prevail tonight and in their bowl game, what is the appropriate final year ranking? More than half of you think the 8th or 9th slot is the right fit, with 2 percent urging the Associated Press to rank us in the top 5 (or be branded cowards).