The Notre Dame Fighting Irish will be favored often in college football betting lines this season. The Irish have a new head coach in Brian Kelly and a schedule that is very favorable. Notre Dame may not have the talent yet to win a national title but they should be interesting to follow in college football odds. College football betting lines list Notre Dame as a 35-1 long shot to win the national title this season. Notre Dame should be improved this season simply because Kelly is a good coach. His teams know how to win close games. His Cincinnati teams won their last ten games decided by a TD or less.
Notre Dame lost quarterback Jimmy Clausen to the NFL so the spotlight is on Dayne Crist. He will be handing the ball off to Armando Allen and Robert Hughes. Allen had 697 yards last season. Crist will have Michael Floyd to throw to and Theo Riddick has moved to a slot receiver from running back. Tight end Kyle Rudolph is also a good receiver. The offensive line looks decent so the Irish should be able to move the ball, especially if Crist plays well.
The defense should be better for Notre Dame in 2010. Kelly brought Bob Diaco with him from Cincinnati and he installed a 3/4 defense. The front line looks very good and the linebackers are solid. The secondary did lose safety Kyle McCarthy and cornerback Raeshon McNeil but everyone else returns.
Notre Dame will be favored in their first two games in college football odds against Purdue and Michigan since they are at home. The Irish are 10.5 point home favorites in their opener vs. the Boilermakers. They could be underdogs at Michigan State and they may also be a home underdog against Stanford. Depending upon how they start the season they could also be underdogs at Boston College and home against Pittsburgh. They should be favored at home against Western Michigan and at Navy. They should also be favored at home vs. Tulsa while the line on the home game vs. Utah could be close. They will be favored at home against Army while they will probably be underdogs to close out the regular season at USC.