In one of the great rivalry games in college football the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame renew acquaintances with the Michigan Wolverines in South Bend Saturday night (7:30 pm ET NBC).
The 3-0 Irish, coming off a clutch win at Michigan State, are favored by seven points over Big Blue, which has won the last three games in this series, each by exactly four points.
The Wolverines are 5-1 ATS in the past six meetings of this rivals. And five of six meetings here since 1995 have played OVER the total.
View Michigan vs Notre Dame Odds and Stats.
Betting Line: Notre Dame opened as 6-point favorites at Sportsbook. The total was sitting at 50.5 mid-week at Sportsbook.
Power Rankings / Prediction: It's a betting matchup between the No. 16-rated Fighting Irish and the No. 58-ranked Wolverines, according to the NCAAF Power Rankings here at Odds Shark. Predictive-scoring models run on this game indicate a potential 46-35 result in favor of the Fighting Irish.
How They Match Up:
The game also pits Notre Dame's No. 62-ranked offense, averaging 30 PPG, against a Wolverines defense that ranks No. 77 this week at 26.3 PPG. The Fighting Irish aerial game is averaging 233 yards per game, more than the Wolverines secondary allows through the air, 157.7 YPG per game.
Defensively, the Wolverines feature the league's No. 80-rated road run defense, allowing 232 yards per game. Notre Dame, meanwhile, ranks No. 122 in rushing offense at home.
In their last action, Michigan was a 63-13 Sportsbook at home against Massachusetts. They covered the 45.5-point spread as favorites, while the combined score (76) was profitable news for OVER bettors. Denard Robinson ran through the Massachusetts defense for 106 yards in Michigan's last game, handing the Minutemen a 63-13 setback on Saturday at Michigan Stadium.
Last time out for Notre Dame, they were a 20-3 Sportsbook as they battled Michigan State on the road. Notre Dame covered in the match as a 5.5-point underdog, while 23 combined points moved the game UNDER for totals bettors. The Fighting Irish grabbed a Week 3 victory over the Spartans in their last game, winning 20-3 at Spartan Stadium.
Michigan Wolverines Trends:
When playing in September are 9-1
When playing on grass are 3-7
After outgaining opponent are 8-2
When playing outside the conference are 8-2
Notre Dame Fighting Irish Trends:
When playing in September are 5-5
When playing on grass are 7-3
After outgaining opponent are 8-2
When playing outside the conference are 7-3
A few Wolverines at Fighting Irish trends to consider:
Michigan is 6-1 SU in its last 7 games
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Michigan's last 6 games when playing on the road against Notre Dame
Michigan is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games when playing Notre Dame
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Michigan's last 5 games on the road
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Notre Dame's last 6 games when playing at home against Michigan
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Notre Dame's last 6 games
Notre Dame is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games at home
The total has gone UNDER in 11 of Notre Dame's last 14 games at home
Next up:
Michigan at Purdue, Saturday, October 6
Notre Dame home to Miami, Saturday, October 6
