Miami Hosts Notre Dame in Game with CFP Implications

Saturday night of Week 11 of the college football regular season features a showdown of top 10 ranked teams when the No. 5 ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish visit the No. 6 ranked Miami Hurricanes. The current line has Notre Dame favored by 3 points with the over/under point total on 59.5.

Entering this game, Notre Dame on the season is 8-1 straight up and 7-2 against the spread. On the road, the Fighting Irish are 3-0 SU and ATS. Miami on the season is 8-0 SU and 4-4 ATS. At home, the Hurricanes are 5-0 SU and 2-3 ATS.

Miami enters this game off a 28-10 well played win over Virginia Tech last week. The Hokies were ranked No. 13 when the ‘Canes defeated them last week. Notre Dame continued its winning ways last week with its 48-37 win against Wake Forest.

Notre Dame enters this game third in the second week of rankings for the College Football Playoffs, while Miami under the tutelage of Mark Richt has moved to seventh.

The only blemish on the Notre Dame record is a 1-point loss earlier this season to Georgia, currently the No. 1 team in the rankings for the CFP. Miami has won 13 straight games dating back to last season when their last loss was to the Irish 30-27.

Notre Dame running back Josh Adams has become one of the favorites for the Heisman Trophy. The Irish are averaging 324.7 yards per game on the ground with Adams averaging 132 yards each game. This season Adams has scored on six touchdowns runs of 60 yards or more.

Defensively, Notre Dame is the weakest against the pass allowing 245.2 yards per game through the air which is 90th in the nation.

That could work well for Miami as signal caller Malik Rosier is averaging 283 yards per game through the air, with his group of dangerous receivers.

Miami’s defense has given up big yards against the run, allowing 176 or more yards in four games prior to holding the Hokies to just 102.

Notre Dame leads the overall head to head series against Miami 18-7-1, but the ‘Canes have won five consecutive meetings on their home field.

Notre Dame is 6-1 ATS over its past 7 games played.

Miami is 0-6 ATS over its past 6 games versus independent opponents.

Prediction: Miami is for real. The ‘Canes will cover and could win outright.