LV SUN: Notre Dame is to improve the most

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ODDS ’N’ ENDS:
Jeff Haney has it straight from an authoritative source, oddsmakers, that Notre Dame is to improve the most
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<!-- end story-header -->By <CITE>Jeff Haney</CITE>
Fri, Jul 18, 2008 (2 a.m.)

After suffering its worst season since 1963 last year, Notre Dame emerged in early preseason chatter as a prime candidate to become college football’s most improved team.
This week it became official ... or at least as official as it gets in Las Vegas. Oddsmakers set a line, and gamblers can bet into it.
The over/under on Notre Dame’s regular-season victories opened at 7, according to the Las Vegas Hilton sports book, which just released season-win totals on 30 college football teams.
Last season the Fighting Irish finished 3-9, meaning oddsmakers and the betting marketplace figure the team will pick up four more victories — by far the biggest projected improvement of any team on the board.
Besides posting regular-season win totals, the Hilton released point spreads on 90 college football “games of the year,” several each week from Sept. 6 through Dec. 6.
Three teams have victory totals of 10 1/2 attached to them, although Southern Cal stands out because bettors must lay minus-200 (risk $2 to win $1) on the over, with an option of plus-170 (risk $1 to net $1.70) on under 10 1/2.
The Trojans also had the highest over/under on the board heading into last season at 11 victories, but “under” bettors cashed when they finished with 10 regular-season wins. USC lost to Stanford as a 39-point favorite and to Oregon as a 3-point underdog. (Hawaii was also listed at 11 but with a heavy premium on the under.)
Oklahoma and Ohio State are listed at 10 1/2 this season, minus-140 on the under.
Notre Dame is expected to bounce back in a big way after a miserable season in which it lost its first five games by double digits and later lost consecutive games to Navy (as a small betting favorite) and Air Force (by 17 points as a small underdog).
The Irish opened as a 16 1/2-point underdog at the Hilton in what will likely be their toughest game of the season, Nov. 29 at USC. Notre Dame is also listed as an underdog in two other road games that appear in the Hilton’s games of the year, by 3 points Sept. 20 at Michigan State and by 2 points Oct. 11 at North Carolina.
Another team oddsmakers expect to improve in 2008 is South Carolina, which finished 6-6 a year ago but opened at 7 1/2 victories, minus-125 on the over. The Gamecocks play one of the tougher schedules in college football, including Nov. 15 at Florida, a game in which they are a 13 1/2-point underdog, according to Hilton odds.
The team projected to have the biggest decline from a year ago is Kansas, with an over/under of
7 1/2 victories, minus-150 on the under, after winning 11 regular-season games last season.
In the Hilton’s games of the year, Kansas is a 6 1/2-point underdog Sept. 12 at South Florida, a 15-point underdog Oct. 18 at Oklahoma, a 3-point underdog Nov. 15 against Texas, and a 7-point underdog Nov. 29 against Missouri. The Jayhawks are favored by 5 points Nov. 1 against Kansas State.
Defending BCS champ LSU has an over/under of 9 wins attached to it, representing a slight decline from the 10 regular-season games it won a year ago. LSU under bettors also cashed, as the Tigers entered last season with an over/under of 10 1/2.
UNLV, coming off a 2-10 season, opened at over/under 4 1/2 victories for 2008.
 
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8 wins for the Irish is realistic...said so after the college football season ended last year...with you D....
 

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<TABLE height=126 width=700 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD width="11%" bgColor=#000066>[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]9-6-08[/FONT]</TD><TD width="42%" bgColor=#000066>[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]SAN DIEGO STATE[/FONT]</TD><TD width="47%" bgColor=#cccccc>[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]W[/FONT]</TD></TR><TR><TD width="11%" bgColor=#000066>[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]9-13-08[/FONT]</TD><TD width="42%" bgColor=#000066>[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]MICHIGAN[/FONT]</TD><TD width="47%" bgColor=#cccccc>[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]?[/FONT]</TD></TR><TR><TD width="11%" bgColor=#c0b07f>[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]9-20-08[/FONT]</TD><TD width="42%" bgColor=#c0b07f>[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]at Michigan State[/FONT]</TD><TD width="47%" bgColor=#cccccc>[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]L[/FONT]</TD></TR><TR><TD width="11%" bgColor=#000066>[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]9-27-08[/FONT]</TD><TD width="42%" bgColor=#000066>[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]PURDUE[/FONT]</TD><TD width="47%" bgColor=#cccccc>[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]L[/FONT]</TD></TR><TR><TD width="11%" bgColor=#000066>[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]10-4-08[/FONT]</TD><TD width="42%" bgColor=#000066>[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]STANFORD[/FONT]</TD><TD width="47%" bgColor=#cccccc>[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]W[/FONT]</TD></TR><TR><TD width="11%" bgColor=#c0b07f>[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]10-11-08[/FONT]</TD><TD width="42%" bgColor=#c0b07f>[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]at North Carolina[/FONT]</TD><TD width="47%" bgColor=#cccccc>[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]L[/FONT]</TD></TR><TR><TD width="11%" bgColor=#c0b07f>[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]10-25-08[/FONT]</TD><TD width="42%" bgColor=#c0b07f>[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]at Washington [/FONT]</TD><TD width="47%" bgColor=#cccccc>[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]L[/FONT]</TD></TR><TR><TD width="11%" bgColor=#000066>[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]11-1-08[/FONT]</TD><TD width="42%" bgColor=#000066>[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]PITTSBURGH[/FONT]</TD><TD width="47%" bgColor=#cccccc>[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]L[/FONT]</TD></TR><TR><TD width="11%" bgColor=#c0b07f>[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]11-8-08[/FONT]</TD><TD width="42%" bgColor=#c0b07f>[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]at Boston College[/FONT]</TD><TD width="47%" bgColor=#cccccc>[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]L[/FONT]</TD></TR><TR><TD width="11%" bgColor=#c0b07f>[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]11-15-08[/FONT]</TD><TD width="42%" bgColor=#c0b07f>[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Navy [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]@Baltimore, MD[/FONT][/FONT]</TD><TD width="47%" bgColor=#cccccc>[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]W[/FONT]</TD></TR><TR><TD width="11%" bgColor=#000066>[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]11-22-08[/FONT]</TD><TD width="42%" bgColor=#000066>[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]SYRACUSE[/FONT]</TD><TD width="47%" bgColor=#cccccc>[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]W[/FONT]</TD></TR><TR><TD bgColor=#c0b07f>[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]11-29-08[/FONT]</TD><TD bgColor=#c0b07f>[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]at Southern California L [/FONT]</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>


They aren't winning 7 games this season, probably more than 4 I have projected on here, but they won't win 8.

They will lose to USC, MSU, UNC, and BC on the road. Somewhere else they will lose an additional game for sure, but they aren't going over 7, maybe 7, but not over.
 
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No way they only win 1 game out of 7 as you predicted...9-20 thru 11-8...will be an interesting season...
 

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No way they only win 1 game out of 7 as you predicted...9-20 thru 11-8...will be an interesting season...

They weren't a bad team last season, they were horrendous. They barely could get a snap off. I don't know what you guys watched last season, but it looked like they were in their 1st year of footall EVER!
 
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It was pretty brutal to watch, but it was a learning experience for the younger players...they will be better this year...they better be for Charlie's sake...
 

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As hard as last year's schedule was, this one is much easier. All depends on the O-Line.
 

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Yes, but MSU, UNC, UW?, Purdue and Pitt will all be better than last season.

SDSU is much easier than GT. Michigan will be much easier, Purdue is not a good road team, and Navy is much worse. The teams who can outmuscle ND, like MSU are the teams I worry about.
 

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SDSU is much easier than GT. Michigan will be much easier, Purdue is not a good road team, and Navy is much worse. The teams who can outmuscle ND, like MSU are the teams I worry about.

I will grant you that Purdue isn't a good road team, but I will take an experienced QB any day of another shitty Clausen.

Agree on SDSU. They should be able to beat UM, but that doesn't mean they will. They will handle Navy, but Pitt will be better.

They aren't winning at BC, SC, MSU, and UW is up in the air.
 

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The only one they are definitely not winning is at USC. All of the other road games are a ? with the exception of possibly BC.
 

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This is the easiest Notre Dame schedule that I've seen in a long time for this school..8 wins should be no problem.
 

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Where are you seeing 8 wins for sure?
Nothing is ever for sure..But most of the teams ND plays this year will be down, while ND returns most of their team intact with a few new impact players on defense.

1.SDSU
2.Michigan (rebuilding)
3.Purdue
4.Stanford
5.Navy
6.Syracuse
7.Boston College (rebuilding)
8.Pittsburg (this might be their toughest home game)

And I think they have a decent chance at beating Washington and North Carolina on the road. Their losses will probably come at Michigan State and USC. And they'll probably have one or two road games where they could run into trouble..I think ND defends their home field this year and goes 6-0 at home.
 

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SDSU
Michigan
Purdue
Stanford
Pitt
Navy
Syracuse

Meaning they only have to win one out of UNC, Wash, MSU, BC (all road games)
 

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GoSooners and I are thinking alike. Good for me, scary for him.
 

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The Oct 11 game in Chapel Hill will tell. I invocate a plague of locusts to visit on the Irish - the Roy Hibbert of foots- every week, every year, but cannot spare any witchy hex lime on this boring slow overrated team.
 

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