The top three teams going into this college football season are Alabama, Ohio State and Georgia — no matter what tool you use to make that determination.
They all have national championship odds shorter than 4-1 at most sportsbooks, while the next closest school is usually longer than 10-1. And the three favorites accounted for all the first-place votes in the AP Top 25 poll and the USA TODAY Sports coaches polls (outside of an erroneous vote for Texas). The drop-off after those three is perceived to be pretty steep.
Still, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish — not even two years removed from their own CFP appearance — enter the season with fairly high expectations too as the country’s fifth-ranked team. So, hearing that they’re 17.5-point underdogs for their opener at No. 2 Ohio State on Saturday, coach Marcus Freeman, a former linebacker for the Buckeyes, knew that wouldn’t sit well with his team.
Marcus Freeman, informed of the Vegas line on Notre Dame at Ohio State: "I didn't know that. I'm gonna write that down. You said 17.5 points, right? We'll use that in a team meeting today. It's good to know."
— Matt Fortuna (@Matt_Fortuna) August 29, 2022
Marcus Freeman said right now he's emotionless about going back to Ohio State as an alum. The emotion is more about his team getting to compete against a great program like Ohio State in a hostile environment.
— Tom VanHaaren (@TomVH) August 29, 2022
“I didn’t know that,” Freeman said of the spread at his Monday press conference. “I’m going to write that down. … We’ll use that in a team meeting today.”
It’s a no-brainer for Freeman to use a large spread as bulletin-board material. A top-five team opening the season as a three-score underdog will be perceived as disrespect, no matter the opponent.
Notre Dame’s odds to reach the College Football Playoff are +1200 at Tipico Sportsbook. Ohio State has -250 odds.
