The Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team entered the 2023 NCAA Football season as one of the top 25 teams, ranking 13th. The team’s quest for the college football playoffs and National Championship game hit a setback after losing to top-10 ranked Ohio State Buckeyes Saturday.
A look at what happened and what’s next for Notre Dame and its betting odds for the college football postseason.
What Happened: While many in the college football sports betting world have turned their attention to fast-rising University of Colorado and its outspoken coach Deion Sanders, a matchup of two top 10 teams captured strong attention and viewership Saturday.
Sixth-ranked Ohio State and ninth-ranked Notre Dame faced off Saturday night in a primetime game that aired on NBC and streamed on Peacock, units of Comcast Corporation CMCSA.
Ahead of the top 10 matchup, actor Vince Vaughn was the featured guest and guest picker on ESPN College GameDay, a weekly college football show that airs on Walt Disney Co DIS-owned ESPN.
Vaughn joined the anchors with his “letterman jacket” from Notre Dame that he wore in the 1993 hit sports film “Rudy.”
In the film, Vaughn plays quarterback Jamie O’Hara with Sean Astin playing Daniel “Rudy” Ruettiger. The story is based on the true-life story of a walk-on football player at Notre Dame in the 1970s.
“The Buckeyes are for real, always. You can never doubt them. That being said, I played for Notre Dame — I threw a pass. If I had half the heart of Rudy, I would have been All-American instead of picking games up here with you guys,” Vaughn said in his game pick.
Vaughn picked Notre Dame to win.
Ohio State won the game 17-14, scoring a touchdown with what appeared to be no time left. After a review, it was ruled that Ohio State scored with one second left on the clock, leading to an extra point attempt to make the score 17-14 and a kickoff.
Ohio State quarterback Kyle McCord threw for 240 yards, while Notre Dame quarterback Sam Hartman threw for 175 yards and one touchdown. Ohio State wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. had three catches for 32 yards and missed a portion of the game due to injury.
Ohio State was favored by three points at most sportsbooks ahead of the contest, including at DraftKings Inc DKNG. Bettors who placed a wager on the spread saw the bet graded as a push with money refunded back. Had the last-second touchdown been ruled as called on field with no time remaining, Ohio State wouldn’t have kicked an extra point and the bettors on Notre Dame +3 would have won their bets.
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What’s Next: While Vaughn might not have been able to will Notre Dame to the win in honor of Rudy, the team continued to be a contender for the NCAA Football playoffs and postseason.
Odds on DraftKings showed Ohio State with the fifth-best odds to win the NCAA Championship at +800. Notre Dame is ranked 11th at odds of +3,500.
Notre Dame’s schedule includes matchups against top 25 ranked Duke and USC, with wins over both likely improving the team’s postseason odds.
After Saturday’s game, Ohio State moved up two spots to fourth in the AP poll with Notre Dame falling two spots to 11th.
Three of the players mentioned above are among the leading candidates to win the Heisman Trophy as the best college football players:
Hartman: +2200
McCord: +3000
Harrison Jr.: +6000
Photos: Shutterstock
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