Saturday’s Michigan State vs Notre Dame game is going to be one of the best games of Week 3 even though Vegas doesn’t expect it to be all that close.
The weather might have a different idea.
The Spartans are 2-0 to begin the season with a couple of wins over MAC teams, but this is the first big test of the season. Michigan State will head to South Bend for the first time in a decade and the last time the Spartans were there, they picked up a big win over Notre Dame. Unfortunately, that was just one of the Spartans’ three wins during that 2016 season, but it was an exciting game nonetheless.
Will we see a repeat of that on Saturday night in the rain? Potentially, but Vegas isn’t too confident that this game is going to be all that close.
Final betting odds for Michigan State vs Notre Dame
Odds courtesy of DraftKings as of Sept. 19.
Line: Notre Dame -28.5
Over/Under: 51.5
Moneyline: Michigan State +1800 | Notre Dame -5000
Clearly Vegas isn’t too high on the Spartans’ upset chances, but the line has moved ever-so-slightly in the Spartans’ favor. Notre Dame started as a 29.5-point favorite but now it’s moving slightly the other way which just means that money is coming in for Michigan State.
That’s still just an insane line for two Power Four teams in a rivalry game.
Predicting the Michigan State vs Notre showdown
Michigan State isn’t expected to keep this close, and for good reason.
The Spartans found themselves down by one in the fourth quarter to Toledo in the opener and then they were only leading Eastern Michigan by seven at halftime last week.
Notre Dame, on the other hand, has destroyed both opponents to start the year, starting with Wisconsin in the opener. The Irish have been dominant defensively and CJ Carr has been great under center. We’ll see how that carries into Week 3.
Michigan State is going to keep things much closer than the projected 28.5-point line. The Spartans are going to do much better on the ground than the Irish who have been searching for an identity in that facet of the game so far through two games. That will work in the Spartans’ advantage with Cam Edwards having another good game.
Alessio Milivojevic is going to take care of the ball and we’ll see a lot of Jayden Savoury, Chrishon McCray, and Rod Bullard. The Spartans will lose, but not by 30.
Final score: Michigan State 17, Notre Dame 31
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