Notre Dame at Purdue

The Dallas Cowboys have been crowned America's team in the NFL. The closest thing we have to that in the college rnaks is Notre Dame. What does it mean? It usually spells line value on the other side and such is the case here. With the Irish making a splash once again on the national scene, they are again attracting the public's attention. Notre Dame makes its annual early season tour through the Big-10 and in their last 23 against them, the Irish are just 9-14 ATS including 0-2 ATS this season. The Boilermakers are getting line value here as they got caught looking ahead last week and dropped their game to Northern Illinois. As a result of that, and the importance of this game, they will come to play vs. the Irish. The Notre Dame offense is running smoothly, but the same can't be said of a defense that has allowed 38 points to Michigan on the road, and then 30 to Michigan State at home. The Irish were considered to be a BCS Bowl caliber team and while they are much improved, allowing nearly 1,000 yards the last two weeks says otherwise. The Irish offense was outgained by the opponent in both games. Purdue faced an explosive offense in Oregon and matched them score for score, losing by just two points on the road. I think they can score on this Irish defense, especially at home, and the points are too high here. I'll go with Purdue in this one.