No. 7 Notre Dame takes on No. 20 Texas A&M on Saturday at Kyle Field, and the Irish find themselves in the role of betting underdog despite being higher ranked to start the season.
Aside from Clemson vs. Georgia, this is arguably the biggest matchup of CFB Week 1, and ESPN's "College GameDay" will be in College Station to add to the festivities.
Both teams get after it on defense, which is reflected in the game's low total on odds boards. Let's get to Notre Dame vs. Texas A&M odds, prop bets and predictions now.
Best odds for Notre Dame vs. Texas A&M: Point spread, moneyline, total from top sportsbooks
Here are the best odds for each side of Notre Dame vs. Texas A&M, per live point spreads, totals and moneylines from our top-rated sports betting sites.
Notre Dame betting news
Notre Dame features another former ACC QB in Riley Leonard. The former signal-caller at Duke follows former Wake Forest QB Sam Hartman as Notre Dame's starter.
When healthy, Leonard is a dual-threat quarterback who can beat you with his arm and legs. Leonard's mobility is key, as he piled up 352 yards and four TDs on the ground, despite playing only seven games due to injury last year. In the previous season, he led Duke with 699 yards rushing and 13 TDs.
New offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock came over from LSU after coaching Heisman Trophy winner Jayden Daniels. You can expect Leonard to be active in the ground game, as Daniels ran for a team-high 120 yards in LSU's 42-30 win last year.
Notre Dame needed some speed at the WR position and added Beaux Collins (Clemson) and Kris Mitchell (Florida International) to help fill that void. Sophomore running back Jeremiyah Love showed some promise as a freshman and finds himself as RB1 to start the year.
Notre Dame football fielded one of the nation's best defenses last season, and the Irish look stout again on that front. Last year, the Irish allowed just 17 points a game to rank ninth in the country.
Nobody was more efficient against the pass, and safety Xavier Watts (pictured above) is back at safety after winning the Bronko Nagurski Award as the nation's best defensive player.
Also check: Best college football betting apps and sites | 2024-25 CFP national championship odds
Texas A&M betting news
Mike Elko, now head coach at Texas A&M, knows all about Riley Leonard after coaching him at Duke, but stopping him will be another matter.
The Aggies have sophomore quarterback Conner Weigman under center. Weigman did see some action as a starter last year before getting injured early, throwing for 979 yards, eight TDs and two interceptions. He's another mobile quarterback who averaged more than five yards per carry last season.
Expect Weigman to look early and often to junior WR Noah Thomas, who led the Aggies with five receiving TDs in 2023.
The Aggies landed key defensive players in the transfer portal, including edge rusher Nic Scourton (Purdue), linebacker Solomon DeShields (Pittsburgh) and cornerback Will Lee III (Kansas State). PFF calls Texas A&M's biggest strength a defense without holes.
That doesn't bode well for Notre Dame, which lost starting left tackle Charles Jagusah for the season after he suffered an upper body injury early in camp. Expect the Aggies to take advantage of that absence along the defensive front.
Texas A&M failed to beat a ranked opponent last season, and the Aggies will try to make amends for that in the season opener against a higher-ranked team in Notre Dame.
Notre Dame vs. Texas A&M prop bets at BetMGM
Here's a sampling of Notre Dame vs. Texas A&M winning margin prop bets with odds from BetMGM.
- ND by 1-6 points (+375)
- Texas A&M by 1-6 points (+375)
- ND by 7-12 points (+525)
- Texas A&M by 7-12 points (+450)
- ND by 13-18 points (+960)
- Texas A&M by 13-18 points (+625)
BetMGM is also dealing odds on overtime with the "Yes" priced at +950 and "No" at -5000.
Notre Dame vs. Texas A&M ATS pick
Kyle Field will be raucous as usual on Saturday night. The battle between mobile quarterbacks will be decided by the better defense when it comes to containment. Will Elko's familiarity with Leonard play a role? We'll see, but in a game that projects to be both tight and low scoring, we're taking Notre Dame and the points here.
Pick: Fighting Irish +3
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