Here you go my friends and good luck as always
The Pick: My 150 Dime winner is the USC Trojans.
The Line: The current line is +7 1/2 at the majority of books in Vegas and offshore as of Noon EST. Be sure to shop around for the best line available.
Note: If your line is anywhere from +5 1/2 to +7, I advise you to buy the 1/2 point up on the Trojans. At +7 1/2 points you play it as it is.
My Analysis
It would not surprise me one bit if they shocked the world today.
The USC Trojans might be arguably the best 6-5 team college football team in the country.
Their 5 losses are by a total of 19 points and they led all 5 in the 4th quarter.
At Michigan they led by 4 in the 4th and lost by 3. At Minnesota they led by 1 in the 4th and lost by 7.
At home against Penn State they led by 7 with 4 minutes to go and lost in OT by 3. At Maryland they led by 14 in the 4th and lost by 1.
Lastly, at Washington they led 21-20 with 13 minutes to go and lost by 5.
Trust me when I tell you this USC team is 1 or 2 plays away from being 11-0 and in the College football playoff.
Now let's talk about their opponent today, the 10-1 Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
My first question is how good are they????
After beating Texas A&M to start the year 23-13, they came home and lost outright as a 4-touchdown favorite to Northern Illinois 16-14.
Since that loss, they have won 9 games in a row but only 5 of those 9 wins have come against teams with a winning record.
And of those 5 wins, with exception of the week 1 win at A&M, they haven't beat a winning team in a true road game since.
The wins over Georgia Tech, Navy and Army were at neutral sites.
In my opinion, this Irish team has faced only 1 team that you could classify as being in the class of this USC team and that was Louisville at home week 5.
Here were the stats of that game: Time of possession: Cards 32 minutes to 28. First downs: Cards 19 to 11. Rush Yards: Cards 131 to 117. Pass yards: Cards 264 to 163.
The Irish didn't beat Jeff Brohm and the Cards that day, Louisville lost. End of story.
Folks, this is without question the best team Notre Dame has faced this year and they will have their hands full.
A few numbers for you: Notre Dame is 0-4 ATS last 4 as a road favorite laying less than 10 and last 6 games with single revenge, non money making 1-5 ATS.
With the home team winning 9 of the last 10 between these two rivals, their is only one way to play this one in sunny Southern California.
Don't be surprised to see the Trojans shock the world and win the game outright.