Notre Dame vs. Miami Best Bets
Kick off the 2025 college football season with a BetMGM bonus code featuring a Bonus Bet offer of up to $1,500! RotoWire has plenty of college football betting tools and info to keep you in the loop this season. From the latest college football odds to college football futures and Heisman odds, we have you covered.
One of college football's biggest rivalries is back for Week 1 of the college football season. After playing annually from 1971-1990, with the final four matchups being top-10 showdowns, the rivalry got put on the shelf. Following 1990, the once renowned matchup between the "Catholics and the Convicts" happened three times in 2010, 2012 and most recently in 2017. In this year's season opener for both storied programs, expect Hard Rock Stadium to be one of the most raucous environments this weekend as the two teams meet again in a top-10 showdown.
Notre Dame vs. Miami Betting Odds for Week 1
Spread: Notre Dame -2.5 (BetMGM); Miami +2.5 (DraftKings Sportsbook)
Moneyline: Notre Dame -134 (FanDuel Sportsbook); Miami +122 (Caesars Sportsbook)
Total: Over 49.5 (DraftKings Sportsbook); Under 49.5 (DraftKings Sportsbook)
Notre Dame vs Miami Betting Picks for Week 1
A year ago, Notre Dame punched its ticket to the first college football playoff since 2020, while Miami was in the driver's seat to make its first-ever college football playoff appearance before dropping the ball with losses to Syracuse and Georgia Tech in two of its final three games. Fast forward to now, and both these teams are back with top-end rosters in college football, sitting in the top-10 of the preseason polls. Both of these teams are anchored by very good fronts on both the offensive and defensive line and will likely be led by hard nose rushing attacks.
For Notre Dame, their rushing attack will be centered around junior Jeremiyah Love who rushed for 1,129 yards on 6.9 yards per carry with 17 touchdowns a year ago. Handing Love the ball will be redshirt freshman CJ Carr. Carr, outside of his name, being the grandson of college football hall of famer Lloyd Carr, is a bit of an unknown as he appeared in just one game last year where he did not attempt a pass. However, Carr comes with great high school pedigree as a former 4-star prospect and the sixth ranked quarterback prospect in the class of 2024 according to 247 Sports. On the other side of the ball, the Fighting Irish are anchored by one of the top defenses in college football, which finished fourth in points allowed a year ago surrendering just 15.5 points per game. With many returning starters from last year's team that finished as the National Champion runner-up, the Fighting Irish defense look poised to keep rolling this season.
Miami, with a strong offensive line, may also look to be a run first team this year centering their attack around Junior Mark Fletcher. Fletcher a year ago played second fiddle to Damien Martinez for most of the year before sharing the workload down the stretch of the season. Fletcher ran for 607 yards on just 112 carries while finding the endzone nine times on the ground. Handing the ball off to Fletcher will be Redshirt Senior quarterback Carson Beck. Beck transferred to Miami this offseason from Georgia where a year ago many people projected him as the first quarterback drafted in the 2025 NFL Draft. After throwing for over 3,900 yards with 24 touchdowns and six interceptions his redshirt sophomore season, Beck had what many called a down year in 2024. Beck threw for over 3,400 yards with 28 touchdowns and 12 interceptions, before tearing his UCL in the SEC Championship Game last year. On the other side of the ball, the Hurricanes were ailed by their defense however, the numbers weren't as bad as some of the results. The Hurricanes ended the season second in the ACC in total defense allowing 327 yards per game. Though with the defense being the main driver for the teams failures a year ago the Hurricanes brought in a new defensive coordinator in Anthony Weaver who served as the Miami Dolphins defensive coordinator in 2024. The Hurricanes also overhauled their secondary which had many struggles last year. Miami brought in five corners and two safeties from the transfer portal including five 4-star transfers according to 247 Sports to shore up their back end.
Notre Dame vs Miami Expert Pick: Under 49.5 (Draftkings Sportsbook)
Notre Dame vs Miami Predictions for Week 1
Both teams here look poised to establish the running game early and often. With Notre Dame featuring a first year starting quarterback and a team strength in their offensive line and defense, I would expect the Irish to try to slow down the game to take pressure off their young quarterback by featuring their star running back and trying to limit turnovers with simple passes. Miami, also featuring a great running back and a very good offensive line, will likely try to slow down the Notre Dame pass rush through the running game.
Beck has was also shaky last year when under duress, a great way to keep his pocket clean would be by using the play action pass and passing off of the run game; however, Notre Dame features one of the best secondaries in the country anchored by corner Leonard Moore who was a Freshman All-American last year and has shown the ability to limit big plays from his opponents. I would expect this one to be a fairly tight lower scoring affair with under 49.5 being the best bet.
