College Football Week 1 Predictions: Notre Dame vs. Texas A&M (2024)
Week 0 gave us several high-quality games to watch, starting with Georgia Tech’s upset of Florida State in Dublin, Ireland. Montana State pulled off a big-time comeback in the final few minutes of the fourth quarter to beat New Mexico on the road despite being an FCS team. SMU trailed Nevada for most of their matchup but quarterback Preston Stone and tight end R.J. Maryland went ballistic in the fourth quarter, winding up with a 29-24 win on the road against the Wolf Pack. Hawai’i kicked off at midnight and won by three touchdowns over FCS opponent, Delaware State, but it wasn’t enough to cover the opening 38-point spread in Honolulu.
Now, we’re getting a full slate of games heading into Week 1 of the 2024 college football season. It kicks off on Thursday, August 29, with four of the nation’s top 25 teams playing a non-ranked opponent. Here are my early College Football Week 1 predictions for Notre Dame vs. Texas A&M.
Get instant alerts when a line reaches your target via the BettingPros App >>
College Football Week 1 Early Line Movement: Notre Dame vs. Texas A&M
Notre Dame vs. Texas A&M
Riley Leonard and former Duke head coach, Mike Elko, will face off against each other when No. 7 Notre Dame takes on No. 20 Texas A&M on the road in Week 1 on Saturday night.
The Fighting Irish are +3 on the point spread, making them road underdogs despite being ranked 13 spots higher. It’ll be very interesting to watch how Leonard and Elko dissect each other throughout the game. Both individuals know how the other operates, and Leonard holds the edge since he’s the player on the field who can make the adjustments.
The Aggies return Connor Weigman under center and have a new tight end, Tre Watson, transferred from Fresno State, with a couple of new additions along the offensive line. Notre Dame lost Audric Estime to the NFL, their physical RB1, but expect Leonard’s dual-threat ability to gel well under head coach Marcus Freeman.
Out of our four games we’re analyzing in this article, oddsmakers have the point total set the lowest, currently at 46.5. This makes sense due to both teams historically placing an emphasis on running the football. The point spread momentarily dipped down to +2.5 before climbing back to +3 on Notre Dame. I believe that the Fighting Irish can keep this game within a field goal to cover and should be able to secure the outright win despite playing in a hostile SEC road environment.
Let’s stake a unit on Notre Dame +3 before it gets any shorter later in the week.
Best Bet: Notre Dame +3 (-110)
BettingPros Podcast
Subscribe: YouTube | Spotify | Apple Podcasts | iHeart | Castbox | Amazon Music | Podcast Addict | TuneIn
Matthew MacKay is a featured writer for BettingPros and FantasyPros. For more from Matthew, check out his archive and follow him @Matt_MacKay_.