Betting
Spread
SMU favouredMarket ND −17.5Ours ND −12.4
ND favouredgap 5.1 toward SMU
Grey dot: the market · gold: our card line · small dot: FEI (bcftoys.com). A gap is a reason to look, not to bet.
Vegas
| Team | Spread | Points | Moneyline | Win% | Kalshi |
|---|
| SMU away | +17.5 | 19.5 | +750 | 11.3% | — |
| ND home | -17.5 | 37.0 | -1200 | 88.7% | — |
| Total | 56.5 | |
The closing line: this game was played before live prices were being collected.
Our model — cards
| Team | Spread | Points | Win% | vs book |
|---|
| SMU away | +12.5 | 22.1 | 21.4% | -5.0 |
| ND home | -12.5 | 34.4 | 78.6% | +5.0 |
| Total | no total model | | | |
FEI — bcftoys.com
Nothing to show for this game.
"Points" is the implied score for each side: a spread and a total are the margin and the sum, so solving them back out says what each team is expected to score. A favourite is shown negative, the way a book quotes it. "vs book" is that model's line for the team minus the book's, so a plus means the model makes them the weaker side. Our cards are EA College Football 27 launch ratings rolled up; the gap between two teams is multiplied by a scale fitted on this season's results (real margins have run about 1.8 times the raw gap), plus 2.5 points of home field; the win chance comes from how far 7,877 FBS results landed from a line. FEI is Brian Fremeau's projection, shown as a reference only: measured on his own results pages it went 49.9% against the spread over 3,101 games (2022–25), and the pickers never see it. Neither model has shown it beats a closing line.
Team ratings
| Points vs an average FBS team | SMU | ND |
|---|
| Offence (cards) | +8.110th | +10.74th |
| Defence (cards) | +1.725th | +4.52nd |
| Card team rating | +9.911th | +15.22nd |
| SP+ (CFBD's rating, theirs) | +13.026th | +28.13rd |
| FEI (bcftoys.com, theirs) | +0.344th | +1.52nd |
| F+ (FEI + SP+, theirs) | +0.732nd | +2.22nd |
| Card line | ND -12.4 (the gap ×1.87, fitted on 215 games, plus 2.5 home field) |
| Returning production | 57% | 51% |
Cards are EA College Football 27's Week 3 Ratings (EA re-rates weekly; we take the newest) with CFBD's measured stats shown beside them; the team rating rolls EA's starters up with the NFL position weights, unmeasured for college. SP+ is opponent-adjusted; ours is not yet.
Quarterbacks
Kevin Jennings SMU88 ▼1 overall · Senior
Points added per play0.471
Completion77.0%
TD–INT12-5
Pass attempts, median game36
Pass yards, median game384
Rush yards, median game19
Games this season4
Team throws per game35.5
CJ Carr ND93 ▲1 overall · Sophomore
Points added per play0.595
Completion70.5%
TD–INT9-1
Pass attempts, median game23
Pass yards, median game238
Rush yards, median game5
Games this season4
Team throws per game28.0
The starter comes from the maintained depth chart (cfbdepth.com). The rating is EA College Football 27's Week 3 Ratings (EA re-rates weekly; we take the newest); everything under it is what CFBD has measured this season, as a median game rather than a total so a man who missed time is not shrunk.
Against the number
| Team | ATS | Cover% | vs spread | O/U | vs total |
|---|
| SMU away | 1-2-1 | 33% | -3.5 | 2-2 | +4.3 |
| ND home | 3-1 | 75% | +3.6 | 2-2 | -1.8 |
Against DraftKings' closing number, this season. A record of what happened and nothing more — cover rates do not predict, which is why the pickers never see them.
Streak trends
| Team | Split | Streak (4+), and what happened next in 8,097 games |
|---|
| SMU | non-division | failed to cover 4 straight — next game covered 52.7% of the time (6098 cases) |
| SMU | away non-division | failed to cover 6 straight — next game covered 56.2% of the time (1276 cases) |
| SMU | away non-division | gone under 7 straight — next game went over 52.6% of the time (1586 cases) |
| ND | all | won 14 straight — next game covered 49.1% of the time (3632 cases) |
| ND | home | won 9 straight — next game covered 49.1% of the time (5637 cases) |
| ND | favourite | won 14 straight — next game covered 49.1% of the time (3632 cases) |
| ND | home favourite | won 9 straight — next game covered 49.1% of the time (5637 cases) |
| ND | non-division | won 14 straight — next game covered 49.1% of the time (3632 cases) |
| ND | home non-division | won 9 straight — next game covered 49.1% of the time (5637 cases) |
| ND | favourite of 7+ | won 22 straight — next game covered 49.1% of the time (3632 cases) |
Streak picker (spread): bets SMU — SMU has failed to cover 6 straight as away non-division.
Streak picker (total): bets the over — SMU has gone under 7 straight as away non-division.
Cover, win/loss and over/under streaks in every split (home, away, favourite, underdog, division, primetime, big favourite), counted against the closing line. Measured over every FBS season on file: cover and over/under streaks revert (fade 6+); college win/loss streaks tell you nothing against the spread (50%), so they are shown here but the picker ignores them. These never reach the pickers' bundle; the "streak" row on the picks board bets on its own.
Venue, weather, rest and travel
Built when the game's bundle is (Notre Dame Stadium).
Who is out (reported)
No news read for this game yet.
Covers.com injury tags
| Team | Player | Status | Since | Note |
|---|
| SMU | N. Reed K | questionable Undisclosed | Thu, Oct 1 | Reed is dealing with an undisclosed injury, and it is unclear if he will play Saturday against the Boston. |
| SMU | Y. Knight WR | questionable Undisclosed | Tue, Sep 29 | Knight is dealing with un undisclosed injury, and it is unclear if he will play Saturday against the Boston College. |
| SMU | I. Singleton IV DL | out Undisclosed | Tue, Sep 29 | Singleton is sidelined with an undisclosed injury, and he is expected to miss the remainder of the season. |
| SMU | Y. Smith WR | questionable Undisclosed | Tue, Sep 29 | Smith is dealing with an undisclosed injury, and it is unclear if he will play Saturday against the Boston |
| SMU | E. Kelly RB | probable Undisclosed | Thu, Sep 17 | Kelly is dealing with an undisclosed injury , but he is likely to play against Louisville on Saturday, 19th September. |
| SMU | M. Uter TE | questionable Undisclosed | Sat, Sep 12 | Uter is nursing with an undisclosed injury, and it has yet to be determined if he will be available against Louisville on Saturday, September 19th. |
| SMU | C. Rhodes RB | questionable Undisclosed | Sat, Sep 12 | Rhodes is nursing with an undisclosed injury, and it has yet to be determined if he will be available against Louisville on Saturday, September 19th. |
| SMU | L. Rhodes RB | out Knee | Wed, Aug 26 | Rhodes has been out of the lineup with a tore ACL injury, and he will be out of commission for the remainder of the season. |
| ND | Q. Porter WR | out Knee | Mon, Sep 28 | Porter is sidelined due to knee injury, and he is expected to miss the remainder of the season. |
| ND | B. Hebert QB | questionable Undisclosed | Sun, Sep 20 | Hebert is bothered by an undisclosed injury, and it remains to be seen if he will be active against Boilermakers on Friday, September 25th. |