Best Bets: December 20th

Indiana Hoosiers vs. Notre Dame Fighting Irish

The College Football Playoff kicks off tonight with a matchup made in heaven for the state of Indiana. These two schools have had fantastic seasons, and it will be a great game. The Fighting Irish are led by QB Riley Leonard, who is protected by an extremely stout offensive line. On the other side, the Hoosiers have one of the better quarterbacks in college football in Kurtis Rourke, who has thrown for 27 touchdowns and only four interceptions. However, the Irish have a great defense that will lock up this offensive attack that has underperformed against high level teams, having only played ONE RANKED opponent the entire season—which ended in a 38-15 loss against the Ohio State Buckeyes. Indiana has simply not faced high level teams and will struggle with keeping this Irish offense in check. They will be exposed tonight by Indiana’s favorite football team!

Pick: Notre Dame Fighting Irish -6.5

Lean: #19 Cincinnati Bearcats vs #22 Dayton Flyers

Another in state matchup is happening tonight in Cincinnati, Ohio. These two teams are very talented and decorated to start off this season. A ton of the public sentiment is on the Flyers in this one after a very nice start, having beaten Marquette and UConn this past month. However, this Bearcat squad is absolutely LOADED with skill and SIZE, with each starter being taller than 6’7. This team stretches the floor out very nicely and can flat out shoot the rock. Expect the Bearcats to jump on this Flyers team who is getting a little too much love.

Pick: Cincinnati Bearcats ML