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It's time to continue our College Basketball odds series with a Rutgers-Notre Dame prediction and pick. Find out how to watch .
This will be a fascinating college basketball game for one very obvious reason: While this game lacks the star power of some of the blueblood hoops games which have been played in November, it contains a lot of urgency for the NCAA Tournament. Both teams are coming off really bad losses, the kinds of losses which put a big dent in an NCAA Tournament resume and will linger all the way through Selection Sunday if they aren't counterbalanced by a significant number of quality wins. Each team has created a deficit relative to the NCAA Tournament which urgently needs to be erased.
Rutgers' recent bad loss came on Sunday against Kennesaw State. The Scarlet Knights fell behind by 21 points due to a dreadful first-half showing. They rallied in the second half but lost by two. This team has high-end talent, but has dealt with injuries and has not always been able to play its desired starting five in the first few weeks of the season. That's a real limitation and it can't be ignored. However, there should be no universe in which Rutgers loses to Kennesaw State after falling behind by 21. Getting that badly outplayed in the first 20 minutes simply can't happen. Rutgers will be hugely motivated to erase that loss with a win against Notre Dame from the ACC.
Notre Dame, however, is trying to regroup from its own bad loss. The Fighting Irish just fell to Elon at home, an absolutely inexcusable result and performance for a team which was expecting to be better this season now that head coach Micah Shrewsberry is in his second season in South Bend. Last year was the coach's first season with the Irish, and a lot of bumps in the road were to be fully expected. This season — while not necessarily a joyride free of problems — was supposed to be at least a little cleaner and more straightforward, but the loss to Elon derailed that particular goal. Now Notre Dame is playing catch-up in terms of its NCAA Tournament resume, much like Rutgers. That Elon loss has to be offset quickly, and the Irish will need to continue to stack good wins to make sure that wart on the resume doesn't become a much bigger problem when we get into early March and ultimately arrive at Selection Sunday.
This is a game both teams urgently need to win, given the bad losses they just endured. It will be fascinating to see how both sides respond. Bettors need to know that this is a neutral-site game being played in Las Vegas.
Here are the Rutgers-Notre Dame College Basketball Odds, courtesy of FanDuel
College Basketball Odds: Rutgers-Notre Dame Odds
Rutgers: -1.5 (-114)
Moneyline: -128
Notre Dame: +1.5 (-106)
Moneyline: +106
Over: 145.5 (-115)
Under: 145.5 (-105)
How to Watch Rutgers vs Notre Dame
Time: 10:30 p.m. ET / 7:30 p.m. PT
TV: TBS
Stream: fuboTV (Free Trial)
Why Rutgers Will Cover The Spread/Win
Rutgers has higher-ceiling players than Notre Dame does. We saw with Notre Dame against Elon that if the Irish aren't in sync, everything can really unravel for them. Rutgers should be able to regroup more easily than Notre Dame will.
Why Notre Dame Will Cover The Spread/Win
Rutgers has to be in pretty bad shape to fall behind Kennesaw State by 21 points. Notre Dame really let one slip away against Elon and will have better structure and organization in its halfcourt offense. Shrewsberry is a better coach than Rutgers' Steve Pikiell.
Final Rutgers-Notre Dame Prediction & Pick
You should not come anywhere near this game, given that both teams just stumbled and offer no reason to trust them.
Final Rutgers-Notre Dame Prediction & Pick: Notre Dame moneyline
