Notre Dame opens as three-score favorite over Boston College
Notre Dame opened as a three-score favorite for the second straight week. The No. 20 Irish (7-3) are 19-point favorites over Boston College (2:30 p.m. ET, NBC), according to Circa Sports Week 12 opening lines.
The Irish are 2-2 when favored by at least two touchdowns at kickoff. They beat Navy 35-32 Saturday in Baltimore as 16.5-point favorites, per Caesars Sportsbook. They were favored by 26 points over UNLV in a 44-21 home win Oct. 22. Notre Dame fell to Marshall 26-21 as 20.5-point favorites Sept. 10 and lost to Stanford 16-14 Oct. 15 when they were favored by 16.5 points.
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Boston College (3-7, 2-5 ACC) beat No. 16 North Carolina State 21-20 Saturday, ending a four-game losing streak. Notre Dame, meanwhile, has won four straight. There likely wasn’t much either team could do Saturday to make the line anything less than double digits, if not two touchdowns. The Eagles are in last place in the ACC Atlantic Division.
Notre Dame has won eight straight games in the series against Boston College, including a 2012 victory later vacated due to NCAA sanctions. Its last loss to the Eagles was a 17-0 road defeat in 2008.
This is the eighth time in 2022 Notre Dame is a favorite. At kickoff, the Irish also were favored against Navy, Stanford, UNLV, Marshall, California (13.5 points), BYU (3.5), and Syracuse (1). They’re 2-5 against the spread as favorites, including two outright losses. Notre Dame was a 3.5-point underdog against Clemson at kickoff. It was a road underdog at North Carolina (2.5 points) and Ohio State (17). It is 3-0 against the spread as an underdog, including two outright wins.
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The Irish moved up in both voter-based polls Sundays after defeating Navy. They are No. 18 in the Associated Press top 25 and No. 19 in the coaches poll. The College Football Playoff rankings, which have them at No. 20, will refresh Tuesday.
One Top 25 opponent remains on the schedule: CFP No. 8 USC (9-1), which Notre Dame plays on the road Nov. 26 to close the regular season. The Trojans beat Colorado 55-17 Friday. Elsewhere with ranked Irish opponents, No. 15 North Carolina (9-1) beat Wake Forest 36-33, No. 10 Clemson beat Louisville 31-16 and No. 2 Ohio State beat Indiana 56-14.
Notre Dame and Boston College last played Nov. 14, 2020. The Irish won on the road, 45-31.
