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Money Line: Spreads and predictions for Notre Dame and Louisville, plus others

By Blake DuDonis

TOLEDO, OH - DECEMBER 8: Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Muffet McGraw watches the action on the court during a regular season non-conference game between the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the Toledo Rockets on December 8, 2018, at Savage Arena in Toledo, Ohio. (Photo by Scott W. Grau/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
TOLEDO, OH - DECEMBER 8: Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Muffet McGraw watches the action on the court during a regular season non-conference game between the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the Toledo Rockets on December 8, 2018, at Savage Arena in Toledo, Ohio. (Photo by Scott W. Grau/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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For the first time since 2007, the battle of #1 v. #2 will feature teams in the same conference 

It’s been a long time since we’ve had a 1-2 matchup that didn’t feature UConn (2012 when Baylor and Stanford played in the Final Four), but that is exactly what we will get tonight when #1 Notre Dame hosts #2 Louisville.  Though it’s mostly been because they were playing UConn, the Irish are just 1-2 in Top-two games, and 0-3 when ranked number one. Louisville will try to keep that trending going as they play with their highest ranking in school history.

The nation at large is excited about the game, but the oddsmakers don’t think it will be very close at all. At the time of this article’s publication, the Irish are a 10.5 point favorite, a massive number for the supposed top two teams in the country. While year-to-year comparisons aren’t always useful, it is worth noting that Louisville won both of the matchups last season, a 100-67 beatdown at home and a 74-72 win in the ACC tournament.

Missing from last season’s matchup is Myisha Hines-Allen for Louisville, a player who averaged 23 points and 10.5 rebounds in the two wins, but they do still have “the other player” in Asia Durr, one of the top scorers in the country. The 10.5 spread for this game did originally shock me, and I think it shows Vegas’ thoughts on Louisville more than its thoughts on Notre Dame.

Though they are 14-0, the Cardinals haven’t had to play too much top tier competition. In fact, they only have two wins over teams currently ranked in the Top 25, a 58-56 win against Arizona State in Las Vegas, and an 80-75 win at home over Kentucky. While I have no concerns that Jeff Walz will have his team ready, the amount of close games they’ve played does worry me in this one. 10.5 is a lot of points, but it’s not as crazy as it may seem.

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