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This game would have had a lot bigger implications had the Irish not lost a game that they shouldn’t have lost recently. Now the Irish are unranked and probably will not be a factor in the BCS bowls.

Pittsburgh on the other hand has a chance to make some real noise in the Bowl season. They are currently 8-1 and ranked No. 8 in the country. The last time they were ranked this high late in the season, they had a guy by the name of Dan Marino on their team. What should we expect out of this game as far as Free College Football Picks go?

Notre Dame just finished a terrible loss to Navy last week. If you can’t even beat Navy, there’s pretty much no way they can beat Pittsburgh. However, they are hoping that they won’t play as terribly as they did against the Navy either. They come into the game at 6-3 and have officially reached underachiever status yet again.

While they have struggled, they still have a pretty good offense with Claussen at quarterback and Golden Tate at wide receiver. Charlie Weiss needs to figure things out in a hurry if they are going to try and stop Pittsburgh in its run to a BCS bowl game.

Pittsburgh on the other hand, is doing quite well. They are in a heated race with No. 5 overall Cincinnati for the top spot in the Big East. In fact, they host Cincinnati in two weeks, so hopefully they will not get caught looking ahead to the big game and overlook Notre Dame.

Pittsburgh boasts one of the best running backs in the country with Dion Lewis. He currently ranks seventh nationally and he is only a freshman. He should easily get the record for most rushing yards in a season for a freshman this year in the Big East. Much of Notre Dame’s chances hinges on stopping this talented runner.

Check out Vernon Croy's Notre Dame Fighting Irish Vs Pittsburgh Panthers Picks

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