Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs. Syracuse Orange Betting Odds, Analysis, Prediction

The Syracuse Orange will look to rebound after being upset at home last week when they face the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at MetLife Stadium in New York’s College Classic.

While the Orange will be playing on a neutral field, the New York area has been a home away from home for them, as they have covered the number in two previous games at MetLife and won two Pinstripe Bowl appearances at Yankee Stadium straight-up and against the spread

Point spread: The Fighting Irish opened as 13-point favorites at MetLife Stadium, but it was bet down to 9.5 points by Thursday, according to sportsbooks monitored by Odds Shark. The total was 49 points (line updates and matchup reports here).

Odds Shark computer prediction: 30.8-20.0 Fighting Irish

Why the Notre Dame Fighting Irish can cover the spread

Notre Dame has gone 6-1 ATS in its last seven games off a bye week and will try to continue the team’s perfect season away from home as a double-digit favorite.

The Fighting Irish have looked impressive in all three games so far this year but fell short of covering the spread in a 30-14 win over the Purdue Boilermakers as 30-point favorites in their last game on September 13.

Notre Dame has outscored the opposition 109-31 in three games and will be playing on a neutral field for the second straight time after beating Purdue at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

Why the Syracuse Orange can cover the spread

Syracuse lost both of the previous games the school played at MetLife Stadium, against Penn State 23-17 in 2013 as eight-point underdogs and against USC 42-29 in 2012 as 24.5-point dogs, covering the spread both times.

The Orange may have even been looking ahead to this prime-time matchup with Notre Dame in losing to the Maryland Terrapins 34-20 at the Carrier Dome last Saturday. They were down to Maryland 31-13 at halftime and wasted a great team rushing effort, totaling 370 yards on the ground including 156 from quarterback Terrel Hunt and 138 from running back Prince-Tyson Gulley.

If Syracuse can run the ball like that again, improving to 4-0 ATS in four games against the Irish is realistic.

Smart Pick

This is the farthest the Irish have traveled in 2014, and the bye week may not have come at a great time for them. They were playing well heading into the bye, but that momentum may be stalled in this spot as a big favorite.

Notre Dame also has much bigger games ahead on its schedule, while Syracuse has been targeting this game since the school put together New York’s College Classic a few years ago. The Orange have also performed well as underdogs recently, going 3-1 ATS in their past four, so watch for them to be extra motivated to perform well in front of thousands of alumni.

Trends:

• The total has gone UNDER in six of Notre Dame's last seven games
• Syracuse is 4-1 SU in its last five games

Note: All point spread and lines data courtesy of Odds Shark, all quotes gathered firsthand unless otherwise noted. Check out Twitter for injury and line-move updates and get the free odds tracker app.