The #6 ranked Notre Daqme Fighting Irish are taking on the #9 ranked Stanford Cardinal in a huge college football game this Saturday, November 28, 2015, at Stanford Stadium in Stanford, California. Game time is 7:30 pm EDT and the game is on TV on FOX with announcers Gus Johnson and Joel Klatt along with sideline reporter Molly McGrath.
This is a big college football game that has huge national playoff and national championship implications. If Notre Dame wins they will almost certainly be in the 2015 college football playoff and playing for a national title. If Stanford wins they too could end up in the playoff if enough teams ahead of them lose another game.
- Notre Dame Fighting Irish +3.5 at Stanford Cardinal (O/U is 56)
Notre Dame comes into this game with a 10-1 record and the Fighting Irish are ranked as the 6th best team in the country but the Fighting Irish find themselves a 3.5 point underdog to beat Stanford this week on the road in Palo Alto. Notre Dame has wins this season over Texas, Virginia, Georgia Tech, UMass, Navy, USC, Temple, Pitt, Wake Forest, and Boston College. Navy and Temple are both ranked in the top 25. Notre Dame’s lone loss this season was a heartbreaking 24-22 loss to #1 ranked Clemson.
Stanford comes into the game with a 9-2 record. The Cardinal have wins over UCF, USC, Oregon State, Arizona, UCLA, Washington, Washington State, Colorado and Cal. Stanford’s two losses this season were to Northwestern and Oregon. So Stanford has two wins over ranked teams in UCLA and Washington State and two losses to ranked teams in Northwestern and Oregon.
The over/under for this game is 56 points. Notre Dame averages 35 points scored per game while Stanford averages 37 points scored per game. Notre Dame is giving up an average of 21 points per game and Stanford is giving up 22 points per game.
The stakes could not be any higher in this game. Both Notre Dame and Stanford have to win to have any shot at the 2015 college football playoff and national championship. A Notre Dame win would almost certainly get the Irish in but a loss would ruin their hopes. Stanford could also still make the playoff if they win this game and get lots of other help but a loss here would eliminate the Cardinal.
Both these teams have excellent coaches. David Shaw of Stanford has a career record of 51-14 (.785) for the Cardinal and Notre Dame’s Brian Kelly has a record of 55-21 (.724) for the Irish. You cannot do much better than these two coaches have done in college football. Who will win this game? Tune in Saturday night at 7:30 pm EDT on FOX to find out.