← Matchups

SMU

ACC · 2-0 (1-0 ACC) · power +26.8 · #13
Our numberND -10.0 no book has priced this game

Notre Dame

IND · 2-0 · power +35.6 · #1
Our side
MoneylineND to win ours 74%
Projected score 22–32 SMU – ND
2026-11-21 · 7:30 PM Notre Dame Stadium · Notre Dame, IN Early season

The books 1 account books · tap any price — the ticket builds at that book

Book SMU spreadND spread OverUnder SMU winND win SMU TT overSMU TT under ND TT overND TT under
DraftKings

The gold price is the best available on that side; a gold marks the side our number implies — a read, not a pick. TT is a team total — that team’s own points, not the game’s; columns are empty where no book hangs one. Send to book opens whichever book you tapped, not the one we would have picked. Prices are the books’ own.

Series Notre Dame lead 10–3 · 13 meetings since 1930
2025 unit ranks — last completed season, from games actually played
Run game edge Notre Dame Fighting Irish 61 ranks
SMU Mustangs #115 rush offense Notre Dame Fighting Irish #54 run defense
Pass game even 40 ranks apart
SMU Mustangs #46 pass offense Notre Dame Fighting Irish #6 pass defense
Run game even 9 ranks apart
Notre Dame Fighting Irish #1 rush offense SMU Mustangs #10 run defense
Pass game even 32 ranks apart
Notre Dame Fighting Irish #10 pass offense SMU Mustangs #42 pass defense
SMU Mustangs Balanced · 47% run Avg pace Notre Dame Fighting Irish Balanced · 58% run Ball-control
Rhett Lashlee · 38-16 Marcus Freeman · 43-12

Ranked by team-unit strength (rush & pass offense vs. run & pass defense) across all 265 D1 teams, not by individual players. Identity, tempo and unit strength are measured from the 2025 season.

The evidence 2025 production and power ratings · supporting the number above

Who carried each team in 2025
SMU Mustangs
QB Kevin Jennings 767 pass yds · 8 TD · 2 INT #2 QB
DB Jimmy Wyrick 11 tkl · 1 PD #77 DB
TE Randy Pittman Jr. 6 rec · 77 yds · 2 TD #18 TE
WR Yannick Smith 6 rec · 151 yds · 2 TD #91 WR
Notre Dame Fighting Irish
QB CJ Carr 492 pass yds · 6 TD · 0 INT #6 QB
K Spencer Porath 3 FG · 12 XP · 21 pts #11 K
RB Nolan James Jr. 48 rush yds · 2 TD · 5 rec #47 RB
WR Jordan Faison 8 rec · 135 yds · 2 TD #79 WR

Top-rated players from last season, ranked within their position across D1. A grade measures what a player produced, and no 2026 game has been played yet — so this is who produced for these programs in 2025, not a claim about who is on the field this year.

Power breakdown
TeamPowerOffDefRank
SMU MustangsACC +26.8 +13.9 +12.9 #13
Notre Dame Fighting IrishIND +35.6 +22.4 +13.2 #1

Def is higher = better. The projection assumes a 2.4-pt home edge (0 at neutral sites).

Where the number comes from
SMU offense vs Notre Dame defense+0.7 pts
Notre Dame offense vs SMU defense+9.4 pts
Travel · context onlyAway team travels 842 mi

An efficiency adjustment from season-to-date EPA and success rate applies once teams have played enough games; before then it is 0 and the number is the power rating alone.

Situational spots are shown for context, not baked in: travel, altitude and rest were tested against 6,000+ games and the power and efficiency ratings already account for them. Adding them again would double-count.