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Posted at 11:00 AM EST

3:30 PM EST. The Fighting Irish found themselves in the crosshairs of the college football playoff as the committee released its top four ahead of the upcoming Bowl season. The Irish don’t really need an introduction here but that’s the point. This is a blue blood program and one of the most popular teams in the country. The other important thing to remember here is everything is about money and with three southern teams currently dominating the top four, the networks and the NCAA are begging for one of ND or Ohio State to win out so there will be representation north of the Mason-Dixon. On the field, after just a four-win season a year ago, the Irish have gone run-heavy this season but with that have become totally one dimensional. It’s hard to argue with success though and Notre Dame has been very good to the market by covering seven of its eight games this season. The Irish are crushing everything in their path with huge back to back home wins over NC State (35-14) and USC (49-14) so we can understand the appeal of laying double digits against an unranked Wake Forest team that appears to be a big step down in competition. Many in the market expected a letdown for Notre Dame last week but the Irish rolled anyway against another ranked opponent and are now in the national title discussion but there is a reason why they play the games. Notre Dame has two huge road games before they wrap up the season, next week at Miami and Week 13 at Stanford neither of which are easy. The Irish’s stock is at a season high and with that comes inflated prices. If this team is reading their press clippings, and they all do, their dream season could be over before they make it to Miami. Watch any college football preview show this week and they all opened with how good Notre Dame is. That’s our prompt to jump off.

The Demon Deacons picked up a nice signature win last week at home over Louisville by winning 42-32 as a small home dog. Wake Forest is well coached and as far as we’re concerned, this team is still under the radar in the ACC. Head coach Dave Clawson and crew should be well prepped for this game after three straight against quality competition at Clemson, at Georgia Tech and vs Louisville. The Deacons gave the defending champion Tigers all they could handle and that game was much closer than the 28-14 score would indicate. Wake’s high octane offense put up 625 yards against the Cardinals last week and the defense leads the nation in tackles for a loss. We trust they’ve watched tape of the Irish’s game against Georgia for the blueprint on how to stop the ND running game. Wake Forest will be the fourth program that proven builder Dave Clawson takes from losing seasons to double-digit wins. Clawson previously authored turnarounds at Fordham, Richmond and Bowling Green, and his vision is being executed the same way in Winston-Salem: with patience, redshirting and gradual roster building. When the two-deep finally fills with upperclassmen proficient in both the program's playbook and its culture, the wins have historically come for Clawson's teams and that's where Wake is now. A formerly pedestrian offense has finally caught up with a reliable defense and the roster now has ACC-caliber depth. Last week's victory over Louisville was no fluke and the Deacs will continue to build upon the 2016 breakthrough that saw the school's first winning season since 2008. This bunch is ready to compete with anybody and has absolute great value taking back inflated prices like this.

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