#4 Notre Dame Opens As A 20-Point Road Favorite At Boston College

The offshore gambling website BetOnline.ag has installed Boston College as a 20 point home dog this weekend against #4 Notre Dame. It's the seventh time in 10 games this season where the Eagles enter the week as Vegas underdogs. This also marks the fourth straight BC-Notre Dame game where the Eagles go in as an underdog in the Holy War series.

Here are the results / point spreads from the last eight games between Boston College and Notre Dame:

2011: Notre Dame 16, Boston College 14 (BC +24)
2010: Notre Dame 31, Boston College 13 (ND -3)
2009: Notre Dame 20, Boston College 16 (BC +7.5)
2008: Boston College 17, Notre Dame 0 (BC -3.5)
2007: Boston College 27, Notre Dame 14 (ND +13.5)
2004: Boston College 24, Notre Dame 23 (BC +7)
2003: Boston College 27, Notre Dame 25 (ND +3.5)
2002: Boston College 14, Notre Dame 7 (BC +9.5)
2001: Boston College 21, Notre Dame 17 (ND +4.5)
2000: Notre Dame 28, Boston College 16 (ND -9)

This opening line is more or less on par with the closing point spread in last year's Boston College-Notre Dame matchup (BC +24). A bit surprised that the line hasn't moved much from where it was a season ago given the direction of these two programs. I'm sure given the fact that Notre Dame needed OT to take care of Pittsburgh as a 17-point home favorite has something to do with the line being a bit lower than I anticipated. Still, this line seems a bit generous for a team that looked non-competitive against a bad Wake Forest team.

So far this season, BC is 1-7 against the spread. Notre Dame is 5-4. The two programs are both 5-5 against the spread in the last 10 installments of the Holy War series with BC covering in three of the last four and four of the last six.

In other week 11 opening lines, Florida State is a 12 point road favorite at Virginia Tech on Thursday night. Miami is just a 2-point road favorite at Virginia. North Carolina is a 5.5 point home favorite against Georgia Tech and N.C. State is a 7.5 point favorite vs. Wake Forest. Maryland is a 27.5-point road dog at Clemson. Yikes.