Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com MAY 2020 9 UNDER THE DOME 2 The Nov. 7 visit from likely preseason No. 1 Clemson to Notre Dame is rated as the second top game by CBS Sports that will shape the 2020 Col- lege Football Playoff. On that same day, ranked No. 3 is Alabama at reigning national champion LSU, which makes the first weekend of November a form of a mini-playoff, or elimination games. No. 1 on the list is Alabama hosting Georgia Sept. 19, which is projected to have a ripple effect on the rest of the season. Of Clemson's game at Notre Dame, CBS Sports' Barrett Sallee wrote: "Brian Kelly has led the Fighting Irish to double-digit wins in four of the last five seasons, so save me the 'Notre Dame is overrated' quip. … Meanwhile, this could be Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence's Heisman Trophy coronation if he shows out on the road in the biggest game in South Bend in a long time." 8 Notre Dame players were selected in the 2014 NFL Draft, led by first-round offensive lineman Zack Martin, and defensive lineman Stephon Tuitt and tight end Troy Niklas in the second. That represents the most draftees by the Fighting Irish in the 25 years from 1995-2019. This year's NFL Draft April 23-25 is projected to have at least six, matching last year's total. Both tight end Cole Kmet and wide receiver Chase Claypool have had some first-round projections, while defensive ends Ju- lian Okwara and Khalid Kareem have been second-day picks in mock drafts. Most likely to round out the group are cornerback Troy Pride Jr. and safety Alohi Gil- man, with safety Jalen Elliott and running back Tony Jones Jr. as dark horses. 13.5 Points Notre Dame is favored by versus Navy, according to BetOnLine, for the scheduled season opener Aug. 29 in Dublin, Ire- land. The Fighting Irish defeated the Midshipmen 52-20 last year in Notre Dame Stadium. Three other early betting lines for Notre Dame games were posted — the Irish are a 2.5-point underdog versus Wisconsin at Lambeau Field Oct. 3, a six-point underdog against Clemson at home Nov. 7, and a 10-point favorite at home versus Stanford Oct. 10. 20 / 1 Odds given by Be- tOnLine for Notre Dame fifth-year senior quarterback IAN BOOK winning the 2020 Heisman Trophy — placing him No. 7 overall on the board. Five of the other six in front of him also are quarterbacks, with Oklahoma State running back Chubba Hubbard at 16/1 the exception. The top five are Ohio State's Justin Fields (9/2), Clemson's Trevor Lawrence (5/1), Oklahoma's Spencer Rattler (10/1), Texas' Sam Ehlinger (12/1) and Geor- gia's Jamie Newman (14/1), a gradu- ate transfer from Wake Forest. 1994-95 Was the last time specific events happened for the Notre Dame men's and women's basketball programs prior to this year. The 80-58 victory by the men versus Boston College March 11 in the ACC Tournament — before it, along with the NCAA Tournament, was canceled be- cause of COVID-19 — marked the first time since 25 years ago the program finished the season with a win. In 1994-95 it was with a victory over Loyola (Ill.), but the 15-12 Fighting Irish were invited neither to the NCAA Tournament nor NIT. As for the women, who finished 13- 18 this season, it marked the first time they did not qualify for the NCAA Tournament since 1994-95, when they finished third in the WNIT. 116,000,000 D o l l a r s in foot- ball revenues generated by Notre Dame, per Football Scoop after it had compiled the data from the 2018-19 fiscal year among schools. That ranked fourth among all schools, behind Texas ($156 mil- lion), Georgia ($123 million) and Michigan ($122 mil- lion), while the next schools behind the Fighting Irish were Ohio State ($115 million), Penn State ($100 million), Auburn ($95 million), Oklahoma ($94.8 million), Alabama ($94.6 million) and Nebraska ($94.3 million). Among Notre Dame's 2020 opponents, Wisconsin ranked the highest at No. 13 ($90 million), while Clemson ($61 million) and USC ($50 million) were much farther down the list. ✦ BY THE NUMBERS PHOTO BY ANDRIS VISOCKIS