Indiana
Bold Predictions for Notre Dame vs. Indiana College Football Playoff Clash
The wait is finally over as Notre Dame Stadium is just hours away from rocking as the Fighting Irish are set to host the Indiana Hoosiers in the College Football Playoff.
It’s the first game in the expanded playoff era and is of course the first playoff game to take place on a college campus at the FBS level.
Suffice to say, Notre Dame and the entire South Bend area is going to be rocking.
But what happens in the game Friday night? Can Notre Dame secure its biggest postseason win in more than a generation and advance to the Sugar Bowl to take on Georgia?
Below is how the Notre Dame on Sports Illustrated staff sees this one shaking out.
Notre Dame vs. Indiana Predictions: Nathan Erbach
The snow has already come down on South Bend and we’re unsure if it’ll be around for kickoff but a little wind almost certainly will. Notre Dame has better talent across the board and is built to better operate in these conditions. On to the Sugar Bowl we go.
Game Prediction: Notre Dame 34, Indiana 17
Bold prediction: Indiana hasn’t allowed a team to rush for more than 4.2 yards per carry on them all season and that was Charlotte in a blowout victory. They also haven’t allowed more than 137 yards on the ground. Notre Dame blows both of those out of the water.
Notre Dame vs. Indiana Predictions: Jeff Feyerer
First, Indiana. If Notre Dame controls the tempo and can run the ball, the game is theirs. The Hoosiers front seven is tough, but I’m still taking the Notre Dame offensive line. While Jeremiyah Love is the presumptive star, I think Jadarian Price and Mitchell Evans carry the offense in this game as Indiana tries to key on Love.
Game Prediction: Notre Dame 28, Indiana 16
Bold Prediction: Al Golden sends pressure after Kurtis Rourke in a way that hasn’t been done this season and Rourke looks pedestrian at best in the Irish victory.
Notre Dame vs. Indiana Predictions: Mason Plummer
Notre Dame has the better athletes at nearly every position and it shows in front of a raucous Irish crowd.
Game Prediction: Notre Dame 35, Indiana 17
Bold Prediction: Love and Price combine for 150 yards on the ground as the Irish gash Indiana from start to finish with a late touchdown drive to seal it.
Notre Dame vs. Indiana Predictions: John Kennedy
It wouldn’t surprise me at all early on in this ballgame if there’s a “feeling out” period between these two teams where each sees if they can run the ball north/south on the other. While I predict some frustrating stalemates early on, eventually Jeremiyah Love, JD Price, and Riley Leonard will all break for big plays in the run game as the Irish seize control. Defensively, Notre Dame will take control of the line of scrimmage as the game moves along and the Irish will wear Indiana down and suffocate them. Bring on Georgia.
Game Prediction: Notre Dame 31, Indiana 20
Bold Prediction: Youngster Leonard Moore jumps a flare pass in the flat and takes it home for six
Notre Dame vs. Indiana Predictions: Nick Shepkowski
Notre Dame certainly hasn’t played the run as well as the pass in 2024 but will be on high alert to defend it Friday night. Howard Cross makes a massive impact as Notre Dame controls the defensive line of scrimmage all night long. After a slow start offensively for the Irish, the wheels really get turning in the second half and are primed for a trip to New Orleans.
Game Prediction: Notre Dame 27, Indiana 13
Bold Prediction: Indiana has run for 2,083 yards on the year and averaged 4.8 yards per carry to date. The Hoosiers won’t average 2.5 per attempt on Friday night.
Are Christmas cards going extinct?
Fewer Christmas cards are being sent these days — a 2024 poll found 6 in 10 adults received fewer, and 3 in 10 planned to skip sending them altogether. Gen Z may be moving away from the tradition, but many still keep cards as sentimental keepsakes.
LAFAYETTE, IN — Hopes for a white Christmas are fading quickly in Indiana.
“I know earlier in the month we were thinking we might have a higher chance of a white Christmas,” National Weather Service meteorologist Cody Moore said, “but unfortunately, I have some bad news for you. A lot of long-range guidance has been consistent showing a pattern on Christmas Day featuring much warmer than normal temperatures for the region and the chance for some rainfall.
“It does look like we’ll be above average, temperatures at least in the 40s, maybe 50s,” Moore said on Wednesday, just three days after subzero temperatures pummeled the area.
With still eight days until Christmas, the forecasts closer to Dec. 25 might bump the expected high temps up even into the 60s, Moore said.
Normal temperatures this time of year for Lafayette are 36 for a high and 22 for a low.
“It looks like you might be able to keep your heavy winter jackets in the closet for now,” Moore said.
How will a Christmas with temperatures in the 40s, 50s or even 60s compare to Christmases past?
In 1982, Lafayette’s record-warm Christmas was 64 degrees. Its record cold temperature was 12 below zero in 2000.
So now that the dreams of a white Christmas appear dashed, what about January or February?
The Climate Prediction Center published a three-month forecast in November, and an update is expected in the next couple of days.
But last month, center’s forecast for January, February and March was for Hoosiers to have an equal chance of above and/or below average temperatures.
“We’ll see how that translates with the storm track,” Moore said.
The Climate Prediction Center forecasts warmer than normal temperatures in the southern United States and below normal temperatures in the Northern Plains.
“That puts the storm track right through Indiana, which makes sense because the Climate Prediction Center has Indiana as a bullseye for a pattern favoring above-normal precipitation,” Moore said. Temperatures will decide whether that precipitation falls as rain or snow — or ice or freezing rain.
Reach Ron Wilkins at rwilkins@jconline.com. Follow on Twitter: @RonWilkins2.
Former UConn forward, NBC Sports broadcaster Donny Marshall knows a thing or two about talented UConn guards.
The former Husky played for legendary coach Jim Calhoun and was teammates with the fifth pick in the 1996 NBA Draft, 10-time NBA All-Star Ray Allen. Watching UConn play against Butler on Tuesday night, Marshall said he sees a lot of Allen in reigning Indiana Mr. Basketball Braylon Mullins.
Mullins made the second start of his career against the Bulldogs. The former Greenfield-Central star missed UConn’s first six games of the regular season with an injury, but the 6-foot-6 guard is quickly coming into his own and showing why he’s a projected lottery pick in the 2026 NBA Draft.
Against Butler, Mullins showed off his sweet jump shot, going 2 for 5 from 3-point range. He finished with 12 points, three rebounds, two assists, two blocks and one steal.
“He’s a scorer,” Butler coach Thad Matta said of Mullins. “He’s got a scorer’s mentality. He gets his shot off quick. They move him around and create some angles for him. Obviously, he’s a heck of a player.”
Mullins did most of his damage in the first half, scoring eight of his 12 points before halftime. The former five-star recruit was the highest-ranked player in UConn’s 2025 class. Butler’s top-ranked recruit, Azavier “Stink” Robinson isn’t the NBA prospect Mullins is, but he held his own after a shaky start to the game.
Robinson has been thrust into the starting lineup with starter Jalen Jackson out for the season with an ankle injury. Robinson looked out of sorts at times in the first half, going scoreless with two assists and a turnover. In the second half, Matta moved him off the ball, giving him catch-and-shoot looks, and opportunities to drive to the basket without worrying about running the offense.
The former Lawrence North star responded with one of the better halves of his career, scoring 10 points on 3 for 6 shooting, including 2 for 5 from 3 to go along with two rebounds, one assist, one steal and one turnover.
Facing a veteran team like UConn, nothing comes easy. UConn’s guards harass ball handlers and getting into an offensive set is not easy. This time last year, Robinson was still in high school and, on most nights, the most athletic player on the court. Playing a UConn team where the goal is a national championship, Robinson was forced to grow, and he did not back down from the challenge in the second half.
“He’s coming along,” Matta said of Robinson. “That’s the first Big East road game of his career against maybe the best team in the country. It tells you how tough he is. He’s resilient. He keeps going.”
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