The 2024 college football season begins in full with Week 1, and there might not be a juicier reunion than the one taking place when No. 7 Notre Dame visits No. 20 Texas A&M in a huge non conference clash of playoff hopefuls Saturday night.

New Texas A&M coach Mike Elko will face his former quarterback from Duke because Riley Leonard transferred to Notre Dame soon after Elko left the Blue Devils for the SEC and College Station, Texas this offseason. Either Elko or Leonard will leave with a loss in their debut at a new school.

The first matchup between Notre Dame and Texas A&M in football since 2001 is getting the “College Gameday” treatment by ESPN and will be featured nationally in primetime on ABC.

The Aggies are looking to rebound from last season’s 7-6 campaign that saw former coach Jimbo Fisher get fired in November for a record buyout amount. Notre Dame wants to build on winning 10 games in coach Marcus Freeman’s second season and will count on Leonard’s dual threat capability to lead the program into the expanded postseason format.

Here’s everything else to know about the Notre Dame vs. Texas A&M college football game on Saturday night:

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College football 2024: Notre Dame vs. Texas A&M predictions

Covers.com: Take Notre Dame and the points

Ed Scimia writes: “It’s questionable whether Texas A&M has done enough to truly catch up with Notre Dame in terms of overall talent. On defense, the Irish have NFL-level talent, particularly in their secondary, something that could give (Texas A&M quarterback Conner) Weigman fits at the start of the season … I’m not convinced Texas A&M should be the favorite here, and neither are most predictive systems.”

Odds Shark: Back Leonard and the Irish at plus-money

Josie Costigan writes: “This may be the brightest spot for an upset in Week 1.”

Action Network: Take the over

Brad Cunningham writes: “The total is far too low for two offensive coordinators who are going to play at much faster tempos than these offenses have in the past. I have 54.2 points projected for this game, so I like the value on over 46.5 points.”

Dallas Morning News: Texas A&M wins a close one

Luke White writes: “Home field advantage could prove to be the difference as the Aggies land the final punch in a slugfest.”

College Football News: Texas A&M in a nail-biter

Pete Fiutak writes: “The critical difference will be Texas A&M’s defensive front, which is talented enough to disrupt (Notre Dame quarterback Riley) Leonard and force him to make a lot of big-time throws. It will be a tightly contested battle between two excellent football teams, but the atmosphere and energy at Kyle Field prove too tough for the Irish, who will lose their fourth straight road game against a ranked opponent.”

Winners and Whiners: Take Notre Dame +2.5

Mark Ruelle writes: “The Irish have a very favorable schedule this season and realize the enormity of this opening game against the 20th-ranked Aggies. The Aggies have a ways to go to improve upon an offense that was just 101st in the country in red zone efficiency last season. The Aggies will be a team that no one wants to play later in the season but the Irish are catching them early and should be the team that is more equipped to win out of the gates.”

Notre Dame vs. Texas A&M odds, lines

The Texas A&M Aggies are favorites to beat the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in Saturday’s Week 1 college football matchup, according to the BetMGM odds. Looking to wager? Check out the top college football betting apps in 2024 offering the top NCAA football betting promos and bonuses in 2024.

Odds as of Thursday morning

• Spread: Texas A&M (-3)
• Moneylines: Texas A&M (-150); Notre Dame (+125)
• Over/under: 46

How to watch Notre Dame vs. Texas A&M

Date: Saturday, August 31

Where: Kyle Field, College Station, Texas

Time: 7:30 p.m. ET

TV: ABC

Stream: ESPN+, Fubo, Sling TV

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2:23 PM on Aug 29, 2024 CDT

Week 1 of a historic 2024 college football kicks off from the home of the 12th Man as Texas A&M debuts new head coach Mike Elko in an early-season test against Notre Dame on Saturday.

Elko steps in for Jimbo Fisher, and while he suffered notable losses to the transfer portal, he also had some notable gains, especially reigning Big Ten sacks leader Nic Scourton, who will help anchor what should be a strong front seven alignment going forward.

Notre Dame lost its two key blockers, and then a third to injury, something to watch as dual-threat transfer quarterback Riley Leonard steps under center coming off an injury of his own, but loaded with potential to lead this offense if he can stay upright and unharmed.

What can we make of the game? For that, let’s turn to the SP+ prediction model to forecast what will happen as Texas A&M hosts Notre Dame on Saturday night.

The simulations favor a very close game, one currently in favor of the visitors to win.

SP+ predicts that Notre Dame will defeat Texas A&M by a projected score of 29 to 27 and to win the game by an expected 1.8 points.

The model gives Notre Dame a close 54 percent chance of outright victory in the game.

SP+ is a “tempo- and opponent-adjusted measure of college football efficiency” that attempts to predict game outcomes by measuring “the most sustainable and predictable aspects of football.”

Texas A&M is a 2.5 point favorite against Notre Dame, according to the lines at FanDuel Sportsbook, which set the total at 46.5 points for the game.

FanDuel set the moneyline odds for Texas A&M at -150 and for Notre Dame at +125.

If you’re using this projection to bet on the game, you should take…

Other analytic tools are expecting Notre Dame to pull out the win against Texas A&M.

That includes College Football Power Index, a computer prediction model that uses data points from both teams to simulate games 20,000 times to pick winners.

The model expects Notre Dame to win the game in 58.7 percent of its simulations, while Texas A&M comes out as the projected winner in the other 41.3 percent of sims.

The index calculates that Notre Dame will be just 5.4 points better than Texas A&M on any field.

When: Sat., Aug. 31
Time: 7:30 p.m. ET, 6:30 p.m. CT
TV: ABC network

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-GAMBLER.

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