- Notre Dame (2-0) is favored by 29 points over Michigan State (2-0) for Saturday night’s game in South Bend.
- The game’s scoring total sits at 52 points, with the over and under both priced near even money.
- Notre Dame has outscored Wisconsin and Rice by an average of 40 points across its first two games.
- Michigan State is 2-0 under first-year head coach Pat Fitzgerald, who replaced Jonathan Smith in December.
SOUTH BEND, Ind. – No. 3 Notre Dame (2-0) is a 29-point favorite over Michigan State (2-0) on Saturday, a spread 10 points wider than the average margin of the Spartans’ own two wins this season.
Notre Dame Vs Michigan State Betting Lines
No. 3 Notre Dame is favored by 29 points on odds close to even on both sides, pricing that puts nearly all the weight on the margin rather than the winner. The size of the number traces directly to what each 2-0 team has done to get there. Notre Dame beat Wisconsin 41-13 and Rice 52-0, an average margin of 40 points, while Michigan State’s wins over Toledo (30-20) and Eastern Michigan (35-7) have averaged 19.
Michigan State is Notre Dame’s second Big Ten opponent in three weeks, after Wisconsin, and a 2-0 start under a new staff is the harder read behind a spread this size on this week’s college football props board.
A First-Year Coach’s Fast Start
Pat Fitzgerald took over at Michigan State in December, hired after the school fired Jonathan Smith following a 4-8 finish in 2025. His first win came in dramatic fashion. Graduate kicker Liam Boyd made five field goals, including a career-best 51-yarder with 1:55 left, to beat Toledo 30-20 in the Sept. 4 opener.
The Spartans followed with a more comfortable 35-7 win over Eastern Michigan, scoring 21 unanswered points in the second half. Saturday’s trip to Notre Dame Stadium is Michigan State’s first true road test of the season and its biggest step up in competition under Fitzgerald.
History Returns To The Line
Notre Dame and Michigan State haven’t played since 2017, when the Irish won 38-18 in East Lansing. Saturday’s game revives the Megaphone Trophy, awarded to the series winner since 1949 and named for the Detroit alumni clubs that sponsor it. Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman used this week’s buildup to walk his team through that history, telling WNDU that playing for a rivalry trophy means knowing why it exists.
The total sits at 52, with the over and under both close to even money, a split that leans on whether Freeman’s offense keeps pace with what it set against Wisconsin and Rice or Michigan State’s defense, which has allowed 27 points across two games, slows it down. The number is posted now among this week’s college football game totals at sportsbooks with CFB props. Kickoff is 7:30 p.m. ET at Notre Dame Stadium, with the rivalry set to resume in East Lansing on Sept. 18, 2027.
