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Chris Meaney
The college basketball season is less than three weeks away, and here at FTN Bets we have you covered for what promises to be another thrilling year of upsets and incredible finishes. I will be taking you around the country with a betting preview of the major conferences. I recap the betting trends from last season, list projected starters, preview the season, identify a key player, and reveal how I’m backing or fading each team.
Let’s continue our preview with the ACC. Always competitive each season, the ACC is regularly among the nation’s top conferences with annual Final Four contenders Duke, Virginia and North Carolina. Last season, Miami made their first ever Final Four, guided by the March magic of head coach Jim Larrañaga. There are 15 teams in the ACC, making it the largest of all the power conferences. The critics continue to cite the weakness of the bottom ACC teams, which directly contributes to its sixth overall preseason ranking by KenPom. However, it still holds true that the top teams in the ACC will always have a chance at a Final Four run.
Let’s continue with our betting preview for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
2023-2024 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Season Preview
Conference: ACC
Head Coach: Micah Shrewsberry (1st season)
2022-2023 Record: 11-21(3-17)
ATS: 10-20-2
O/U: 17-14-1
Projected Starters: G Markus Burton; G Logan Imes; G Julian Roper; F Carey Booth; F Tae Davis; F Kebba Njie
It’s going to be a rebuilding year for the Irish, after 24 successful seasons under Mike Brey. During his tenure, Notre Dame reached three Sweet 16s and two Elite Eights. Brey guided the Irish to a Big East regular season championship (2001) and an ACC Tournament championship (2015). He leaves with a record of 483-220 (63.3%), as the all-time winningest coach in school history.
Brey is replaced by Micah Shrewsberry, who joins Notre Dame after two seasons at Penn State. The Nittany Lions finished as runner-up in the Big Ten Conference Tournament last season and upset No. 7 seed Texas A&M in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. He will need time as Notre Dame returns just 2.3% of their minutes from last year, third fewest in the entire country.
Shrewsberry delivered a strong overall class that ranks among the top-25 teams combining freshman and transfers. Their earliest incoming recruit was 5-foot-10 point guard Markus Burton from inside the state. However, in just a few short months after being named head coach, Shrewsberry added 6-foot-10 four-star forward Carey Booth, 6-foot-4 guard Logan Imes, and 6-foot-2 guard Braeden Shrewsberry (his son). Penn State also added three key transfers in Tae Davis (Seton Hall), Kebba Njie (Penn State) and Julian Roper (Northwestern).
Key Player: Kebba Njie
After starting 26 games for Shrewsberry as a true freshman at Penn State last season, Kebba Njie will be a trusted force on the floor for the Irish. At 6-foot-10, 235 pounds, Njie will be a paint occupier and might need to clean up defensive shortcomings from the younger Irish backcourt. Njie should gather additional scoring opportunities thanks to a strong pursuit of the offensive boards.
Projection: Rebuilding year for Notre Dame, and not many wins on the horizon. I love Shrewsberry as a coach, but he will need time to mold a very young team into his vision. This team will play hard, but after an awful last season under Brey, I don’t see much improvement in Year 1. The Irish always play tough at home, which is likely where they will be most competitive.
How I’m Betting Notre Dame: Maybe we can catch some early soft lines on the Irish, since Shrewsberry will bring name recognition. But they are heavy ATS fade for me and will also be looking to bet their game totals over. Both Penn State and Notre Dame played to the over at a strong rate last season.
