Bye week carnage is unique to college football and one of the best experiences for fans enjoying a relaxing Saturday away from the emotional attachment of their team. This past Saturday we got a banger of a weekend. USC? Lost. Michigan? Lost. Tennessee? Lost. Plus, the number one team in the country went into Nashville [...]

Five Wide Fullbacks marks its return as the football team enters a much-needed period of rest over the bye week. In this edition, we will discuss coaching grades for the Irish staff, the best and worst surprises from the current roster, a look ahead to the 2025 schedule, plus you know there will be a [...]

It's the first bye week for Notre Dame so no game preview this week. Taking a peek at this week's games before my picks below I think this is a great week to settle into some afternoon football and then spend your time transitioning to something else at night. It's a really good lineup for [...]

A quarter of the teams in our poll lost this past weekend. Chaos is slowly creeping into the college football season and we know it cannot be stopped. However, there wasn't a major shakeup of teams within our top 20, although we do have a new #1 team in the land following the activities that [...]

It was far from pretty. In fact, in the 1st half the ranked vs. ranked matchup looked downright bizarre with turnovers and mental mistakes occurring all over the field. At the end of the game, the Irish were able to come through with a hard fought victory against a growing rival in Louisville. Both the [...]

We're already into week 5 of the 2024 college football season with the last games in September coming up quickly. This weekend we have a massively important matchup in the SEC between modern powerhouses surrounded by a nice selection of games, but nothing too exciting. You can expect ABC to get a big fat TV [...]

We're back with the latest set of rankings after what I'm going to call a very frustrating weekend of college football, highlighted by USC's insistence on coughing up their first Big Ten matchup. It makes me want to throw my laptop through the window. Here's the latest 18 Stripes Top 20 Poll: 18 Stripes Top [...]

A slow start on Saturday afternoon had Irish fans worried about another horrible upset from a MAC team. However, a stabilized defensive effort and some explosiveness from the running game led to a solid if not sleepy 28-3 win over the Miami (OH) RedHawks. Now 3-1, let's recap the first home win of the season. [...]

Well, Notre Dame ended up covering last week. By many times over. The rest of the week's picks from 18 Stripes, let's just say it wasn't one to look back on fondly. Hopefully we can get back on track in week 4. 2024 Betting Record ATS: 13-13-0 SU: 20-6-0 I did say last week was [...]

Only one team dropped out of our poll this week, although the nation's number one team found itself in a dog (dawg) fight on the road in Lexington which nearly sent a shockwave through the SEC. We've got some bangers coming up on the schedule this weekend and it'll have to wait another week for [...]

Purdue fans piled into Ross-Ade Stadium on Saturday afternoon feeling confident in an upset over a reeling Notre Dame program. It didn't take long for their disappointment to be immeasurable as the Fighting Irish didn't just bounce back they turbo-jumped into the largest win by scoring margin in rivalry history. Let's review Notre Dame's 2nd [...]

Back to Purdue we go. The Fighting Irish pack up the equipment trucks, load up the team buses, and head down south to West Lafayette for game 3 of the 2024 season. This was supposed to be a focused road trip but not a game with much interest, unless you're really into the Shillelagh Trophy, [...]

Does your appetite for watching the rest of the country plummet when Notre Dame suffers a catastrophic loss, especially early in the season? You may not be alone! The good thing for anyone experiencing such issues is that week 3 is a great opportunity to take break and find something else to do on Saturday. [...]

We got craziness in week 2 of college football, unfortunately the chaos planted itself in South Bend and infected everything about Notre Dame's program. Goodbye playoff talk. Goodbye to the top 20 poll. What do the bowl options look like even if the Irish could somehow rebound to 11-1? I shudder to think! Here's the [...]

Not even the most pessimistic fan had this week 2 matchup against Northern Illinois as the game to blow up Notre Dame's season. An obvious let down game and sleepy home opener after the hyped matchup at Texas A&M? That made all the sense in the world. But to lose a game like this in [...]