Written by :
Published on :
The Notre Dame vs. Kentucky betting line for this weekend’s Elite 8 had the Wildcats as a big -11 favorite and with good reason.
Kentucky destroyed West Virginia in their Sweet 16 showdown Thursday night with a final score of 78-39. West Virginia's 39 points was the fewest ever in a Sweet 16 game (since 1975 tournament expansion to 32 teams).
The Wildcats look to remain undefeated against a Fighting Irish team that lost only 5 games during the regular season. Notre Dame has a long history as “giant killers”.
"We are America's team tomorrow, " Fighting Irish coach Mike Brey said Friday. "And we love it, we certainly will take all that support. We've got a monumental challenge on our hands."
Notre Dame has knocked off the AP's No. 1 ranked team eight times, most recently in 2012 against Syracuse.
"You look back in history, we've been able to do it," said senior forward Pat Connaughton. "Something that I and this team have preached on the whole year is that we've kind of been writing our own history, doing things the Notre Dame basketball program hasn't done in a long time -- or ever. So as much as you look back, you've got to still be in the present time and know that you're going at this, it's completely different.
The Fighting Irish may have a history of beating big teams outright but they come into this game 1-8 Against The Spread in their last 9 NCAA Tournament games.
The Wildcats are 12-3-2 ATS in their last 17 neutral site games but are just 4-12-1 ATS in their last 17 vs. Atlantic Coast.
- Ean Lamb, Gambling911.com
