The Black Knights have been a fun watch and are deserving of their top-25 ranking. Even so, only one of their wins has come against a team with a winning record (East Carolina) and a marginal North Texas club held them to just 14 points. As we saw when a then-unbeaten Navy team took on Notre Dame, the Irish provide a whole new level of physicality and overall competence compared to what Army has seen thus far. The Irish spoil Army's undefeated season with room to spare.

Army is better than people think because of their ability to shut teams down in the red zone. Also, they play both assignment sound and disciplined on that side of the ball as well. This is a massive game and in massive games we see things played and called a bit tighter, which will keep this under this two touchdown number.

While Jeff Monken deserves lots of Coach of the Year votes, the best Army win was probably over North Texas. The new American schedule for this season also kept Tulane and Memphis off the slate, which has broken as kindly as it could for West Point. Notre Dame is a different animal, with Al Golden's robust, top-10 defense already having shut down Navy's version of the option (complete with Wing-T elements) last month by a 51-14 count. Irish coach Marcus Freeman is also 16-6-1 against the line since last season, including Virginia's very backdoor cover last week. Play Notre Dame.

At the risk of painting service academy teams with the same brush, Notre Dame breezed past Navy and might find just a bit more resistance from the Black Knights. The Irish would be 9-1 ATS if not for a backdoor cover last week against Virginia. The expanded playoff format suggests Notre Dame, as an independent, must strive for blowout wins to secure optimal seeding. Army has not dealt with an offense nearly as potent as this one, and its undersized D-line could get pushed around. QB Bryson Daily missed a recent game with an injury. Given how much Army depends on him for rushes, he could get knocked around and banged up.

Army has been a fun story this season, but who have they played that is noteworthy? Sadly the answer is no one. Notre Dame has scored 31 or more points in 7 of their last 8 games and is 5-0 ATS in their last five games against ranked teams. Let's not overthink this one. Notre Dame 35, Army 14.