We tread a bit carefully going against the Irish, whose brawling defense again ranks in the top ten nationally (7th at 274.6 ypg). Marcus Freeman has also proven especially adept at covering numbers since last season, recording a 16-5-1 spread mark. But this is an awful lot of points for the Domers to be laying to a completive bunch of Cavs who have been doing some of their own work vs. the number since last season for Tony Elliott. Virginia ain't Florida State, last week's lopsided ND victim, and we tend to look at the 41-14 loss vs North Carolina three weeks ago as an outlier. The Cavs are off another upset win, this one at Pitt, have covered five of their last six, are 14-6-1 vs. the spread since last season, not to mention 10-2 their last 12 as a dog. Though he's tossed four picks in his last two starts, Anthony Colandrea has been a capable playmaker at QB, and the last time the Wahoos faced a truly high-powered foe on the road (that doesn't include Pitt), they hung inside of a similar spread in a wild show at Clemson. Notre Dame keeps its playoff hopes alive with a win...it just doesn't seem like it will be 24+ points. Play Virginia