Welcome to 2025

In today’s SportSense Entertainment Newsletter…

Additional Model Predictions ⬇️ 

NBA Model Predictions- Click Here

NHL Model Predictions- Click Here

NCAAB Model Predictions- Click Here

There were plenty of model predictions to go around yesterday across the NCAA, with our model focusing in on one of those predictions in our Featured Matchup. That prediction went 0-1 overall, and you can see how the rest of the model performed below.

Money Line Predictions: 2-3

Over/Under Predictions: 1-4

Spread Predictions: 3-1-1

Featured Matchup: 0-1

Three college football games featuring an FBS opponent are scheduled to take place today. Our model’s predictions for all three matchups can be found below.

Notre Dame Fighting Irish @ Georgia Bulldogs

Model Predicts- Notre Dame ML, OVER 45, Notre Dame -1

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish and Georgia Bulldogs will make the journey to New Orleans, Louisiana on Wednesday, as both teams get ready to square off in the second round of the College Football Playoff.

Notre Dame enters this New Year’s Day matchup with a College Football playoff win already under its belt, taking down an in-state rival in the Indiana Hoosiers back on December 21st. Meanwhile, Georgia has had several weeks off, with the Bulldogs’ most recent game being a victory over the Texas Longhorns in the SEC Championship.

Georgia opened up as the favorite in this matchup, but the line has shifted into Notre Dame’s favor by one point and our model projects the Fighting Irish to cover that spread. Let’s dive into why that is.

Notre Dame Fighting Irish

• Picked up win in first round of College Football Playoff

  • Beat Indiana 27-17. Scored 17 points in first half and 10 points in second half

  • Recorded 394 yards of offense while holding Indiana to 278

• Elite defense has been largely responsible for team’s success

  • Rank in top-eight of FBS in opponents yards/game (295.3) and opponent yards/play (4.53)

  • Strength is against the pass- Holding opponents to 162.3 pass yards/game, 49.3% completion percentage, and 25% success rate on passing downs

• Offense has scored in bunches all season

  • 38.8 points/game rank fourth in FBS. Has risen to 43.8 across last six games

Georgia Bulldogs

• Last game was win over Texas in SEC Championship

  • Won game 22-19 in overtime. Scored three points in first half and 19 across second half and overtime

  • Win was fourth-consecutive victory following loss to Ole Miss in Week 11

• Offense will be led by new quarterback for rest of season

  • Carson Beck is out following elbow surgery. Responsible for 3,485 yards and 29 touchdowns this season

  • Beck replaced by Gunner Stockton- Has recorded 78.1% completion percentage, zero touchdowns, and one interception across three appearances

• Lack of pressure on defense is a concern in this matchup

  • Create havoc play on 16.9% of plays this season. Recorded 36 sacks and 86 tackles for loss

What’s the Play?

Notre Dame is favored by just one point tonight, but our model projects the spread to be more than four points. As a result, we’ll back Notre Dame to win this game outright.

One massive issue this Georgia Bulldogs team has faced this season is slow starts, oftentimes putting themselves in a hole early on. Per TeamRankings, Georgia scored just 11.8 points in the first half of games this season, which ranks 87th in FBS and is down from 22.2 last season. Those slow starts have required several miracle second half comebacks by Carson Beck and the offense, but Beck’s absence takes much of those heroics out of the equation tonight against an elite Notre Dame defense.

Additionally, we’ve seen the Bulldogs begin to collapse defensively, surrendering 952 total yards across the last two contests. 661 of those yards have come through the air, giving Notre Dame a great opportunity to take the top off and compliment an elite rushing attack that averages 6.24 yards/carry this season.

In summary, we project Georgia’s slow starts to continue with Gunner Stockton at quarterback, and Georgia’s defensive decline will enable Notre Dame to do damage in a variety of ways this evening. Our model projects roughly a four-point victory for the Fighting Irish, giving us value in backing Notre Dame on the money line at -110.

The Play: Notre Dame ML (-110)

Money Line Trends 💰

• Ohio State- 11-2 overall this season, 1-0 in College Football Playoff

• Notre Dame- 12-1 overall this season, 11-0 in last 11 games

Over/Under Trends ⬆️⬇️

• Arizona State- Over is 8-5 this season, 2-2 against ranked opponents

• Notre Dame- Over is 7-6 this season, 2-1 while playing at neutral site (Play in New Orleans, Louisiana tonight)

Spread Trends ➕➖

• Arizona State- 11-2 against the spread (ATS) this season, highest win percentage in FBS (84.6%)

• Notre Dame- 10-2-1 ATS this season, 3-0 ATS while playing at neutral site

🦁 Penn State downs Boise State to advance to CFP semifinals. Penn State's stifling defense and balanced offense powered a 31-14 victory over Boise State in the Fiesta Bowl, securing the Nittany Lions a spot in the College Football Playoff semifinals. Despite Heisman runner-up Ashton Jeanty surpassing 100 rushing yards, Penn State limited him to just 3.5 yards per carry and dominated key moments, including big plays from Drew Allar and Nick Singleton. Boise State fought back from an early deficit, but turnovers and Penn State’s relentless execution ultimately sealed the game.

😬 Alabama ends double-digit win streak with loss to Michigan. Michigan's defense dominated Alabama in a 19-13 ReliaQuest Bowl victory, sacking Jalen Milroe five times and forcing three turnovers to cap an 8-5 season with a three-game winning streak, including upsets of Ohio State and Alabama. Dominic Zvada's four field goals and Davis Warren's touchdown pass gave the Wolverines a 16-0 lead, while their defense held firm despite Alabama's late rally, which ended with a turnover on downs. The loss marked Alabama's second straight defeat to Michigan in postseason play and ended the Crimson Tide's streak of 16 consecutive double-digit win seasons.

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Today’s trivia requires you to dig into multiple pockets of your brain, testing your knowledge of recent events as well as those that happened decades ago.

See how many of the below questions you can get correct. Answers are provided at the end of the newsletter.

Question #1- Who was the first high school player to go off the board in the 2004 NBA Draft, getting selected by the Los Angeles Clippers with the fourth overall pick?

Question #2- The Baltimore Ravens defeated what NFC team in the 2014 Super Bowl (XLVII), winning by a score of 34-31?

Question #3- Only two players recorded more than 220 hits during the 2004 MLB season. One of those players was Ichiro Suzuki, and the other was what Florida Marlins player?

Anyone know what has happened on January 1st throughout history? We didn’t have a clue either, but it appears that it has been a busy day.

On January 1st…

1902- The first Rose Bowl is contested at Tournament Park in Pasadena, California. The game featured the Michigan Wolverines and Stanford Cardinal, with the Wolverines emerging victorious by a score of 49-0. Michigan fullback Neil Snow, who scored five touchdowns and played a massive role in Michigan recording 503 rushing yards, was named MVP.

2004- The St. Louis Blues defeat the Edmonton Oilers by a score of 5-2. The victory gave Blues coach Joel Quenneville his 300th career win, making him the first coach in Blues history to reach the mileston. Quenneville would end his Blues coaching career with 307 wins, which is still the most in team history today.

2022- Chicago Bulls forward DeMar Derozan hits a buzzer-beater to defeat the Washington Wizards by a score of 120-119. It was the second day in a row in which Derozan hit a buzzer-beater, with the first coming in a 108-106 win over the Indiana Pacers the previous night. The buzzer-beaters made Derozan the first player in NBA history to hit buzzer-beaters on consecutive days.

1. Shaun Livingston

2. San Francisco 49ers

3. Juan Pierre