No. 2 Clemson (13-0) will take on No. 3 Notre Dame (12-0) in a College Football Playoff national semifinal at the 2018 Cotton Bowl. The game will be held at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Tex., on Dec. 29 with kickoff scheduled for 4 p.m. ET. The Tigers are 11-point favorites behind the star power of Trevor Lawrence and Christian Wilkins and the total is at 57.5 in the latest Notre Dame vs. Clemson odds. Quarterback Ian Book and Notre Dame's talented defense have their eye on an upset in the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic, so before you make your own Notre Dame vs. Clemson picks, be sure to check out the 2018 Cotton Bowl picks and predictions from SportsLine senior analyst Josh Nagel.
A Nevada-based expert with 20 years of experience in the sports wagering industry, Nagel specializes in handicapping college athletics. He's having another solid season for SportsLine members, entering bowl season on an impressive 52-35 run on his college football picks, returning almost $1,300 for $100 bettors during that span.
Nagel also has a particular knack for against-the-spread picks involving Notre Dame as of late, as he's hit on four of his past five involving the Fighting Irish. That includes picking Notre Dame to cover the 10-point spread at Yankee Stadium against then-No. 12 Syracuse in a 36-3 Irish victory.
Now, Nagel has evaluated the 2018 Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic from every angle and locked in a pick only at SportsLine.
Nagel knows the Irish finished ninth in scoring defense this season, but their best performances all have one thing in common: they allowed 4.5 yards per play (their season average) or less to the opposing offense. Perhaps the best example was in that 36-3 win over Syracuse, an offense that averaged over 44 points per game in its other 11 contests.
By comparison, Syracuse managed at least 4.6 yards per play against Clemson's incredible defense, yet only managed 3.2 yards per play against the Fighting Irish.
But just because Notre Dame boasts a lock-down defense doesn't mean it will cover the College Football Playoff spread.
One of the keys for Clemson to cover as double-digit favorites over an undefeated team in a national semifinal will be the play of its freshman quarterback, Trevor Lawrence.
The former No. 1 overall recruit in the nation for the Class of 2018 unseated incumbent starter Kelly Bryant early in the season and his arm talent very clearly took the Clemson offense to another level. And Lawrence never really looked the part of a true freshman.
He's completing 64.8 percent of his passes with 2,606 yards and 24 touchdowns and he has enough athleticism to keep defenses honest. However, he's going to have to be both judicious and accurate to find the Clemson offense room against the Notre Dame defense because the Tigers beat their opponents by an average of nearly 40 points when Lawrence has a passer rating of 160 or higher in a start.
We can tell you Nagel is leaning toward the Over in the Cotton Bowl 2018, and he's also identified a crucial x-factor that makes one side of the spread a must-back. He's only sharing what it is, and who to back, at SportsLine.
Who wins Clemson vs. Notre Dame? And what crucial x-factor makes one side of the spread a must-back? Visit SportsLine right now to see which side you need to jump all over at the 2018 Cotton Bowl, all from an expert who's on a 4-1 run picking Notre Dame games, and find out.
