Cotton Bowl 2018 odds: Notre Dame vs. Clemson betting lines, game trends

The No. 2 Clemson Tigers are 9-0 straight up and 8-1 against the spread over their last nine games played in the month of December. The Tigers will try to continue this December dominance this Saturday when they take on the No. 3 Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the Cotton Bowl

Clemson is a 12.5-point betting favorite in Arlington at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com. This will be Clemson’s 14th straight game as a double-digit favorite and the Tigers are 6-2 ATS over their last eight.

Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs. Clemson Tigers

When: Saturday, December 29, 4:00 p.m. ET

Where: AT&T Stadium, Arlington, Texas

Betting Line / Total: Clemson -12.5 / 56.5 Points

Fighting Irish vs. Tigers OddsShark Matchup Report

The Tigers went 1-4 ATS over their first five games including two close calls in a 28-26 win over Texas A&M and a 27-23 win over Syracuse. But since handing the reigns over to Trevor Lawrence at quarterback, Clemson hasn’t looked back, finishing the season on a 6-2 ATS run with an average margin of victory of 38.3 points per game over that stretch.

The combination of Lawrence’s passing attack with an elite rushing attack led by Travis Etienne gives Clemson one of the most explosive offenses in the game to go along with its No. 2 ranked scoring defense.

In their last 19 games as a betting favorite, the Tigers are 19-0 SU and 11-7-1 ATS per the OddsShark College Football Database.

Like Clemson, the Fighting Irish also made a midseason starting quarterback change, giving the starting job to Ian Book to replace the struggling Brandon Wimbush.

After going 0-3 ATS with only 23.3 points per game in three games with Wimbush under center, Notre Dame averaged 37.2 points per game over its last nine games and went 5-3-1 ATS in the process. The undefeated Fighting Irish are 5-0 SU and 4-1 ATS in their last five games against ACC opponents.

Saturday’s total is set at 56.5 points. The UNDER is 7-2 in Clemson’s last nine games played in the month of December.

Both of these teams have their offenses playing well under good young quarterbacks and have scoring defenses that rank in the top 10 in the nation. A competitive game shouldn’t surprise anyone too much given Notre Dame’s strong season, but Clemson’s superior talent on both sides of the ball will likely be too much for the Fighting Irish to overcome.

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