2018 Goodyear Cotton Bowl Odds And Prediction

2018 Goodyear Cotton Bowl Odds And Prediction

We are finally up to the first two games of the college football playoff. The first one up is the Goodyear Cotton Bowl classic played in a brand new billion dollar stadium. Really classic.

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It has been a hit and miss week so far, but my bowl picks are still doing pretty well overall.

For the rest of the bowls, you will get my picks against the spread and point wagers just like I did all season long. I had a solid regular season, but I can make it look a whole lot better with a strong bowl season!

Just in case you missed any:
Autonation Cure Bowl
Progressive New Mexico Bowl
Mitsubishi Motors Las Vegas Bowl
Raycom Media Camellia Bowl
R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl
Cheribundi Boca Raton Bowl
DXL Frisco Bowl
Bad Boy Mowers Gasparilla Bowl
Makers Wanted Bahamas Bowl
Famous Idaho Potato Bowl
Jared Birmingham Bowl
Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl
Dollar General Bowl
So-Fi Hawaii Bowl
ServPro First Responder Bowl
Quick Lane Bowl
Cheez-It Bowl
Walk On’s Independence Bowl
NewEra Pinstripe Bowl
Academy Sports + Outdoors Texas Bowl
Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl
Camping World Bowl
Valero Alamo Bowl
Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl
Belk Bowl
Nova Home Loans Arizona Bowl

(3)Notre Dame vs. (2)Clemson(-12.5) at Jerry World(5):

Notre Dame 12-0

Wins: vs. Michigan(24-17), vs. Ball State(24-16), vs. Vanderbilt(22-17), at Wake Forest(56-27), vs. Stanford(38-17), at Virginia Tech(45-23), vs. Pittsburgh(19-14), vs. Navy (44-22), at Northwestern(31-21), vs. Florida State(42-13), vs. Syracuse(36-3), at USC(24-17)

Losses: NONE

Record vs. bowl teams: 8-0

Notre Dame’s defense has been strong all season, but the offense took off when Ian Book was placed under center. This team is full of good but not great players that always seem to do enough to get it done.

At first glance, detractors will tell you the schedule is weak. Is it? Eight of the 12 games were against bowl teams, so even though it included bad USC and Florida State teams, eight of the other ten were against post season bound teams. Another one of those, Navy, is also a rivalry game played every year.

Clemson 13-0, 9-0(1st ACC):

Wins: vs. Furman(48-7), at Texas A&M(28-26), vs. Georgia Southern(38-7), at Georgia Tech(49-21), vs. Syracuse(27-23), at Wake Forest(63-3), vs. North Carolina State(41-7), at Florida State(59-10), vs. Louisville(77-16), at Boston College(27-7), vs. Duke(35-6), vs. South Carolina(56-35), vs. Pittsburgh(42-10)

Losses: NONE

Record vs. bowl teams: 10-0

Trevor Lawrence took over for good after week 4, and the Clemson offense seemed to reach new levels. Travis Etienne could be the best back in the ACC. He is a tough runner. If this offense has a weakness, its the lack of a true number one receiver. However, Hunter Renfroe may as well be even though he is a tight end.

Something can be said for winning all of your games. Something can also be said for beating ten bowl teams. That speaks to the relative strength of the ACC as well.

Prediction:

Due to Notre Dame being a non practicing ACC team, these teams actually have plenty of common opponents. Notre Dame had trouble with Pitt. Clemson blew them out. Clemson had trouble with Syracuse. Notre Dame blew them out in no small part because Eric Dungey was hurt in the first quarter.

The line on this is shocking to me. Even before the Clemson suspensions, I was on the Irish. Now I’d be willing to bet more on it. This line is in a freefall, and could wind up in single digits by kickoff. It still doesn’t matter to me. It’s safe to say the Irish have the best defense Clemson has faced and vice versa. This is going to stay a close game, and I wouldn’t be shocked if Notre Dame won outright.

Pick: Notre Dame

Stay tuned for the rest of the bowl picks against the spread, and our DFS picks for the NBA, NFL, and even some NHL action! We have something for everyone!