The 2018 Cotton Bowl Classic was a college football bowl game played on December 29, 2018, at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The 83rd Cotton Bowl Classic was a College Football Playoff semifinal, the game featured two of the four teams selected by the College Football Playoff Selection Committee—Notre Dame from the NCAA FBS independents and Clemson from the ACC. The game started slow on offense with only 2 field goals in the first quarter, the 3 points for Notre Dame were the only points they scored, as Clemson dominated all the way 30-3. They advanced to face the winner of the Orange Bowl (Alabama) to compete in the 2019 College Football Playoff National Championship.^[5] It was one of the 2018–19 bowl games concluding the 2018 FBS football season. Sponsored by the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, the game was officially known as the College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic.^[6]

The game featured second-ranked Clemson of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) against third-ranked Notre Dame, an FBS independent.^[7] This was the first time that the two programs met in a bowl game; their more recent regular season meeting had been in 2015, won by Clemson.^[7] The only prior Cotton Bowl to feature two undefeated teams had been the 1948 edition, which ended in a 13–13 tie between Penn State and SMU.^[7]