The 2025 College Football Playoff will continue with the semifinals when the No. 6 Penn State Nittany Lions will take on the No. 7 Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the 2025 Orange Bowl on Thursday. The Fighting Irish are 13-1 on the season and own the nation’s longest winning streak entering the semis (12 games), while the Nittany Lions are 13-2. Notre Dame bested Indiana and Georgia en route to the final four, while Penn State defeated SMU and Boise State.
Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. ET at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla. The Fighting Irish are two-point favorites in the latest Notre Dame vs. Penn State odds via SportsLine consensus, while the over/under for total points scored is 45.5. Before making any Notre Dame vs. Penn State picks, you need to see the College Football Playoff predictions and betting advice from SportsLine’s Jimmie Kaylor.
Kaylor is an NFL, college football and DFS expert for SportsLine, who has covered the NFL and college football for close to a decade as a member of the Pro Football Writers of America. His background as a former college football All-American and NFL player gives him a unique perspective when building his fantasy lineups and locking in his betting picks. He has his finger on the pulse of the college football landscape and has been cashing in big on sports betting apps for the last two years.
Kaylor has destroyed the sportsbooks in college football the last two seasons, posting a 232-150-7 record since Week 1 of the 2023 season. His 2024 college football futures picks included Travis Hunter winning the Heisman Trophy at 40-1 odds, bringing his net profit up to a whopping 112.07 units ($11,206.50 for a $100 bettor) since joining SportsLine as an expert in 2023.
All of his picks have been featured on his SportsLine expert page or in his weekly bylined articles. Anyone who followed his betting picks could be way up.
Now, Kaylor has dialed in on Notre Dame vs. Penn State in the Orange Bowl 2025 and just revealed his picks and predictions. You can head to SportsLine now to see his picks. Here are the college football odds and college football betting lines for Penn State vs. Notre Dame:
- Notre Dame vs. Penn State spread: Notre Dame -2
- Notre Dame vs. Penn State over/under: 46.5 points
- Notre Dame vs. Penn State money line: Notre Dame -134, Penn State +113
- Notre Dame vs. Penn State picks: See picks at SportsLine
- Notre Dame vs. Penn State streaming: FuboTV (try for free)
Notre Dame vs. Penn State expert predictions
For the Orange Bowl 2025, Kaylor is going under the total (46.5), despite it being a full seven points lower than the other College Football Playoff semifinal between Texas and Ohio State. Both of these defenses rank top 10 in the nation in scoring defense, with Notre Dame allowing 13.6 points per game (second in the country) and Penn State allowing 15.8 points per game (seventh).
The Fighting Irish had to overcome the loss of their top defensive lineman (Rylie Mills) in the quarterfinals but they were still able to apply relentless pressure on Georgia. Notre Dame had four sacks and had nine tackles for loss in the win. Meanwhile, Penn State has one of the nation’s best edge rushers in Abdul Carter (22 tackles for loss and 11 sacks) and just held Heisman Trophy runner-up Ashton Jeanty to 3.5 yards per carry in its quarterfinal win over Boise State.
“Both teams are elite defensively, and I see this game turning into a slug fest. Notre Dame has dominated the line of scrimmage all season, and that continued against Georgia in their CFP quarterfinal matchup last week. Penn State should make life difficult for Notre Dame’s offense,” Kaylor told SportsLine. See which side to back right here.
How to make Penn State vs. Notre Dame picks
In addition to going Under, Kaylor has discovered a critical X-factor that has him jumping all over one side of the spread, saying one side has a massive advantage in a key area that “propels them to win.” He’s only sharing what it is, and which side to back, at SportsLine.
So who wins Notre Dame vs. Penn State in the Orange Bowl, and what critical X-factor makes one side of the spread a must back? Visit SportsLine now to see which side of the spread to jump on, all from the expert who has profited $11,207 for $100 college football bettors since Week 1 of the 2023 season, and find out.
