They're the only undefeated team in America, and they've been ranked No. 1 in the land by every edition of the College Football Playoff rankings. However, the Clemson Tigers are still continually being disrespected by the oddsmakers and fans alike, as they're underdogs in the eyes of the public and in the eyes of the sportsbooks against the Oklahoma Sooners in the Orange Bowl.
College Football Odds at BookMaker.eu
Clemson Tigers +3.5
Oklahoma Sooners -3.5
Over/Under 64.5
There's a huge sentiment right now that the ACC was a garbage conference once again. Florida State was ripped in the Rose Bowl last year by Oregon, and with as bad as the Seminoles looked at times this year and as bad as the rest of this conference looked, Clemson is just lumped into the same group. However, wins against North Carolina, FSU and Notre Dame shouldn't be taken lightly, especially knowing that Oklahoma had its own problems against middling teams like Tennessee this year.
Dabo Swinney runs one of the most underrated defenses in America. Sure, North Carolina moved the ball up and down the field against the Tigers in the ACC Championship Game, but a lot of that was a case of poor luck, big plays and the fact that the Tar Heels were probably a lot better offensively than they were ever given credit for this year.
Go back and watch the second half of the Florida State game or the first half of the Notre Dame game. The Clemson defense was able to force itself upon both of those offenses, and though there were some big plays for sure, for the most part, those strong teams were held in check. Heck, go turn on the tape of the third quarter of the ACC Championship Game as well. For our money, Baker Mayfield and this Oklahoma offense, as good as it is, is a step down from North Carolina, and Marquise Williams wasn't able to get anything going through the air as a passer.
Then turn over to the other side of the ball. Sure, Deshaun Watson wasn't quite as sharp of a thrower at the end of the year, but he got the job done with his legs to make up for it. Here we have a man who has thrown for 3,517 yards and rushed for 887 more, accounting for a total of 41 touchdowns along the way.
Wayne Gallman is a heavy hitter as well out of the backfield. He's a little bit like Barry Sanders from the standpoint that he can be bottled up for a little bit here and there, but you just know that that one huge run is coming that could change the tide of this game.
Last year's Russell Athletic Bowl shouldn't be overlooked either. The Sooners were blown out of a game in which Watson didn't play. They were huge favorites on the day as well at -6 and were obviously never even close to getting the job done. History isn't on the side of Oklahoma either, as it has blown game after game of this magnitude under Bob Stoops.
Meanwhile, go back and look at what Clemson has done in bowl games of late. In each of the last three seasons, the Tigers were big underdogs going into their bowl games, but they were able to beat LSU, Ohio State and Oklahoma. They're a lot more battle-tested than most believe, and that's why we think they have a great shot of getting to the College Football Playoff National Championship.
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