Last year, the No. 4 team in the College Football Playoff, the Ohio State Buckeyes, pulled off two big upsets to win the National Championship. The Oklahoma Sooners are going to try to do the same this year, but they've got a much easier road to sow. In fact, even though they're going to be wearing the road jerseys at Sun Life Stadium for the Orange Bowl, they're actually favored by a relatively comfortable margin and are the clear second favorites to win it all according to the oddsmakers.
College Football Odds at BookMaker.eu
Clemson Tigers +3.5
Oklahoma Sooners -3.5
Over/Under 64.5
The argument could be made that Oklahoma played against the best schedule in America this year. The Sooners took on nine bowl teams without playing a conference championship game, including playing four of those games on the road. Sure, they were beaten by Texas in the Red River Rivalry, but let's not forget that Ohio State was beaten by lowly Virginia Tech early in the season as well. This script couldn't look more similar.
Some of the offensive numbers the Sooners put up this year were amazing. They scored at least 52 points five times and at least 30 in all but one of their games. They finished up the season ranked No. 3 in the land in scoring at 45.8 points per game and No. 7 in total yardage at 542.9 yards per game.
The real key here is the offensive line. Last season in the Russell Athletic Bowl, the Sooners had no answers whatsoever for Vic Beasley. Beasley is gone now, and though the defensive line for Clemson is still very good, we can't imagine that this line for the Sooners is going to get embarrassed for the second straight season in a bowl game.
Baker Mayfield is quite possibly the best walk-on in the history of college football. He left Texas Tech and transferred to Oklahoma, and he was forced to walk onto the team and was expected to be the second quarterback behind Trevor Knight. Instead, Mayfield has exploded with all of this tremendous talent around him, throwing for 3,389 yards and 35 TDs against just five interceptions.
What no one really knew about Mayfield before coming to Oklahoma was that he was a great runner, too. When he does get into trouble, the pocket still stays relatively clean and no one panics. Mayfield rushed for 420 yards this season, and though he's no Deshaun Watson in terms of his mobility, the ability to step up and take off is a threat which Clemson is going to have to be prepared for.
Having one eye on Mayfield means one less eye is on Sterling Shepard. Shepard is the best wide receiver in this game, and he's arguably the most talented offensive weapon in the entire College Football Playoff this year. He scored 11 touchdowns on the season and had 1,201 yards.
Parlay all of that with a ground game with Samaje Perine and Joe Mixon which was a Top 25 rushing attack all season long, and it's easy to see why so many believe Oklahoma is going to get the job done here.
Sure, there's the issue of recent bowl woes that the Sooners have to get over, but we have a feeling they're tired of hearing that script. This is a new college football season and a new shot for the ultimate degree of success, and if the Sooners play their peak level, they're going to knock off Clemson and move into the title game.
BookMaker offers play-by-play betting odds for live sporting events every day! The user-friendly wagering interface on your smartphone provides an easy way to place bets on the go. Mobile betting lines are updated by the minute, so click here to start gambling on thrilling live action at BookMaker Sportsbook! The contest between the Clemson Tigers and Oklahoma Sooners will start at 4:00 p.m. ET on Thursday, December 31, 2015, at Sun Life Stadium. The matchup will be televised on ESPN.
