Clemson Tigers News: Orange Bowl odds update, curious contender

Game week for Clemson football and the Orange Bowl against the Tennessee Volunteers is finally here.

We have one more chance to watch our beloved Tigers before the year is over, both figuratively and literally.

After opening as 6-point favorites and then seeing it move to 6.5, the spread is now down to 5.5 in favor of the Tigers.

The total remains at 63.5, implying a 35-28.5 Clemson win.

Against the spread, 64% of the bets and 66% of the money is on the Volunteers, while the over is getting 52% of the bets and 96% of the money.

Interestingly, 52% of money line bets are coming in on Clemson, but 99% of the money is on the Vols money line, telling me that someone has placed a huge money line bet on the Vols.

Clemson is 8-5 against the spread on the season and you can make an argument the Tigers will be better with Cade Klubnik at quarterback, while the Volunteers will be without their two biggest offensive stars, in Hendon Hooker and Jalin Hyatt.

The bowl season is notoriously difficult to predict, but this is a fascinating one to try and wrap your head around.

It’s funny how a change of scenery has magically made D.J. Uiagalelei a good quarterback.  Uiagalelei was lambasted by the national media, even when things were going well earlier in the season, while at Clemson, but was ranked as high as No. 1 or 2 in the transfer portal rankings and now has made Oregon State into a PAC-12 contender before ever stepping on to the practice field.

This is in the same PAC-12 that has the perennial “gonna make the playoff, but never does”, Southern California and theoretical growing power Oregon.

And then there’s Utah.  And Washington. And UCLA.

Has former Clemson football quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei suddenly made Oregon State a contender in the PAC-12?

Color me skeptical.

For the record, I think D.J. will thrive in the less intense environment of the Pacific Northwest and PAC-12 and Oregon State is a good team.

On the flip side, not everything can be true.  USC can’t be a budding dynasty, Oregon a monster and Oregon State an “instant contender”.

Not to mention, D.J. being magically transformed into something he hasn’t shown to be over the long term.

Will he benefit from the move? Very likely, as I’ve said he just never fit the Clemson offense and the offense was never changed for him.

Will the Beavers be contenders in the PAC-12? I’m more dubious about that because of Lincoln Riley and the recruiting at Oregon.