Clemson fans, national pundits, and head coach Dabo Swinney are all high on the Tigers’ prospects in 2025.
You can add sports bettors to that list. Not only is Clemson one of the top five most popular picks to win the national championship, but DraftKings bettors are hammering the Tigers to win the ACC as a +105 favorite.
“Clemson has just taken so much of the money this year,” DraftKings Sportsbook director of operations Johnny Avello said. “The bettors feel that they’re a clear-cut (conference championship) team.”
Just how much love is going toward Clemson to win the ACC? At DraftKings, 80% of the bets and 68% of the money wagered are on the Tigers to claim the conference, the highest of any team in any league by a huge margin.
No ACC team is getting higher than 7% of the money bet to win the league.
Customers at ESPN BET feel the same. The online sportsbook said Clemson, a -110 favorite to win the ACC, is the second-most bet future of any college football market, behind only Texas winning the national championship. The Tigers have seen the third-most money to win the league. Penn State and Texas have higher handles.
The Tigers are the best, and safest, option
So what does this all mean? Well, bettors aren’t historically the greatest predictors. But that’s a lot of preseason future wagers, and it includes smart, professional money as well.
It speaks to a combination of two things. Yes, Clemson is going to be really good this year. With a ton of returning starters, QB Cade Klubnik leading a potent passing attack, and a defense led by Peter Woods and T.J. Parker up front that is primed to get offenses off the field, the Tigers are going to be in the playoff hunt all season.
And, let’s face it, the competition isn’t the greatest within the conference. There isn’t a clear-cut No. 2 team that is on the same level as Clemson. Miami is the closest thing to that, but bettors aren’t trusting former Georgia QB Carson Beck and an overhauled defense as much as some people might think. The Hurricanes are second on the odds list at +380, but they’re only getting 5% of the handle at DraftKings.
Bettors like Louisville a little bit more with juicier odds of +850 as the Cardinals are getting 7% of the money bet on the league winner. They like North Carolina, with odds of +4000, as much as Miami. As for Florida State, the Seminoles are behind SMU, Louisville, Georgia Tech, and Duke on the odds list at +2800. Just 1% of all bets taken on the ACC winner have come in on FSU.
“Miami being down, Florida State hasn’t been the same. North Carolina with (head coach Bill) Belichick there, that’s another story,” Avello said. “But still, even with a good year there…they win eight games, even nine, that would be a successful year, where Clemson is projected to win 10 games or more this year. That’s one conference where the bettors piled on one side.”