Will Tigers Go Undefeated In 2020 Regular Season? Bet On It

Clemson football is already the favorite to make and win that national championship in 2020, and the Tigers should also keep a 29-game regular-season win streak going, according to Vegas oddsmakers.

The last time Clemson football took an “L” in the regular season was a fateful night on Oct. 13, 2017.

The Tigers sleepily walked into Syracuse’s dome stadium on a Friday night before a bye week as a 24-point favorite.

After quarterback Kelly Bryant, who was hampered by a bum ankle, left the game after taking multiple vicious shots, the Tigers couldn’t muster enough offense or stop dual-threat Orange QB Eric Dungey in a 27-24 loss on the road.

Ranked No. 1 by the College Football Playoff committee later that season, Clemson tasted defeat again in the Sugar Bowl against eventual champion Alabama.

The Tigers didn’t lose again for 29 consecutive games, including an undefeated run during the regular season for more than two years.

They won the program’s third national championship in 2018 and earned a fifth consecutive ACC title during that span.

LSU ended Clemson’s undefeated streak in the national championship game in New Orleans in January, but according to oddsmakers, a new streak is likely to last for a while this season.

Caesars Sportsbook and Betonline.ag each released odds on a total number of wins in 2020 this week. Guess who had the highest number? Yep, Clemson.

The Tigers are listed at 11.5 wins. Caesars shaded the over to -140, meaning you’d have to bet $140 to win $100. The under is +120, so betting $100 would net a player $120.

That means Vegas is leaning toward an undefeated season for the Tigers. No other team in college football is getting that win total.

Does that mean Clemson is potentially the best team in the country or is the schedule just so conducive to a 12-0 run?

Remember, these odds are for the regular-season only. Postseason is not included.

Betonline has the over/under odds at -110, natural juice for the book, so no favoritism shown to either side.

Clemson is already an unprecedented -600 to win the ACC, which as history has shown would put Dabo Swinney’s squad in the CFP, and the Tigers are the favorite to make and win it all in 2020.

“Bookmakers are not taking any chances now,” Action Network's college football betting senior writer Collin Wilson said. “I think the cat is definitely out of the bag and there’s no easy number you can get on Clemson.”

The answer to the previous question is both. Vegas believes that the Tigers are going to be really good behind quarterback Trevor Lawrence, running back Travis Etienne and receiver Justyn Ross. Add in a Brent Venables-led defense that never rebuilds, just reloads, and a top-3 recruiting class, and it’s easy to buy into Clemson running the table for three months.

And then there’s the schedule. From an oddsmakers’ point of view, the Tigers are expected to dominate. They’ve already been listed as favorites against Louisville (-21) and Syracuse (-38.5) at home and Notre Dame (-6) on the rod. That latter number will likely rise as we get closer, and into, the fall.

“I have Clemson minus-13, specifically, at Notre Dame,” Wilson said. “I’m higher than just about anybody. Some people I respect in the industry are around 9.

“Clemson, from a returning production standpoint, I’m interested to see how the offense works with the departure of Jeff Scott down to South Florida. They still should be fine because that was a co-offensive coordinator situation, but Notre Dame is going through the same struggles. They replaced their offensive coordinator in Chip Long. They bring in one of the youngest coordinators in all of FBS in Tommy Rees, a former quarterback there. Notre Dame loses a lot of offensive weapons, so I’m just not buying into the Notre Dame hype this year.”

One could make an argument that those are the only three teams that could challenge Clemson in 2020. Louisville could be the second-best team in the Atlantic. Syracuse was obviously the last ACC squad to beat the Tigers (and they also took them to the brink in 2018) and Notre Dame is by far the most talented team on the schedule.

Florida State hasn’t stayed within 30 points the last two years against Clemson, but the Seminoles do get the Tigers in Tallahassee.

After that, there’s nobody else in or out of conference that will be anything but a massive underdog to Clemson.

This regular-season streak of 29 consecutive wins doesn’t appear to be in peril, unless somebody nobody sees coming emerges. The Tigers at 11.5 wins actually makes a lot of sense, and another berth into the CFP is mathematically predictable.