by Clemson OVER 9.5 wins (-188)
Confidence level: 10/10
Dabo Swinney and the Tigers haven’t been to a playoff game since 2020, which is an anomaly to Clemson faithful. Last year did not live up to the standard, as the Tigers started off 8-0 before the snowball effect hit. An embarrassing shellacking against Notre Dame in South Bend led to a dramatic loss to in-state rival South Carolina. Cap it off by getting lit up by Joe Milton and the Vols in the Orange Bowl and Clemson fans were in the dumps.
In comes a rejuvenated squad with young offensive mastermind Garrett Riley in as OC, which, in my opinion, was the most underrated coaching hire in all of college football this offseason. Throw in a full season of Cade Klubnik as the signal caller, and it just could be a recipe for a playoff birth. While the passing game should improve under Riley and the maturity/growth of Klubnik, star tailback Will Shipley returns to run the rock and freshman All-American Antonio Williams features a receiving corps that is sneaky good. Oh, and four of five offensive line starters are coming back. There’s a lot of reason to feel more confident about this side of the ball for the Tigers.
Defensively, Clemson surprisingly did not decline that much in 2022 and remained a Top-30 ranked unit following the departure of Brett Venables. While question marks loom over top of a secondary that finished 76th nationally in pass defense and a pass rush that lost some key dudes, every starting DB returns and they have the best linebacker duo in the nation in Jeremiah Trotter and Barrett Carter.
Now onto the schedule. Clemson currently has the 26th toughest one in the country, but three of its four most challenging games (FSU, ND, and UNC) will take place in Death Valley; key note: the Tigers are 61-2 at home since 2013. They also have the annual rivalry game against South Carolina to cap off the season and a few potential landmine games at Miami and at NC State in back-to-back weeks to close out October. It’s not an easy slate by any means and America will find out just how good this squad is by Week 4 when they welcome co-conference favorite Florida State to town.
This isn’t a perfect team, but it’s a very good team that will be ranked in the Top 10 all season long. Expect Riley to bring fresh life to the offense and help deliver a much more balanced attack behind what should be an improved passing game. While the pass rush is unproven and the schedule is tricky, Dabo is still a Top-5 college coach in my mind and this roster is too talented to not hit double digits in the win column. I am confident that they will rack up 10 or 11 wins and win the ACC. This is undoubtedly one of my favorite team total overs and I am super high on Clemson in 2023.