The Clemson Tigers are the favorite to win the next national championship in college football, with Alabama and Georgia close behind them. After that come Florida, Oklahoma, Notre Dame and Texas. Last year’s national champs, the LSU Tigers, have 40-1 odds this time around, because their quarterback (Joe Burrow) and tailback (Clyde Edwards-Helaire) have both left for the National Football League. Clemson returns quarterback Trevor Lawrence; Clemson and Alabama are the top two favorites because they keep making the title game; both schools have made the College Football Playoff in four of the last five seasons, meeting in the championship games three times. In this bizarre year, with the Big Ten and the Pac-12 both possibly missing out on the playoff, can Clemson return to title glory?
We have some thoughts on their College Football betting prospects for you to consider.
NCAA News: Can Clemson Win the National Championship?
The Clemson program just finished its best decade in the history of the school, posting a 117-23 record during the 2010s. That is the third-most wins a team has piled up in major college football in any decade since 1890. For nine straight years, the Tigers have won 10 or more games, and they have the fortune to reside in the ACC, where no other team has a recruiting program like Clemson, so that streak could continue for years to come, as long as Dabo Swinney is the Tigers’ head coach. Florida State and Miami (FL) were once college football powerhouses but have fallen off in recent years, so there’s not a lot of competition right now for the Tigers in their conference.
On offense, the team not only has Lawrence back at quarterback, but tailback Travis Etienne is coming back for his senior season. That gives the Tigers arguably the best quarterback AND the best tailback in the nation. In the last eight games of 2019, including the CFP games, Lawrence threw for 22 touchdown passes without a single interception. His top targets who are returning include Amari Rodgers (who is out of his knee brace), Joseph Ngata and Frank Ladson, as Clemson has the depth to weather the loss of Justyn Ross for the season to a neck injury.
At tight end, Braden Galloway returns after missing 2019 due to a suspension. He is fast but also has the size (6’4”, 240) to make himself a problem for linebackers trying to cover him. The offensive line is the most significant question on this side of the ball, as there will be four new starters. Left tackle Jackson Carman returns to protect Lawrence’s blind side, but the other starters will all have big shoes to fill. Right tackle Jordan McFadden and left guard Matt Bockhorst got significant playing time in 2019, so they won’t be as green as the others.
On defense, All-American Isaiah Simmons is gone, but defensive coordinator Brent Venables has shown that he can reconstruct defenses with new talent. The back seven were the best part of Clemson’s D a year ago, and Venables responded with a lot of three-linemen sets. Clemson was in the top ten for total defense in 2019 for the sixth year in a row. This year, the strongest part is the front four, as the Tigers have two new starters at linebacker and three new starters in the secondary. Defensive end Xavier Thomas has NFL-caliber talent but has not played to his potential in his first two seasons, so the Tigers look to get the most out of him this time around. Defensive tackle Tyler Davis won All-ACC honors in his freshman season in 2019. Bryan Bresee and Myles Murphy were five-star recruits that should contribute up front.
In the secondary, Derion Kendrick made All-ACC as a cornerback after switching from wide receiver. James Skalski was second on the Clemson defense in tackles in 2019 and will have even more opportunities in 2020. Overall, this is a team that looks solid on both sides of the ball and will have a fairly manageable slide through its schedule, with a trip to South Bend to play Notre Dame their only real test before the ACC Championship and the Playoff.
See Clemson Winning the 2020 National Championship | Check the Odds
