Betting the Tiger Bowl – Will LSU or Clemson Reign Supreme?

After the sportsbooks opened this line at 5 points, it appears that the money has come pouring in on LSU, so much so that some of the best college football betting sites have raised the National Championship odds to LSU -6.5.

You can still find the Bayou Bengals at -5.5 if you’re shopping at multiple sportsbooks, but you first have to decide which group of “Tigers” you’re interested in backing.

That’s where this LSU vs. Clemson betting preview should come in handy. I’ll offer my National Championship prediction, but first, let’s take a look at the details of this game and then assess where the pricing stands with less than a week before the kickoff arrives.

I displayed four versions of the Tiger Bowl odds so that you could see firsthand where the value lies. For example, if your plan is to back Clemson to win the game outright, the +185 price tag at Bovada and BetOnline would be your best bet. Those who would rather attack the total and fire a wager in on the under have an extra half-point of incentive if you fire away at MyBookie.

With that being said, don’t go to MyBookie if you want to bet LSU on the moneyline. You’ll be leaving a significant amount of equity on the table. Likewise, why invest in Clemson at +5.5 if you can lock them in at +6.5?

The National Championship bet you place will ultimately be up to you, but at least you know you have a few different options to play with when betting on LSU vs. Clemson.

Before anyone gets super excited about placing a bet on LSU, I’d like to clue them in on what happened the last time the bookies installed Clemson as an underdog. It was exactly one year ago in last year’s National Championship game versus Alabama, and the Tigers bludgeoned the Crimson Tide 44-16.

Clemson led the country in 2019 covering the spread more than 78% of the time (11-3), and they’re 12-2 against the spread (ATS) at neutral sites over the last six years. It’s safe to say that betting on Dabo Swinney as of late has been an extremely profitable thing to do.

Nevertheless, Ed Orgeron’s program hasn’t been too shabby themselves when it comes to returning an investment for prospective bettors. The Bayou Bengals went 9-5 ATS in 2019, and here’s what I took away most from that figure. LSU was favored by single digits twice in 2019 (-6.5 vs. Texas, -7 vs. Georgia), and they covered on both occasions. Also worth noting is that the Tigers beat Alabama by 5 as a 5-point underdog back on November 9^th.

If you are curious about how LSU has fared when playing outside of Baton Rouge, know that they’re an impressive 6-1 ATS in games not played at Tiger Stadium. Perhaps what’s so surprising about that is LSU went just 3-4 ATS at Death Valley, which is undeniably one of the best college football stadiums in America.

Add it all up, and it seems like backing either team in the National Championship has plenty of merit!

Say what you want about Joe Burrow and LSU, but the fact of the matter is that Clemson is 25-0 since Trevor Lawrence was inserted as the team’s starting quarterback. The confidence that Dabo Swinney has instilled in Trevor is off the charts, and his unique skill set speaks for itself.

Remember, Clemson enters the 2020 Natty attempting to win their 30^th straight game and complete what would be their second consecutive unblemished season.

LSU has motored through their competition thus far, but they haven’t faced a defense anywhere near as potent as the one they’ll face on Monday night in the Superdome. I’m confident that if there’s one unit in the nation that can slow Joe Burrow down, it’s the one that’s coached by Brent Venables.

Just like everyone else, I’ve been in awe of what the 2019 Heisman Trophy award winner has been able to accomplish. The way he demoralized the Oklahoma fan base in the Peach Bowl simply can’t go unnoticed. But when push comes to shove, I’m reluctant to pull the trigger on anybody unseating a team that has Trevor Lawrence under center.

Just how proficient is Clemson at running the football? Well, their 6.4 yards per carry led all of the FBS. Among Power Five Conference teams, Clemson’s 42 rushing TDs were the most, and their 246.1 rushing yards per game ranked in the top five.

I’d love to tell you that LSU has a good chance at impeding the progress of Travis Etienne and the Clemson rushing attack, but I’ve found nothing substantial that would lead me to that conclusion. In fact, judging by how Ole Miss gashed LSU for 402 rushing yards on 44 carries in a November game in Oxford, I’m assigning a significant edge to Clemson when it comes to the battle in the trenches.

Keep in mind that the more effectively Coach Swinney can move the chains on the ground, the more Joe Burrow and the LSU offense has to remain seated on the sidelines.

I’ve revealed some data that certainly paints Clemson out to be an intelligent pick. Now I’ll get to the part about ESPN’s matchup predictor projecting that Clemson wins this game 55.8% of the time.

Like the brains in Bristol, I’m in the camp that thinks Clemson pulls off the upset in the National Championship. And while I’m completely on board betting Clemson to win the game outright, the 6.5 points we can latch onto at Bovada and MyBookie are too juicy to pass up.