Ohio State won't be playing for a national title this season, but they will get a shot at the Orange Bowl as they take on Clemson at Sun Life Stadium on Friday.
The Buckeyes fell 34-24 as 5.5-point favorites in the Big Ten Championship Game to Michigan State to ruin their perfect season and drop to No. 7 in the BCS rankings.
Clemson ended up at No. 12 in the final BCS rankings of the season.
Overall, underdogs are 7-3 ATS past 10 Orange Bowls and speaking of ‘under,’ there are several totals trends that may force bettors to eyeball the UNDER play.
The UNDER is 6-1 in the past seven Orange Bowls, 6-2 in the past 8 Ohio State bowl games and 8-3 in the past 11 games when Clemson is an underdog.
The Buckeyes sit at 12-1 (7-6 ATS) on the season; in comparison, the Tigers are currently 10-2 (6-6 ATS). Looking to wager on the totals? Ohio State is 9-4 OU, and Clemson is 7-5 OU.
View Clemson Tigers vs Ohio State Buckeyes Odds and Stats.
Sportsbooks such as Sportsbook had the Buckeyes pegged as 4-point favorites in this matchup. The total, meanwhile, was 68 earlier in December at Sportsbook.
According to the Power Rankings here at OddsShark it's the No. 15-rated Buckeyes and the No. 11-rated Tigers in this matchup. Predictive formulas point to a 43-37 win for the Buckeyes on Friday.
In their last action, Clemson was a 31-17 loser on the road against South Carolina. They failed to cover the 2.5-point spread as underdogs, while the combined score (48) was profitable news for UNDER bettors. Roderick McDowell ran through the South Carolina defense for 111 yards in Clemson's last game, but the Tigers still lost a 31-17 decision at Williams-Brice Stadium. In their last game, Ohio State got a 142-yard performance from Braxton Miller, but Michigan State prevailed 34-24.
How They Match Up:
The game also pits Ohio State's No. 4-ranked offense, averaging 46.31 PPG, against a Tigers defense that ranks No. 18 this week at 21.08 PPG. The Buckeyes aerial game is averaging 200.92 yards per game, more than the Tigers secondary allows through the air, 198.25 YPG per game.
Defensively, the Tigers feature the league's No. 51-rated road run defense, allowing 164.8 yards per game. Ohio State, meanwhile, ranks No. 11 in rushing offense at home.
