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It is time to continue our college football odds series with Clemson-SMU predictions and an ACC Championship pick. Find out how to watch Clemson-SMU.
The college football weekend is the annual conference championship buffet, which includes the big-name SEC Championship Game, but this game is not to be ignored in prime time in Charlotte. Clemson and SMU will play for a spot in the College Football Playoff and a road game in the first round on either December 20 or 21.
Before we get to the game, let's go into the history books for a little case of what might have been. In the 1981 college football season, Clemson finished No. 1. SMU was ranked as high as No. 2. SMU actually won the Southwest Conference championship, beating out Texas. However, SMU was placed on probation and was therefore ineligible for a bowl game. SMU, had it been bowl-eligible, would have played in the Cotton Bowl, probably versus Alabama. Instead, Texas played in the game and beat Alabama in a close contest. Clemson played Nebraska in the Orange Bowl and beat the Huskers to complete an unbeaten season.
In the final Associated Press Poll after the bowls, Clemson was first, Texas was second, and SMU was fifth. If SMU had been able to play and win a bowl game, it might have finished above Texas at No. 2. Imagine that. Clemson and SMU — in a different set of circumstances — could have been the top two teams in the final 1981 AP Poll. They never did meet on the field. Now they collide in a most unlikely ACC Championship Game showdown.
SMU was picked to finish in the middle of the pack in the ACC. This is not as crazy as Arizona State being picked to finish near the bottom of the Big 12 and rising to the conference championship game with a chance to make the playoff, but it's still an incredible story the Mustangs have authored. Miami, Clemson, Florida State, Louisville — we all knew which teams were expected to play for the ACC title. SMU was not one. Moreover, SMU began the season with a series of unimpressive performances. However, one change turned everything around.
Coach Rhett Lashlee benched starting quarterback Preston Stone and inserted Kevin Jennings as the new signal-caller. That one decision ignited the SMU offense and turned the Mustangs from an average team into the ACC's best team. SMU is the only ACC team to lose fewer than two games this season, and the Mustangs went unbeaten in ACC competition entering this championship clash. Clemson lost only one ACC game, but the Tigers lost two nonconference games to SEC foes Georgia and South Carolina.
It seems clear that the ACC will get only one team in the College Football Playoff. The loser of this game won't get in, or at least, SMU is unlikely to finish above Alabama if there is a question about which team will make it. No matter. SMU has one game for a playoff appearance. Clemson and Dabo Swinney are one win away from a first playoff appearance since 2020, when the Tigers lost to Justin Fields and Ohio State in the Sugar Bowl.
It's a matchup no one anticipated before the season, and it's also a game in which a first-year ACC school, SMU, has crashed the party and done something other ACC programs have never done: play in the conference title game. (North Carolina State has never played in this game, for instance.)
Clemson-SMU Last Game – Matchup History
These two teams have never met. This is their first meeting.
Here are the Clemson-SMU ACC Championship college football odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
ACC Championship Odds: Clemson-SMU Odds
Clemson: +2.5 (-110)
Moneyline: +108
SMU: -2.5 (-110)
Moneyline: -130
Over: 55.5 (-105)
Under: 55.5 (-115)
How to Watch Clemson vs SMU
Time: 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT
TV: ABC
Stream: FuboTV (Free trial)
Why Clemson Could Cover The Spread/Win
The Tigers are stronger up front than SMU. SMU does not have a high-end win on its schedule. Clemson is used to playing good teams. That is going to show up in the final outcome.
Why SMU Could Cover The Spread/Win
The Clemson offense is inconsistent and will not outscore the Mustangs' high-powered attack. SMU will throw the ball better than Clemson's other opponents have done in 2024, and that will make the difference for the Ponies.
Final Clemson-SMU Prediction & Pick
We firmly think Clemson is stronger up front than SMU and will win. Take Clemson.
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Final Clemson-SMU ACC Championship Prediction & Pick: Clemson moneyline
