We are just a few short weeks away from seeing which 4 teams will be heading into the college football playoffs this year. There are a handful of teams that are currently on the outside looking in who still have a shot at barging their way into the playoff picture, although that would probably require a slip from one of the teams currently in the top 4. Clemson is one of the teams that are there right now and also the one that looks the least likely to drop a game over the next 3 weeks, which is why is one of the NCAAF Betting favorites to win it all. The question now, though, is whether they would be a good playoff bet. It would be easy to say yes, but we have come up with 3 reasons why they might need to be avoided.
3 Reason to Bet Against Clemson in the 2018 Playoffs
Here’s the full #CFBPlayoff Top 2️⃣5️⃣ rankings for games played through November 10. Is your team in? 👀 pic.twitter.com/wBq7fDvI8Q
— College Football Playoff (@CFBPlayoff) 14 de noviembre de 2018
Fear of Injury
Every team has to deal with injuries at this stage of the season, but what we are specifically talking about here is an injury at the QB position. Earlier this season, the Tigers had themselves a little bit of a QB controversy, as they decided to ditch the 2-man system they had been employing in favor of putting in Trevor Lawrence as a first-year starter.The move has certainly paid dividends, but it has also created an issue. The upshot of the change was that former starter Kelly Bryant decided to transfer out, leaving the Tigers without a proven back-up. With every play now, you know that Clemson is just one bad hit away from losing their starting QB and being in a position where they cannot adequately fill his spot. Lawrence needs to be protected at all costs.
Lack of a Deep Threat
As good as Trevor Lawrence is at the QB position, there are times when you can see that he is still a work in progress. He is stunningly accurate in short and mid-range throws, but when he takes shots downfield, he is very often off target.
That has not really hurt the Clemson Tigers to this point in the season, but what happens if they get behind early or if the D is having an off day? They could well be placed in a situation where they take some deep shots downfield and unless Lawrence gets his accuracy sorted overnight, they are likely to be left in a very sticky position. The good news is that the D has looked solid, so chances are these scenarios may never come into play.
Who’s Beating Alabama?
In the years that Nick Saban has been the coach in Alabama, the Crimson Tide have been the team to beat almost every single year. They are always able to recruit the best talent and reload their team, but it can be argued that this is the best group of players that Saban has had available to him in his time in Tuscaloosa It goes without saying that they have set the bar very high indeed, to the point where they look pretty close to unbeatable this season.The Clemson Tigers would appear to be the team with the best shot at taking them down, yet recent history shows us that they fail at doing so more often than not. If it came to choosing whether to wager on Alabama or Clemson, my money would be on the Crimson Tide.
Favorites to Win the 2019 Championship
- Alabama -280
- Clemson +400
- Michigan +900
- Notre Dame +1200
- Georgia +1400
- Ohio State +2000
- Oklahoma +2800
