Clemson vs. Texas Prediction, Pick Against the Spread, Latest Odds for College Football Playoff

The Clemson Tigers will take on the Texas Longhorns on Saturday afternoon in the third game of the College Football Playoff. The battle of these orange teams will get underway from Darrell K Royal Memorial Stadium in Austin, and features one of the most intriguing first round matchups.

Texas is making their second-consecutive trip to the playoff after landing the third seed last year. They were upset by Washington in the first game however, and failed to meet Michigan in the CFP Championship as many thought would happen. Quinn Ewers and the Longhorns are looking for revenge now, and they'll hope to get it against a resilient Clemson team.

Dabo Swinney and the Tigers are no stranger to the College Football Playoff themselves, making their seventh appearance this year. They have the second-most behind only Alabama (8), and have made the National Championship four times since 2014 with two wins. Can they go on a miracle run as the final seed in the field? Let's take a look at these Clemson vs. Texas odds for the first round today.

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Clemson vs. Texas Odds

Clemson vs. Texas Date, Time, and Where To Watch

• Date: December 21, 2024
• Time: 4:00 pm ET
• Where To Watch: TNT, Max

Clemson vs. Texas Prediction

The Clemson Tigers started off extremely slow this year, but have been steadily rallying back in the 2024 campaign. When they got blown out by the Georgia Bulldogs in the opening week of the season, no one though they had a chance at sneaking in these playoffs. But that's just what they did, despite a few more losses, they continued to claw their way back into the field by way of the ACC Championship. Would they have made it without being conference champs? Absolutely not. But they hung around enough and had some help from Syracuse to make the championship game, and took advantage when their opportunity arrived with a strong first half against the SMU Mustangs.

Their prize for making it is a trip to Austin, Texas for a date with the Longhorns. This somewhat lopsided matchup has landed Clemson as the biggest underdog in the field for the first round. The spread opened at -10, before steadily climbing up to -13 where it sits now on gameday. While I don't think the Texas offense has earned a two-touchdown spread against a relatively solid Clemson defense, we're going to avoid the spread in this scenario and not step in front of a massive line move.

Instead, let's take look at the total in this game, that features a more intriguing setup. This line has moved sharply down from the original opener of 52.5, landing lower at 50.5 after dropping throughout the week. It makes sense, as a lot of sharp action has come in on the under. Our oddschecker+ Betting Splits tool backs that up, showing 34% of bets on the under with 56% of the total handle on the under. That's a solid jump, with the majority of public bettors hammering the over when they see Quinn Ewers and Cade Klubnik involved.

Texas comes into this game allowing the second-fewest total yards per game in college football at just under 250. They also are the No. 2 scoring defense, giving up just 12.5 points per game, an impressive feat for their first season in the SEC. Cade Klunik and Clemson weren't exactly lighting up the scoreboard as they climbed back into the race, in fact, they struggled to get more than 24 points up against most of their ACC opponents. Until the SMU game, Clemson hadn't scored more than 24 points against a power-conference opponent since mid-October against a lowly Virginia team. If they couldn't put up much offense against their ACC foes, it will be quite a bit harder to find it against this Longhorns defense in Austin. There's a reason we are skipping out on the spread here, as the Tigers just may not be able to keep up. We are more likely to see a mismatched 30-13 type of game here than a shootout from either side.

Clemson vs. Texas Pick

• Pick: CLEM/TEX Under 50.5 Total Points -110 Get oddschecker+ right now for just $9.99 per month. Don't miss out on this December deal!