The final BCS bowl game of the season before the national championship is the
Jan. 4 Orange Bowl in Miami, featuring ACC champion Clemson against Big East
champion West Virginia with the Tigers as 3-point favorites on Bovada’s NCAA
football odds with live betting available.
Get all your college football odds at Bovada’s online
sportsbook.
No. 23 West Virginia won at least a share of
the Big East title for the sixth time in nine years – if the Mountaineers had
their way, they would leave that conference after this season for the Big 12.
WVU closed with three straight wins – by a total of seven points – to tie with
Cincinnati and Louisville atop the conference but with the Mountaineers winning
the tiebreaker. No. 15 Clemson reached as high as No. 5 in the country thanks to
an 8-0 start. But the Tigers went into a slump, losing three of four before
righting the ship with a 38-10 blowout as an underdog to Virginia Tech in the
ACC title game. The Tigers thus clinched their first BCS bowl berth ever and
Orange Bowl spot since 1981, the year they won their only national
championship.
Look for plenty of offense in this one. Both teams average
at least 33 points and more than 440 yards per game. And both have QBs who may
have been the best in their conference. Clemson’s Tajh Boyd is
18th in total offense and broke out of a slump with four TDs in the ACC title
game, while West Virginia’s Geno Smith is ninth in the nation
in total offense and broke nearly every single-season school passing record this
year. Two of the top four all-purpose players in the nation will also be
featured. West Virginia receiver Tavon Austin is second in the
nation in all-purpose yards with 191.2 per game, and Clemson receiver
Sammy Watkins is fourth with 173 yards per game. Watkins has
been the nation’s top freshman this year.
There are a few key injuries
to be aware of here. WVU starting running back Dustin Garrison
hurt his knee during practice last Friday and will miss the game. The
true freshman led the team with 742 yards rushing and had six touchdowns. In
addition, Mountaineers starting safety Terence Garvin is out
after knee surgery. Garvin started every game for the Mountaineers and was third
on the team with 72 tackles. He will be missed against an offense full of
playmakers. Meanwhile, Clemson WR DeAndre Hopkins suffered a
mild concussion in an auto accident but should play. Hopkins has 62 receptions
for 871 yards -- second on the team to Watkins in those categories -- as well as
four touchdowns.
West Virginia is in the Orange Bowl for the first time
and looking for its third BCS win in seven years. It beat Georgia in the Sugar
Bowl after the 2005 season and topped Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl two years
later. Clemson will be facing the Mountaineers for only the second time in its
history: The Tigers won 27-7 in the 1989 Gator Bowl. This season, Clemson and
WVU had a common opponent: both played at Maryland. On Sept. 17, WVU won there
37-31. On Oct. 15, Clemson won at College Park 56-45.
THE STAGE IS SET: Bet the bowls now at
Bovada!
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