Top Bets for the Orange Bowl: Tigers to Cover, Vols to Score

• Clemson is a 4.5-point betting favorite in the Orange Bowl over Tennessee largely because of the Tiger’s upgrade at quarterback and the Volunteer’s downgrade.
• Betting on Clemson to cover is an excellent option given the talent differential between Cade Klubnik and Joe Milton.
• Tennessee lost two of their star wide receivers to opt-outs, meaning bettors can easily find value when diving into their player props.

MIAMI – The Orange Bowl kicks off at 8 p.m. ET with the Clemson Tigers listed as a 4.5-point favorite over the Tennessee Volunteers at Bovada.

Orange Bowl Betting Odds

Team:	Spread:	Win:	Total:
Clemson (#7)	-4.5 (-110)	-210	O61.0 (-110)
Tennessee (#6)	+4.5 (-110)	175	U61.0 (-110)

Betting on Clemson to Cover

Both teams will feature different starting quarterbacks than they began their season with as Cade Klubnik effectively took the job from DJ Uiagalelei in the ACC Championship Game while Joe Milton took over for one-time Heisman frontrunner Hendon Hooker due to injury.

Klubnik is expected to be an upgrade over Uiagalelei while Milton is a downgrade from Hooker, likely making Clemson the better bet at legal sports betting sites.

Klubnik has a much stronger pedigree than Milton and performed at an extremely high level in the ACC Championship game, while Joe Milton has been known to be a somewhat erratic passer.

Those accuracy issues were apparent to Volunteer fans, as he earned the less-than-stellar moniker of “Overthrow Joe” from much of the fanbase.

Clemson and Tennessee are both missing star players, with the star power lost likely equaling out.

Clemson is without Myles Murphy and Trenton Simpson from their defense, while Tennessee is without their star wide receiver duo of Cedric Tillman and Jaylin Hyatt.

Those opt-outs likely equal out enough to the point that it may just be wise to bet on Klubnik to lead the Tigers to a victory that covers the 4.5-point spread at college football sportsbooks.

Player Props for the Orange Bowl

The opt-outs of Tillman and Hyatt create a huge void for a Tennessee offense to fill, with the duo helping the team put up an average of 47.3 points per game.

That average was good for first in the country, with scoring nearly three more points per game than the second-place Ohio State Buckeyes.

Despite the change from Hooker to Milton, the offense should still put up some points. Bettors can wager on which players will help fill that void by betting on anytime touchdown scorers.

The best bets to score a touchdown for Tennessee are:

• Bru McCoy (+100): The second leading receiver yardage-wise for Tennessee this season, McCoy seems to be the clear number-one target for the Vols in the Orange Bowl.
• Jabari Small (-260) and Jaylen Wright (-122): Tennessee’s two leading rushers from the season both scored 10+ touchdowns on the ground this season. With Hooker, Hyatt, and Tillman out, it would make sense that Tennessee leans on the run and they both find pay dirt.

Clemson is more difficult to judge because they are returning so much production from the regular season, with the only main change under center.

Players may want to focus on receiving yardage props for the Tigers, but it is likely best to simply bet on Clemson to cover the spread and on the Tennessee player props.

News tags: Cade Klubnik | Clemson Tigers | College Football | DJ Uiagalelei | Hendon Hooker | Joe Milton | Ohio State | Tennessee Volunteers