Capital One Orange Bowl Odds & Prediction

Now for the first playoff game: the Capital One Orange Bowl!

We have finally made it to the New Year’s Six Bowls! Unfortunately, that means that bowl season is nearing an end. Have your Bowl Mania picks been destroyed by upsets? Luckily you can still find places to play against the spread! I will continue with my picks until the very end. I am doing well in the points system, but I think I am struggling against the spread during bowl time. I am about six games behind, so maybe it gets better!

Oklahoma(-3.5) vs. Clemson at Miami, FL(3):

Oklahoma(11-1, 8-1):

Wins: vs. Akron(41-3), at Tennessee(31-24), vs. Tulsa(52-38), vs. West Virginia(44-24), at Kansas State(55-0), vs. Texas Tech(63-27), at Kansas(62-7), vs. Iowa State(52-16), at Baylor(44-34), vs. TCU(30-29), at Oklahoma State(58-23)

Losses: vs. Texas(17-24)

Record vs. bowl teams: 9-0

Clemson(13-0, 9-0):

Wins: vs. Wofford(49-10), vs. Appalachian State(41-10), at Louisville(20-17), vs. Notre Dame(24-22), vs. Georgia Tech(43-24), vs. Boston College(34-17), at Miami(FL)(58-0), at North Carolina State(56-41), vs. Florida State(23-13), at Syracuse(37-27), vs. Wake Forest(33-13), at South Carolina(37-32), vs. North Carolina(45-37)

Losses: NONE

Record vs. bowl teams: 7-0

Oklahoma played a bowl team in every non conference game, so you can’t say that they weren’t tested this year. The legend of Baker Mayfield began with the unlikely fourth quarter comeback in Knoxville, and took a bit of a hit with the inexplicable loss to Texas that likely saved Charlie Strong’s job…..at least for now. There is really no way to explain that except for the fact that it’s a rivalry, and crazy things happen. You can also say that Oklahoma got lucky by facing Baylor without Seth Russell and TCU without Josh Doctson. Both of those are valid points. As you could see from the second half of the TCU game, Oklahoma is nowhere near a playoff team without Mayfield. Can Clemson neutralize him?

You could argue that Clemson really hasn’t play a complete game since handing Miami their worst loss in program history. The defense had lapses in every game since then, most notably in the first quarter against Florida State when Dalvin Cook ran wild on them. They shut him down for the rest of the game, but one quarter of lapsing against a high powered offense like Oklahoma would cost them. Maybe enough that they couldn’t come back from it.

The suspension of Deon Cain will leave a little bit of a hole for Clemson. He was their best downfield threat, but look for Charone Peake to take on that role. Peake is not quite as fast as Cain, but he is fast enough to get behind the Oklahoma secondary.

Oklahoma will be seeking revenge for a 40-6 blasting at the hands of Clemson in last year’s Russell Athletic Bowl. A game that Clemson was missing DeShaun Watson in. This year’s incarnation of the Clemson defense isn’t quite as good as last year’s, but the Oklahoma offense has changed a lot as well. Lincoln Riley changed things around to the point that Brent Venables wont know every play before we run it this year. You can call it an evening of the playing field. Neither team has a strong enough defense to make points a premium, so look for a relatively high scoring game. That tips this in Oklahoma’s favor.

My pick: Oklahoma

Next: The Picks For Every Bowl Game!

Stay tuned for the picks of every bowl game against the spread!