ACC football odds: Notre Dame the only (legit) threat to Clemson?

The opening ACC football odds show few real challengers to Clemson?

Clemson has been a dominant force in ACC football in recent memory, winning the conference championship in each of the last five years. Part of that is the juggernaut that Dabo Swinney has built with the Tigers but it’s also been due to the lack of high-end competition as well. So Notre Dame joining the conference for 2020 only adds a ton of intrigue to this season.

According to the season-opening ACC football odds from the Las Vegas Superbook, that’s indeed the case. As expected, Clemson are the heavy favorites to stay atop the conference with 4/15 odds. Notre Dame, however, is the only other team that has better than 10/1 odds, coming in at 8/1, thus making the Irish the biggest threat to the Tigers.

Further adding to the discrepancy is that the Miami Hurricanes (14/1) and North Carolina Tar Heels (18/1) are the only two teams after Clemson and Notre Dame that have better than 20/1 or even 30/1 odds.

Take a look at the full slate of ACC football odds entering the 2020 season, via Brett McMurphy of Stadium:

Do the ACC football odds offer any dark horses to challenge Clemson in 2020?

There’s no question that Notre Dame is, on paper, the second-best team in the ACC coming into the year. At the same time, the odds are a bit misleading for the 2020 season.

While Miami has endured their recent issues and saw Gregory Rousseau opt-out of this season, the Canes have elite talent on both sides of the ball, especially if transfer quarterback D’Eriq King takes off in Coral Gables. Furthermore, North Carolina is set to build off a 7-6 season a year ago and has one of the best young quarterbacks in the nation, sophomore Sam Howell, leading the way.

Outside of that, Florida State and Virginia Tech, both sitting at 40/1 odds, are intriguing dark horses. The Seminoles have a boatload of talent but need the stability that new head coach Mike Norvell could provide. As for the Hokies, Justin Fuente‘s team could take a massive step forward if Hendon Hooker can be a stable force at quarterback.

Put simply, Notre Dame isn’t the only threat to Clemson in the ACC; in fact, they may not even be the biggest threat. The Irish have to play the Tigers in the regular season, a pitfall North Carolina doesn’t face. With the need to only beat Clemson in one game and to not have a likely loss on the regular-season schedule, consider the Tar Heels at 18/1 a phenomenal sleeper bet in the ACC.

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