For the first time in school history, the Clemson Tigers open a season ranked No. 1 in both major polls. The Tigers ended the 2018 season there as well, blowing out Alabama 44-16 in the College Football Playoff national championship game. Clemson starts its quest to repeat on Thursday night in ACC action against the visiting Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. Kickoff is 8 p.m. ET from Memorial Stadium. The Tigers haven’t lost a regular-season game since Oct. 13, 2017 at Syracuse, a span of nearly two years. Last season, they were the first team to go 15-0 since the late 1800s. On the opposite sideline, Georgia Tech has a new head coach in Geoff Collins, and the option offense run by former coach Paul Johnson has come and gone. The Tigers are 36.5-point favorites in the latest Clemson vs. Georgia Tech odds, up nearly a field goal from the opener, while the over-under stands at 60.5. Before you make your Week 1 college football predictions, listen to the Georgia Tech vs. Clemson picks from the SportsLine Projection Model.
The SportsLine Projection Model simulates every FBS college football game 10,000 times, and those who have followed it have seen massive returns. Over the past four years, this proprietary computer model has generated a jaw-dropping $4,530 profit for $100 bettors on its top-rated spread picks.
The model enters the first full weekend of the 2019 college football season on a blistering 49-29 run on all top-rated picks. It also called Miami (+7) covering against No. 8 Florida in the season-opener and hit the under. Anybody who has been following it is way up.
Now, it has set its sights on Clemson vs. Georgia Tech. We can tell you the model is leaning over, and it also says one side of the spread hits in over 60 percent of simulations. That pick is only available at SportsLine.
The model knows Clemson has won 29 of its last 30 home games. Its last loss at Memorial Stadium was as a 21.5-point favorite against Pittsburgh on Nov. 12, 2016, and that defeat was by just one point. Last year, the Tigers blew out every visiting opponent but one (Syracuse). Twelve starters return from the championship team, led by quarterback and Heisman Trophy favorite Trevor Lawrence as well as arguably the country’s top running back, Travis Etienne, another Heisman contender. Clemson has yet to have a Heisman winner.
The Tigers have won the past four meetings with Georgia Tech, covering the spread three times. Last year in Atlanta, Clemson won 49-21 as a 16-point favorite. Lawrence wasn’t even the team’s starting quarterback yet, but came off the bench to throw four touchdown passes and was the starter from that point forward. Etienne rushed for 122 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries and Tech was held to 203 total yards and just 57 passing.
But just because the Tigers are No. 1 in the country and heavily favored on Thursday doesn’t mean they’ll cover the Clemson vs. Georgia Tech spread.
Georgia Tech is opening its season against an ACC opponent for just the seventh time and first since 2016. The Yellow Jackets have won four of the previous six against ACC teams in the first game the season. Tech is also 6-1 all-time in season-openers against Clemson, outscoring the Tigers a combined 188-32. It’s the 13th time that Tech will play the nation’s top team, but the first in a season-opener. The Jackets have won twice against a No. 1 school all-time.
If there’s one possible weakness on Clemson, it’s a defense that brings back just four starters. Georgia Tech’s offense will be a mystery to the Tigers as well because Tech is now running a spread, up-tempo scheme instead of the option that they’ve become well-known for. While the Yellow Jackets have lost the past four meetings in this series, they were fairly competitive for a half last year, and none of the past four losses have been by a margin close to Thursday’s Clemson vs. Georgia Tech line.
Who wins Georgia Tech vs. Clemson? And which side of the spread hits in over 60 percent of simulations? Visit SportsLine now to see which side of the Georgia Tech vs. Clemson spread to jump on Thursday, all from the advanced computer model on a 49-29 run on top-rated college football picks.
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