Clemson has a headline-grabbing quarterback competition heading into the fall between incumbent starter Kelly Bryant and freshman Trevor Lawrence, but what the Tigers are bringing back in 2018 at the other 21 positions on offense and defense has made Dabo Swinney's team a College Football Playoff title pick and heavy favorites in their own conference.
According to the odds on BetOnline.ag, Clemson is the favorite to win the ACC title with better than even odds (-225). The top competition keeping the Tigers from winning a fourth straight conference crown, according to the oddsmakers, includes Miami (+700), Florida State (+900), Louisville and Virginia Tech (both listed at+1600).
Odds to win the 2018 ACC Championship
| Team | Odds |
|---|---|
Clemson | -225 |
Miami | +700 |
Florida State | +900 |
Louisville | +1600 |
Virginia Tech | +1600 |
+2000 | |
+2500 | |
+3300 | |
+5000 | |
+5000 | |
+5000 | |
+5000 | |
+5000 | |
+10000 |
Let's break down what to make of these odds.
Best bet -- Miami: With far too much risk involved to deal with the -225 value with Clemson, the best bet on the board is catching plus-value on a Miami team that made it to Charlotte a year ago. The hobbled Hurricanes were missing too many important players to last four quarters against the much deeper Tigers at the time, but the size and talent advantage that Clemson has against many ACC opponents isn't a factor against Miami. Shaquille Quarterman leads one of the best linebacking groups in the country, and no one expects the turnover chain to be a one-season-wonder. Better quarterback play will be necessary to get past Clemson in a head-to-head matchup, but +700 is great value for a team many expect to get there.
Long shot worth taking -- Virginia Tech: Part of the value in taking Miami is the high likelihood of winning the ACC Coastal, so if you want another team that could both win its division and potentially knock off Clemson (or the ACC Atlantic champion) in a one-game setting, it's got to be the Hokies. Josh Jackson was really good at times during his redshirt freshman season in 2017, but now he's more comfortable in Justin Fuente's offense and will have an opportunity to elevate his level of play. Of all the returning quarterbacks in the ACC, only NC State's Ryan Finley had a better rating than Jackson.
Potential dominance -- the Atlantic Division: Not only is Clemson's status as a heavy favorite a bit jarring on first glance, but there's also the fact that six of the top eight teams listed are from the Atlantic Division. So the oddsmakers believe that Clemson not only is much, much better than the rest of the entire conference, but that the balance of power favors more than half of the division against an undetermined Costal Division foe. Georgia Tech, Pittsburgh, Virginia and Duke are all given the same odds as the last Atlantic Division team listed (Boston College), with North Carolina listed last. Oddsmakers think it's not only Atlantic over Costal, but in the Coastal it's Miami, Virginia Tech and everyone else.
