Syracuse football: Orange open as road dogs to Clemson by two scores.

Bask in it, let it all sink in, the Syracuse Orange are riding high from knocking off the NC State Wolfpack in a ranked battle in front of a sold-out Dome crowd and it feels good. We asked last week what the oddsmakers knew that we didn’t. Apparently, it was something as the Orange walked away victors, 24-9 and covered the spread, which was Syracuse minus a field goal at time of kick on Saturday. This week things get even tougher, as the Orange head down to Death Valley to take on the #5 Clemson Tigers.

With the difficult matchup, you can imagine that the spread is a bit bigger this week. Syracuse opened as of the end of the NC State game, at 13.5 point underdogs to Clemson. That’s shifted to 13 at time of writing per the folks over at DraftKings Sportsbook. Makes sense to a degree. We’re still trying to officially answer the perpetual Sickos Committee question: “Is Syracuse Good?” to no avail. Clemson is a known commodity who is playing at home and is good.

The over/under is sitting at 50.5 for the matchup. I don’t know about anyone else, but I don’t see a ton of running up the score on this one, but there’s a chance both offenses can push two good defenses (Syracuse 8th, Clemson 30th) into the 20s. The Orange are 5-1 against the spread this year, Clemson is 5-2, so something will have to give here.

This matchup has been unreasonably close in the past and the Orange have found a way to upset the Tigers and been on the doorstep a few times. Of the 10 historic matchups, the Orange have pulled it out twice, the 41-0 Gator Bowl matchup in their first meeting in 1996 and the 2017 home game. They have however played them within a score three of the last five meetings, including a three point loss last season in the Dome.

Do we think the Orange can cover? Let us know in the comments.

Odds/lines subject to change. T&Cs apply. See draftkings.com/sportsbook for details.