Why Clemson should be thrilled to once again be the underdog

Clemson has gained a ton of respect nationally over the past seven years as the Tigers have reached at least 10 wins every season since 2011 and are in the College Football Playoff for the third time in three years.

One place that has doubted Clemson along the way and continues to doubt the Tigers is Las Vegas.

Clemson enters the playoff as the No. 1 seed and dominated Miami 38-3 in the ACC championship in its last game.

Alabama enters as the No. 4 seed and snuck into the playoff just ahead of Ohio State after losing to Auburn 26-14 in its last outing.

Yet it is Alabama that opened as a 1.5-point favorite over the Tigers and is now favored by 2.5 for the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans on Jan. 1.

“It’s not a surprise. It’s not a shock,” Clemson linebacker Kendall Joseph said. “That’s not going to determine the football game. We’re not focused on that. That’s not making us lose any amount of sleep because we’re going to have to hit the field and buckle the chin strap up and play football.”

If history repeats itself the Crimson Tide being favored is actually good news for Clemson.

The Tigers have been underdogs in seven consecutive postseason games, beginning with the Chick-Fil-A Bowl in 2012.

Clemson is 7-0 against the spread in those seven games and has six straight-up wins, including in last year’s national title game.

LSU was favored by 6.5 in the Chick-Fil-A Bowl in 2012 when Clemson earned a 25-24 victory.

Ohio State was favored by 2.5 in the Orange Bowl the following year. The Tigers won 40-35.

Clemson was without starting quarterback Deshaun Watson in the 2014 Russell Athletic Bowl and was a 6.5-point underdog. The Tigers dominated from start to finish, earning a 40-6 victory.

Clemson faced the Sooners in a rematch the following year in the Orange Bowl and was a 3.5-point underdog before once again dominating with a three-touchdown victory.

The only loss for the Tigers during this run came in the 2015 national title game after the win over Oklahoma when Alabama earned a 45-40 victory as a 6.5-point favorite.

Last season Ohio State was favored by 1.5 in the Fiesta Bowl before Clemson dominated 31-0. The Tigers followed that up by defeating Alabama 35-31 as a 6.5-point underdog in the national title game.

Clemson has covered its seven consecutive postseason games as an underdog by an average of 17.6 points.

Tigers coach Dabo Swinney is not surprised Clemson is once again the underdog, but he should be just fine with it.

“Well, I don’t really have any thoughts. We’re going to get ready to go play. I mean, Alabama, pretty much everybody who plays Alabama is probably going to be an underdog. That just kind of comes with it,” Swinney said. “We’re going to get ready and do what we do. None of that stuff really matters. It just comes down to how you play on that day and we’ve been fortunate to find a way to win a bunch of those games. But it’s all about this one.”

This story was originally published December 10, 2017 at 4:59 PM with the headline "Why Clemson should be thrilled to once again be the underdog."