No. 1 Clemson is expected to get past struggling Syracuse on Saturday rather handily, according to the betting odds.
The Tigers are favored by 46 points over the Orange, who suffered a 38-21 loss at home to Liberty last week, dropping them to 1-4. Clemson, on the other hand, is rolling at 5-0 and coming off a 73-7 beatdown of Georgia Tech. The Tigers are outscoring their opponents by an average of 36.6 points per game.
The odds on Clemson beating Syracuse straight up are so ridiculous that most sportsbooks aren't offering a money-line price on the game. FanDuel, however, is, and has the Tigers listed at -100,000 to win outright, while Syracuse is +4,000 (40-1) to pull off the upset.
That's right. If you want to bet on Clemson to beat Syracuse, you'd need to put up $1,000 to win $1 at FanDuel, one of the only U.S. sportsbooks to offer a money-line price on the seemingly lopsided matchup.
And someone did.
According to FanDuel, a bettor placed an $8,600 money-line bet on Clemson at -100,000 odds. If the Tigers prevail, the bettor will add $8.60 to his bankroll.
The largest bet on Syracuse was $50 at 40-1. As of Friday afternoon, there had been three times as many money-line bets on the Orange as there were on Clemson, but the Tigers had attracted 92% of the money, thanks primarily to the $8,600 wager.
"Obviously, the probability of Clemson winning the game is huge, but people want to have a bet on what would be one of the greatest upsets in college football," John Sheeran, FanDuel's sportsbook director, told ESPN.
The point spread, at Clemson -46, is the largest line on an ACC game since Florida State was a 48-point favorite over Wake Forest in 2000. The money-line price is among the largest ever posted by a U.S. sportsbook as well.
Even the sportsbook at South Point casino and hotel in Las Vegas, which has been known to put up money-line prices on big college football favorites in the past, chose to hold off on the Syracuse-Clemson game.
"This one's just too big," South Point sportsbook director Chris Andrews said.