Week 1 Lines Released: Tigers are Big Favorites at Georgia Tech

Circa Sports in Las Vegas released Week 1 lines and Clemson is favored by more than four touchdowns on the road against Georgia Tech in the Sept. 3 opener.

Clemson’s biggest threat to a sixth consecutive ACC championship likely won’t come in Week 1, according to a Las Vegas sportsbook.

Circa Sports released its odds for the opening games of the 2020 season, and the Tigers are a massive 29-point favorite on the road at Georgia Tech on Sept. 3.

Clemson is coming off a 14-1 campaign and a trip to the national championship game. The Tigers return key stars Trevor Lawrence, Travis Etienne and enough defensive players to make them one of the top contenders in the sport.

Georgia Tech, meanwhile, heads into Geoff Collins’ second year coming off a 3-9 season in which the Yellow Jackets lost 52-14 to the Tigers to open 2019.

That amount of points Clemson is favored is actually less than last season when they were a 37-point favorite at home. Has Georgia Tech improved that much? Bobby Dodd Stadium has been a difficult venue for Clemson in the past, but these programs are on the complete end of the college football spectrum right now, and the Tigers have won five consecutive games and seven of the last eight against the Yellow Jackets.

More than four-touchdown favorite doesn’t seem especially high, considering the Tigers won by 28 in their last trip there, and that was during a QB controversy and with GT still in the triple-option era.

This year, Clemson should have plenty of motivation to set the tone and make a statement following their last game, which ended with a loss to LSU in New Orleans. This isn't like last year when they were enjoying the celebration of the 2018 national championship and having the ACC Network make its football debut on campus. 

Georgia Tech, meanwhile, returns 17 starters, including 10 on offense. The Yellow Jackets had the lowest-points outlet in the ACC in 2019 and ranked 124th nationally. Despite a shortened spring, that was still better than the first one under Collins, GT is hoping to give Clemson more of a challenge to see where they're at as a program.

The early total for points is set at 56.5. Last year, it was 61 and went over. Oddsmakers are leaning toward a lower scoring game this time but still accounting for a sizable gap between the Tigers and Yellow Jackets.