Ken Ruinard USA Today Sports
Preview and Prediction: Clemson Tigers vs. Ohio State Buckeyes
Clemson will make its sixth consecutive College Football Playoff appearance on Friday, Jan. 1 when the second-seeded Tigers face third-seeded Ohio State in the Allstate Sugar Bowl. Kickoff at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET.
The Tigers enter this year's College Football Playoff ranked tied for the most CFP appearances (six), CFP wins (six), CFP title game berths (four) and CFP national championships (two) since the inception of the current postseason format in 2014.
Clemson's opponent will be a familiar one, as the Sugar Bowl will be Clemson's fourth bowl game against Ohio State since 2013 and its third against Ohio State in the College Football Playoff since 2016. The contest will be Clemson's fifth bowl game against Ohio State all-time, passing Alabama and LSU (four each) as Clemson's most common bowl opponent. Clemson holds a 4-0 record all-time against the Buckeyes
What to watch for:
- Clemson and Ohio State meeting in postseason play for the fifth time, moving the Buckeyes past Alabama and LSU (four each) as Clemson's most common bowl opponent.
- Clemson and Ohio State meeting in consecutive years for the first time. Ohio State becomes the fourth program against which Clemson has played a bowl game in consecutive years, including facing Miami (Fla.) in back-to-back bowl games in 1950-51, Oklahoma in 2014-15 and facing Alabama in four straight bowl games across 2015-18.
- Clemson attempting to improve to 5-0 all-time against Ohio State, which enters the contest with the second-most wins all-time in FBS history. Clemson (4-0), Alabama (3-1), Stanford (3-2) and USC (13-10-1) are presently the only schools to have played Ohio State at least four times and have a winning record in the series.
- Clemson attempting to improve to 7-3 all-time in College Football Playoff games. Clemson’s six all-time wins in the playoff are presently tied with Alabama for the most in CFP history. No schools other than Clemson and Alabama have more than two.
- Clemson attempting to improve to 27-2 against undefeated opponents since the start of the 2015 season. Clemson is 10-2 in that span against undefeated opponents who enter the contest with at least four wins on the year.
- Clemson attempting to improve to 26-21 all-time in bowl contests. A 26th bowl win would tie Nebraska for 10th-most in FBS history.
Predictions:
Zach Lentz: Clemson 42 Ohio State 24
The Tigers are a better team than they were last season when these two teams met in an instant classic, and the Buckeyes are not as good as they were last year. The Tigers get control early and don’t look back on their way to another national title appearance.
Brad Senkiw: Clemson 31, Ohio State 20
Games of this magnitude typically come down to the best quarterback, and while Ohio State's Justin Fields is a tremendous talent, Trevor Lawrence is the best player in this game and likely the country. He'll control the game and make more big plays in the passing game while Brent Venables' defense is healthy enough to make life difficult on the Buckeyes.
Jason Priester: Clemson 38 Ohio State 20
These aren't the same two teams from a season ago. Clemson has improved and Ohio State... well, not so much. Justin Fields isn't playing at quite the same level and that Buckeyes defense isn't nearly as strong, particularly on the backend. Trevor Lawrence and Travis Etienne lead the way as the Tigers exorcise their Superdome demons.
