Clemson North Carolina Betting – Two Teams In Crisis Try To Change Course This Weekend
The North Carolina football program is living on the edge of a cliff. The Clemson Tigers are in must-win mode after a bad loss at home. Urgency defines this ACC Betting clash.
NCAA football betting: Clemson Tigers @ North Carolina Tar Heels
Online Betting Odds: North Carolina -1
Why To Bet On Clemson
The best reason to bet on the Tigers this week is that the North Carolina program remains in a state of red-alert panic. All the misdeeds that have come to light in Chapel Hill over the past few weeks have robbed this team of its ability to focus. A win over a mediocre East Carolina club is no indication that the Tar Heels are on their way back. At least ten North Carolina players – due to a combination of agent-related scandals and tutoring-based scandals – have either been held back from playing this week against Clemson or have not yet received rulings on their playing status from the NCAA. Even if some of those players have their eligibility reinstated in time to play against Clemson, they’re not likely to be emotionally prepared or physically sharp. It’s impossible to expect North Carolina to play crisp and precise football against decent opponents. Coach Butch Davis is a dead coach walking; there’s no reasonable way to think that the embattled coach will last beyond this 2010 season, which has been disastrous for the Tar Heels off the field. Severe sanctions from the NCAA are just a matter of time now that it’s been confirmed by Yahoo! Reports that UNC assistant coach John Blake received wired payments from sports agent Gary Wichard, in a seminal case that could very well open the door for substantial reform in the college sports industry. North Carolina is living under a very dark – almost tornadic – cloud of crisis, and that’s no way to approach a big ACC game against a team with Clemson’s talent and athleticism.
Why To Bet On North Carolina
The best reason to pick North Carolina in this game is that Clemson – a team which still hasn’t won an ACC championship since 1991 – continues to display its baffling tendency to stub its toe on the big stage. The Tigers and the Miami Hurricanes played a terrible game last weekend in Clemson, but the Tigers and their own talented quarterback underachieved more than Miami did.
Clemson quarterback Kyle Parker is a very disjointed quarterback right now. Miami’s Jacory Harris might have gone 13-for-33 as a passer with two picks against Clemson, but Parker – a distracted and not-very-locked-in quarterback ever since he signed a contract with Major League Baseball's Colorado Rockies – set the bar even lower than Harris did this past Saturday. Parker completed only 14-of-33 passes and threw three interceptions. While it's true that Clemson receivers dropped some of Parker's passes, the baseball-prospect-in-the-making showed why football isn't going to pay his bills in the future. On a day when Clemson and coach Dabo Swinney – who clearly hasn't transformed this team the way Tiger fans hoped – needed Parker to come up big, the veteran quarterback shriveled against a highly-touted conference foe. In addition to his three interceptions, Parker also coughed up one of the Tigers' three fumbles. Swinney and the rest of a stricken Clemson coaching staff had to endure the horror of seeing their cornerstone player commit four of the team's six turnovers. That's why Miami was able to assert control down the stretch and establish a two-possession lead on a 29-yard Matt Bosher field goal with 2:40 left. Miami won 30-21, leaving Clemson and Parker muttering to themselves. If North Carolina can just allow Parker to beat himself, the Tar Heels – despite all their off-field headaches – could win this game.
How The Game Will Play Out
It’s hard to imagine how North Carolina can barely concentrate these days. The Tar Heels have far too many issues going on to be mentally relaxed and liberated. Clemson is not good at enjoying prosperity, but even the Tigers will have a hard time losing this game. Clemson should be favored; it’s a mystery why the visitors are the underdog this week.
Clemson North Carolina Betting Pick: Clemson
