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Orange Bowl: Clemson vs Oklahoma TV info, live stream, betting odds, prediction

By Patrick Schmidt

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The Clemson Tigers and Oklahoma Sooners battle in the Orange Bowl. Here’s the complete game preview and a prediction for the College Football Playoff game.

Two of the best quarterbacks in the nation will lead their teams into the Orange Bowl with the winner advancing to play for the national championship. Clemson’s Deshaun Watson was a Heisman finalist and the Davey O’Brien Award winner and Oklahoma’s Baker Mayfield was arguably the most valuable player in the country. The signal-caller who has the best day in the Orange Bowl could be the difference at Sun Life Stadium, but they won’t have to do it alone.

Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney is the coach of the year after leading the Tigers to the No. 1 ranking and defensive coordinator Brent Venables was a candidate to win the Broyles Award as the top assistant coach in the country. Clemson has the No. 7 total defense and rank second in third down defense with defensive end Shaq Lawson leading the way.

Oklahoma’s Bob Stoops counters with offensive coordinator Lincoln Riley who won the Broyles and transformed the Sooners offense to the No. 3 scoring offense with Mayfield relying on leading receiver Sterling Shepard and running backs Samaje Perine and Joe Mixon to offer balance to the offense.

Here are the game day details for the game:

  • Date: Thursday, December 31, 2015
  • Time: 4:00 PM ET
  • Location: Sun Life Stadium, Miami, FL
  • TV Channel: ESPN
  • Live Stream: WatchESPN
  • Spread: Clem +1.5

Prediction

Clemson is undefeated and ranked No. 1, but Oklahoma is the slight betting favorite and I think they’ll win the Orange Bowl on New Year’s Eve. Everything is just clicking for the Sooners and I think their offense can beat Clemson’s defense and convert on third down to keep drives alive, something the Tigers haven’t let many offenses do this year. They also haven’t played an offense with as many dynamic playmakers as they will in this game.

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I think the Oklahoma pass rush can get to Watson and disrupt him and his timing with his receivers, something not many teams have been able to do against this Clemson offensive line that’s allowed 14 sacks all year.

There’s not a lot separating these two teams and that’s why the point spread is where it’s at, but I think Mayfield leads Oklahoma to the decisive score in the closing moments of the Orange Bowl to survive and advance to play the winner of the Cotton Bowl between Michigan State and Alabama.

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