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Texas opens as two-score favorite over Clemson in CFP

Texas is the third-overall seed and the fifth-seed in the bracket for the 12-team College Football Playoff, with a first round home game against 12-seed Clemson.
ByAndrew Miller
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Steve Sarkisian, Texas football
Steve Sarkisian, Texas football | Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

The official bracket was revealed for the first-ever 12-team College Football Playoff on Dec. 8, setting up a first-round matchup where Texas football hosts the ACC Champion Clemson Tigers at home at DKR.

Clemson got in the Playoff by defeating the No. 8 SMU Mustangs in the ACC Championship Game in Charlotte on a last-second field goal from over 50 yards, 34-31.

Texas and head coach Steve Sarkisian got the highest at-large bid for the 12-team Playoff despite falling to the No. 5 Georgia Bulldogs in overtime in the SEC Championship Game on Dec. 7 in Atlanta by a score of 22-19.

The Longhorns' only two losses this season were against Georgia in the SEC title game this weekend and at home in Austin in mid-October. Texas enters the postseason with a record of 11-2 (7-1 SEC) against a Clemson team with three losses (10-3, 7-1 ACC).

The winner of the first-round matchup in the Playoff between Texas and Clemson faces the Big 12 Champion and four-seed Arizona State Sun Devils in the second round in the Peach Bowl in Atlanta on Jan. 1 at Noon CT.

Sarkisian and the Longhorns are in the College Football Playoff for the second year in a row. In the 2023-24 season, Texas made the four-team College Football Playoff for the first-time ever after winning the Big 12 Championship in its final year competing in that conference before moving to the SEC this season.

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Here’s a look at the opening betting odds for the first-round College Football Playoff matchup between five-seed Texas and 12-seed Clemson at Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin, TX, on Dec. 21 at 3 p.m. CT.

Opening betting odds for College Football Playoff first-round matchup between 5-seed Texas football and 12-seed Clemson

Texas opens up as an 11.5-point favorite over Clemson in the first round of the CFP (per FanDuel). The over/under is set at 53.5 points.

The moneyline favors Texas (-420) over Clemson (+320).

Texas is 7-6-0 against the spread this season (per TeamRankings). The Longhorns did not cover the pregame spread as the slight favorites over Georgia in the SEC Championship Game this weekend.

Clemson is 6-7-0 against the spread this season. The Tigers are 1-1 as underdogs against the spread in the 2024 campaign.

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