Atlantic Coast Conference College Football Bowl Props: Over-Under 4.5 Wins

The Atlantic Coast Conference has had three different schools reach the College Football Playoff for a total of eight appearances. That’s including Notre Dame as the Irish joined the ACC as a full-time football member only in the 2020 COVID-shortened campaign and reached the national semifinals along with Clemson.

Notre Dame still plays five ACC teams a season but is back to independent status. The ACC would crawl over glass to get the Irish full time, but that’s not happening anytime soon if ever.

Florida State made the first College Football Playoff following the 2014 season but lost in the semifinals to Oregon. The other six appearances from the league all belong to Clemson, which made it six straight seasons starting in 2015 and won two national titles under Coach Dabo Swinney.

Clemson quarterback Cade Klubnik (2) runs with the ball against North Carolina during the Atlantic Coast Conference championship NCAA college football game on Saturday, Dec. 3, 2022, in Charlotte, N.C. (AP Photo/Jacob Kupferman)

This year, Swinney’s Tigers were in the top four of the rankings before getting shockingly dominated at Notre Dame (a non-conference game) on Nov. 5. However, Clemson still had a shot at the playoff with back-to-back impressive wins following that loss, but that shot vanished with a 31-30 upset loss to South Carolina in the regular-season finale. Clemson then trashed North Carolina win the ACC title game and will play in the Orange Bowl for the seventh time. The opponent is Tennessee from the SEC.

Let’s break down a few ACC bowl props.

ACC Looks To Bounce Back

Nine ACC schools will play in bowl games. It’s 22nd consecutive season in which the conference earned at least six bowl bids. Not including the pandemic-affected 2020 season, the ACC has sent at least nine teams to a bowl every year since 2016. Since 2013, the league is second among all conferences with 100 postseason appearances.

Last season, the ACC sent six teams and things didn’t go well with a 2-4 record. This season, the league has an over-under of 4.5 total bowl wins and is a +400 second favorite behind the SEC to have the most total bowl wins overall.

The first ACC team in action is Louisville this Saturday against Cincinnati in the Fenway Bowl. That’s intriguing because Cards coach Scott Satterfield left following the regular season … for Cincinnati, although he won’t coach the bowl.

ACC schools only face three ranked opponents: Clemson against the No. 6 Vols in the Dec. 30 Orange Bowl (Tigers are -6.5); North Carolina against No. 15 Oregon in the Dec. 28 Holiday Bowl, with the Ducks at -14; and Pittsburgh vs. No. 18 UCLA in the Dec. 30 Sun Bowl with the Bruins at -6.5.

UNC-Oregon is favored to be the highest-scoring bowl of them all at +1000. The biggest ACC favorite in the bowls is No. 13 Florida State -7.5 vs. Oklahoma in the Dec. 29 Cheez-It Bowl.