2012 Discover Orange Bowl – College football gamblers will get a great chance to cash in when the ticked-off Clemson Tigers look to take out all of their frustration on the West Virginia Mountaineers when the two teams meet in the 2012 Discover Orange Bowl on Wednesday, January 4, at 8:30 PM ET live from Sun Life Stadium in Miami, FL. The 14th-ranked Tigers were given the shaft while ACC rival Virginia Tech finished the season with a higher ranking – and the league’s first at-large bid to a BCS bowl game despite getting beaten badly by the Tigers – twice – this season. Okay, let’s take a look at both teams in this intriguing matchup.

2012 Orange Bowl
Clemson vs. West Virginia
Date: January 4th 2012 at 8:30 PM ET
Location: Sun Life Stadium in Miami, FL
Pick: CLICK HERE FOR THE WINNING BETTING PICK
Point Spread: Clemson Tigers (-3.5) vs. West Virginia Mountaineers (+3.5) Over/Under 60.5

West Virginia (9-3 SU, 6-6 ATS, 8-4 O/U)
The West Virginia Mountaineers closed out the 2011 regular season by winning three straight games and covering the spread in two of those, including their regular season finale as they beat South Florida 30-27 to cash in as a 2-point road favorite.

The Mountaineers averaged a stellar 34.9 points per game this season (20th) while ranking seventh in passing yards per game (341.8), though they did struggle to run the ball this season, finishing 100th in rushing (117.8 ypg).

Defensively, the Mountaineers were mostly mediocre across the board in allowing 26.2 points per game (63rd) while also ranking 27th in total yards allowed (340.3) and 51st against the run (140.8 ypg).

West Virginia got a fine season out of quarterback Geno Smith as the junior threw for 3,978 yards with 25 TD passes and just seven interceptions. Unfortunately, the Mountaineers didn’t have a 1,00-yard rusher, leaving their offense a bit unbalanced, though freshman Dustin Garrison did rush for 742 yards while averaging a whopping 5.5 yards per carry.

The Mountaineers are 5-1 ATS in their last 6 games as an underdog, 11-4 ATS in their L/15 games against a team with a winning record. Unfortunately, West Virginia has also gone 2-5 ATS in their last 7 games in the month of January and an uninspiring 1-4 ATS in their last five Bowl games. The Over is 5-1 in the Mountaineers’ last six bowl games as an underdog and 8-3 in their last 11 bowl games.

CLICK HERE FOR THE CLEMSON VS. WEST VIRGINIA WINNING PICK
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Clemson (10-3 SU, 8-5 ATS, 6-7 O/U)
Clemson got off to a stellar 8-0 start this season before falling apart and losing three of their final five regular season games.

The Tigers will enter this bowl game with some serious momentum going after pounding Virginia Tech 38-10 in its regular season closer to cash in as a 7-point home dog and snap a four-game ATS losing streak.

Offensively, Clemson was a juggernaut in every area, ranking inside the top 30 in total yards (441.5 ypg), passing, (284.8 ypg) and scoring, where their 33.6 points per game average left them ranked 27th in the nation.

As good as the Tigers were on offense, they couldn’t match that kind of success on defense as they finished 62nd in points allowed (26.2 ppg), mostly because they ranked a dismal 80th against the run (176.5 ypg).

The Tigers are led by athletic quarterback Tahj Boyd – and the sophomore out of Virginia responded in a big way in his first full season as a starter. Boyd completed 60.4 percent of his passes this season while throwing for 3,578 yards with a whopping 31 TD passes and just 11 interceptions while adding another five rushing touchdowns on the year!

The good news for Clemson betting backers is the fact that the Tigers are 6-2 ATS in their last eight games following an SU win.

The bad news is that the Tigers don’t have a very good track record of covering the spread once the postseason rolls around.

Clemson is 2-6 ATS in their last eight neutral site games, 1-5 ATS in their last half-dozen bowl games, 1-6 ATS in their L/7 Bowl games as a favorite and an eye-opening 0-5 ATS in their last five games against Big East teams.

The Under is 5-0 in the Tigers’ last five games, including 4-0 in their last four versus a team with a winning record. The Under has also gone 6-1 in Clemson’s last 7 Bowl games and 6-2 in the Tigers’ L/8 neutral site games.

If you enjoyed this Clemson vs. West Virginia Orange Bowl pick and point spread preview, be sure to visit Touthouse.com this entire bowl season for winning college football predictions from our professional sports handicappers.

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