Miami vs. Clemson odds: Early point spread released on Hurricanes, Tigers

Week 8 will bring a battle between two prestigious ACC programs as Clemson will travel to Hard Rock Stadium to face Miami. Despite the history of the teams, however, the 2023 season has so far brought some difficulties as both enter already having dropped games in conference play.

Nonetheless, oddsmakers in Vegas expect it to be a hard-fought battle, as Clemson enters as a 3.5-point favorite according to FanDuel. The over/under is set at 51.5

Clemson is coming off of a bye week after having notched wins in the past two weeks. The Tigers most recently escaped Wake Forest by a score of 17-12 in Week 6. They did so thanks to a 207-yard effort on the ground, led by Will Shipley, who finished with 97 yards and a touchdown.

Clemson can also get it done through the air with quarterback Cade Klubnik. He currently ranks fourth in the conference with 1,370 yards passing to go with 11 touchdowns and a pair of interceptions on the season. That has helped the Tigers to rank fourth in the ACC in total offense with 437.3 yards per game.

Still, after winning seven of the past eight conference titles, the Tigers have already fallen behind in the standings after losses to Duke and Florida State. Now they’ll aim to avoid dropping even further as they face the Hurricanes in a tough road environment.

Miami at one point looked to have a shot at competing for an ACC title, but those hopes took a big hit last week as they lost to Georgia Tech. The Hurricanes were one of the biggest stories of the week after Mario Cristobal‘s decision not to take a knee to end the game. That resulted in the Yellow Jackets recovering a Miami fumble and later throwing the game-winning touchdown to escape with a 23-20 victory.

That was the first loss in ACC play for the Hurricanes and severely hurt their chances of making it to the conference title game. Miami then lost 41-31 to North Carolina this past weekend, so this game will be important if it hopes to avoid sliding further.

Miami has to this point been one of the top offenses in the ACC, ranking first in yards per game (505.8) and second in points per game (39.0). The Hurricanes lead the conference in rushing behind the duo of Henry Parrish Jr. and Donald Chaney Jr. Additionally, quarterback Tyler Van Dyke ranks fifth in the conference with 1,330 yards passing, 12 touchdowns and four interceptions.

That should set up for an exciting battle when Miami kicks off against Clemson next Saturday. The start time for the game has still yet to be announced.