The Clemson Tigers finished last season with a record of 11-3 and an ACC record of 8-0 which led to an appearance in the ACC Championship game against the North Carolina Tar Heels in which the Tigers won by a score of 39-10 which resulted in their 7^th ACC Championship in the last eight seasons. 

However, they missed the College Football Playoffs for the 2^nd consecutive year and instead played in the Orange Bowl against the Tennessee Volunteers in which the Tigers lost by a score of 14-31. Last year the Clemson Tigers finished the season ranked 12^th in the Coaches Poll and 13^th in the AP Poll. 

This season, Clemson enters the season with an over/under win total of 10 wins and is once again projected to be the best team in the ACC as they are +160 to win the Conference this season while having the 7^th best odds to win the National Championship only behind the Georgia Bulldogs, Alabama Crimson Tide, Michigan Wolverines, Ohio State Buckeyes, LSU Tigers, and USC Trojans.

After three losing seasons before last year, the Duke Blue Devils finished with a winning record and were one of the best teams in the ACC finishing with an overall record of 9-4 and an ACC record of 5-3 which led to a tie for 2^nd place in the ACC Coastal Division and an appearance in the Military Bowl against the UCF Knights a game the Blue Devils won by a score of 30-13. 

This season, Duke enters with an over/under win total of 6.5 wins which means they are projected to be bowl-eligible for the 2^nd season in a row something they have not accomplished since the 2017-2018 college football seasons and are projected to be the 8^th best team in the ACC behind the Clemson Tigers, Florida State Seminoles, North Carolina Tar Heels, Louisville Cardinals, North Carolina State Wolfpack, Miami Hurricanes, and Pitt Panthers.

BookMaker has the Clemson Tigers listed as 12.5-point favorites on the road against the Duke Blue Devils on Monday night in week 1 of the college football season. Clemson has been the dominating team in the series, winning nine of the last ten including the previous five matchups in a row while going 6-4 ATS in the last ten and 2-1 ATS in the last three games in the series. 

Clemson finished last season with a record of 7-7 ATS overall, 2-2 ATS on the road, 7-7 ATS as a favorite, and 7-2 ATS in conference games while Duke finished 9-4 ATS overall, 5-1 ATS at home, 5-1 ATS as an underdog, and 6-2 ATS in conference games.

Clemson is the more talented team this season as they enter projected to win the ACC while Duke is projected to be the 8^th-best team in the conference. The Tigers have dominated the series, winning nine of the last ten including the previous five matchups in a row while going 6-4 ATS in the last ten and 2-1 ATS in the last three games. 

I look for those trends to continue in this matchup which is why I am buying the .5 point and taking the Clemson Tigers -12 on the road for week 1 of the college football season on BookMaker.