Dabo Swinney’s reluctance to embrace today’s college football makes him a polarizing figure. To millions of fans, he is a stalwart who stands for college football’s original values. But to others, he epitomizes the antithesis of Nick Saban, who always adjusted to dominate the times. Overall, Swinney has two national and eight Atlantic Coast Conference titles. He is a three-time Paul “Bear” Bryant Award winner. He led Clemson to the College Football Playoff six consecutive seasons from 2015 through 2020. Also, the Tigers had four national championship game appearances. His career College Football Betting record is 170-43.
2024 College Football National Championship Future odds
| Team | Odds |
|---|---|
| Georgia Bulldogs | +325 |
| Ohio State Buckeyes | +450 |
| Texas Longhorns | +800 |
| Oregon Ducks | +1000 |
| Ole Miss Rebels | +1400 |
| Alabama Crimson Tide | +1100 |
| LSU Tigers | +1200 |
| Notre Dame Fighting Irish | +2500 |
| Michigan Wolverines | +1400 |
| Penn State Nittany Lions | +2200 |
| Clemson Tigers | +2500 |
| Florida State Seminoles | +1800 |
| Tennessee Volunteers | +4000 |
| Texas A&M Aggies | +3300 |
| USC Trojans | +3300 |
| Missouri Tigers | +4000 |
| Oklahoma Sooners | +4000 |
| All Other Teams | +5000 or higher |
Dabo Swinney vs. the Winds of Change
Late on, as NIL and the transfer portal became more a part of college football, Swinney’s success declined. Following his last CFP appearance, Swinney has gone 10-3, 11-3, and 9-4 with no final rankings in the Top 10. Of course, Swinney has strong convictions for the full college experience. Including players getting a degree and building relationships that last a lifetime.
Of course, Dabo Swinney dislikes the portal and NIL. Previously, he issued warnings that they would destroy the game as we know it. And with Clemson losing its cache as a national power, Swinney has been under greater online betting criticism.
Swinney has called for tougher penalties against tampering. Correlate that he lamented the apparent lack of interest by the NCAA for stricter enforcement. Another story college football odds story surfaced in which a Clemson player was offered $2000,000 to leave.
Tampering stands against everything Swinney believes in regarding honor, sportsmanship, and what should be the ethics of college sports. For that, he has won millions of devoted admirers. But to others, his stands are out of touch with today’s realities. Also, his promises this year to use the portal came to no fruition. Clemson was out of the money for the top available players.
One new factor of college football that Swinney has embraced is the expanded College Football Playoff. He believes Clemson will be one of the 12 teams that qualify in 2024.
In a recent appearance on Sirius XM, Swinney said that Clemson went in the final four for the second-most appearances. Also, Swinney reminded listeners that Clemson went six years to the CFP six years in a row and got the second-most wins. Clemson has proven they can do it with the four-team format. So Clemson Tigers feels like that with 12 or 16, or wherever it’s going to end up, they will be a playoff-caliber team. Naturally, Swinney believes that when you get in the playoffs, anything can happen. In the relatively weak ACC, Swinney’s boast could well come true.
Equally important, most national recruiting services have Swinney’s 2025 class ranked inside the Top 5. With the 2024 class ranked outside the Top 10, the current class is much more like Swinney’s great championship hauls of the past.
To conclude, gamblers should never count out Dabo Swinney.