Clemson vs. Wake Forest score prediction by an expert football model

ACC football returns this weekend when No. 10 Clemson hits the road Saturday in a conference matchup against Wake Forest in Week 7 of college football. Let’s look at the latest prediction for the game, made by an expert model that determines the winners.

Clemson has won five straight games since its season-opening loss to Georgia behind an offensive renaissance led by quarterback Cade Klubnik, scoring a total of 194 points and advancing to contention for the ACC Conference championship this season.

Wake Forest comes into the game 1-1 in ACC play and 2-3 overall, but won a close decision against NC State last weekend and is ranked in the top 30 nationally in passing but operates behind a scoring defense that ranks 105th nationally and allows 31 points per game on average.

What does the analysis suggest for this ACC conference matchup?

To do that, let’s turn to the SP+ prediction model to preview how Clemson and Wake Forest will fare in this Week 7 college football game.

As expected, the models favor the Tigers over the Demon Deacons in this game.

SP+ projects Clemson to defeat Wake Forest by a projected score of 36-21 and win the game by a projected margin of 15 points.

The model gives the Tigers a strong 83 percent chance of winning overall.

SP+ is a “pace- and opponent-adjusted measure of college football efficiency” that attempts to predict game outcomes by measuring “the most sustained and predictable aspects of football.”

How good is it this season? So far the SP+ model is 154-141-3 against the spread with a win ratio of 52.2.

According to FanDuel Sportsbook, Clemson is a 20.5-point favorite against Wake Forest.

FanDuel lists the total score for the game at 61.5 points.

And the moneyline odds for the overall win were -1400 for Clemson and +800 for Wake Forest.

If you use this prediction to bet on the game, you should…

A slim majority of bettors believe Clemson will get the better of Wake, according to the latest spread consensus recommendations.

About 53 percent of bets currently assume the Tigers will win the game and cover the spread.

And the remaining 47 percent of bets predict the Demon Deacons will either win in an upset or, more likely, keep the game within reason.

Other analysis models also favor the Tigers in this conference duel.

This includes the College Football Power Index, a computer prediction model that uses data points from both teams to simulate games 20,000 times to determine winners.

Clemson is expected to win outright in the overwhelming 87.5 percent of the FPI computer’s recent simulations.

That leaves Wake Forest as the expected winner in the remaining 12.5 percent of Sims.

According to the model’s latest projection, Clemson is expected to be 17.5 points better than Wake Forest on the same field with the current makeup of both teams.

Clemson is second among ACC teams with a 36.8 percent chance of qualifying for the College Football Playoff and will win 9.6 games this season, according to FPI data.

This model gives Wake a win projection of 4 games overall and a 10.8 percent chance of winning a bowl game.

More… Clemson vs. Wake Prediction: What the Analytics Say

When: Sat., Oct. 12
Time: 12pm Eastern
TV: ESPN Network

More… Clemson vs. Wake Forest Prediction: Who Will Win and Why?

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The game odds are updated regularly and are subject to change.

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