CBS analysts make Clemson-LSU championship predictions

Clemson is an underdog for the first time since the last national championship game.

Brandon Rink - Assoc. Editor / Staff Writer - Monday, December 30 2019

Clemson is back to an underdog role for the first time since its last national championship game appearance.

LSU is currently a 5.5-point favorite but that didn't dissuade a trio of CBS Sports prediction panelists this week.

Jerry Palm, Chip Patterson and Barrett Sallee all like the ACC's Tigers to come out on top at this point, while Dennis Dodd, Tom Fornelli, Barton Simmons and Ben Kercheval are picking the Bayou Bengals.

"Clemson is looking for its second consecutive national championship and its third over a four-year span," Sallee writes. "Swinney's crew has supplanted Alabama as the true dynasty in college football, and it can further cement its spot atop the college football world win a win over LSU. After all, only one family can rule the land ... and right now, it's the team with the paws on their helmets.

"The knock against Clemson all season is that it hasn't played any team of worth. Well, it did on Saturday, digging out of a 16-point hole to find a way to get the job done at the end of a Fiesta Bowl for the ages. 'I think we passed that test,' Lawrence said after the Fiesta Bowl on ESPN."