Clemson’s Shipley Among Most Hyped CFB RBs in America

Few college running backs have generated the buzz that Clemson’s Will Shipley has over the last year, on the back of a 1,100-yard, 15-touchdown campaign and the Tigers’ national title hopes.

The junior from Weddington, N.C. has seen his production out of the backfield spike in his first two years under the Dabo Swinney-coached squad, going from 739 yards on 149 carries (and 11 touchdowns) as a true freshman in 2021 to 1,182 yards and 15 touchdowns on 210 carries a season ago.

With the college football season beginning at the end of August, BetSouthCarolina.com took a beat from South Carolina sports betting and utilized Google Trends to find the college football running backs with the most search interest for the 2023-2024 Season. The results were taken from April 25th to July 25th. The Heisman odds were taken from BetMGM on July 25th.

Auburn RB Jarquez Hunter was removed due to his potential suspension pushing his search interest up.

Most Search Interest For CFB Running Backs For 2023

Rank	Player	Heisman Odds	Search Interests Compared to Other Topics
1	Michigan RB Blake Corum	+4000 (1st RB)	23
2	Penn State RB Nicholas Singleton	+6600 (T-2 RB)	18
T3	Michigan RB Donovan Edwards	+10000 (T-4 RB)	16
T3	Southern Miss RB Frank Gore Jr.	N/A	16
T5	Wisconsin RB Braelon Allen	+8000 (3rd RB)	15
T5	Clemson RB Will Shipley	+6600 (T-2 RB)	15
7	Ole Miss RB Quinshon Judkins	+6600 (T-2 RB)	14
T8	Arkansas RB Raheim Sanders	+15000 (T-6 RB)	13
T8	Notre Dame RB Audric Estime	+15000 (T-6 RB)	13
T8	Baylor RB Richard Reese	NA	13

Clemson’s Shipley Among Most Hyped RBs In CFB

Thanks to Shipley’s dynamic rushing abilities and the Tigers’ stature among national title favorites, there’s no doubt that this fall could be a special one for the South Carolina university.

Oddsmakers at BetMGM Sportsbook certainly see the Tigers as a title favorite, listing Clemson at +1800 (ranking in a tie with the Florida State Seminoles for seventh nationally). Look for a BetMGM South Carolina bonus code when the state launches mobile betting.

The New York sportsbook also has the Tigers at +550 to go undefeated for the first time since 2018 this fall, giving Clemson the third best odds nationally, behind Ohio State (+350) and Michigan (+375).

As far as Shipley’s immediate future is concerned, the junior ranks in a tie with Wisconsin’s Braelon Allen as the fifth most hyped running back in the country, with a search interest score of 15.

Shipley finished behind Michigan’s Blake Corum (23 search interest score), Nicholas Singleton of Penn State (18 score), and Michigan’s Donovan Edwards and Southern Miss running back Frank Gore Jr. (16 score apiece) nationally.