The bulk of the money was on the underdog Tigers, who scored a touchdown with one second left in the fourth quarter to upend Alabama 35-31.
It cost William Hill a seven-figure loss and was the "single worst loss on any game ever" for the company.
"It was as bad as a result as humanly possible," William Hill director of trading Nick Bogdanovich, a veteran Las Vegas bookmaker, told ESPN on Tuesday morning.
Bill Sattler, director of specialty games for Caesars Entertainment, said Clemson winning in a high-scoring game produced "the worst loss in any college football game I can remember."
The majority of sports books were heavy on Clemson throughout the week. The money started coming in on the Tigers shortly after they demolished Ohio State on New Year's Eve. At the Westgate SuperBook, out of the first $11,020 that was wagered on the national championship game's money line, $11,000 of it was on Clemson. The orange money never slowed down, leaving sportsbooks rooting for Alabama. Out of 12 sportsbooks -- in Las Vegas and in the Caribbean -- not one of them said they needed for Dabo Swinney's team. They were all Crimson Tide fans.
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