Vegas wise guys haven’t forgotten just how good Urban Meyer is at covering the pointspread.
Respect for the Buckeyes was one of the storylines Monday, as the Golden Nugget sportsbook in Las Vegas released pointspreads on 111 college football games. Meyer enters his first season as Ohio State head coach with the best record against the spread of any coach in the nation. He went a combined 71-43-1 against the spread at Florida (39-30-2 ATS), Utah (20-4 ATS) and Bowling Green (12-9-1 ATS).
The Nugget opened the Buckeyes as three-point home underdogs against Michigan on Nov. 24, but received enough bets to move the line all the way to a Pick ‘em within hours. The Buckeyes also received action for their Oct. 27th road trip to Happy Valley. Ohio State opened as a 3-point favorite, but was favored by 5.5 over Penn State by early Monday afternoon.
BeyondtheBets.com has a handy list of the day’s biggest line moves.
The release of the Golden Nugget’s College Football Game of the Year lines has grown into quite the spectacle, with Las Vegas professional gamblers lining up to get a whack at some of the first pointspreads available. These aren’t your normal bar-room bettors. These are guys with rolls of $100 bills tucked into the elastic waist bands of their pans. Bets are limited to $1,000, and the action is fast and furious.
Kessler told Micah Roberts of VegasInsider.com that he booked 100 bets in the first hour after the lines were posted at 10 a.m. Vegas time. This was the sixth straight year Nugget sportsbook director Tony Miller and Kessler posted lines on games that won’t kick off in some cases for six months. Navy is a 4.5-point favorite over Army on Dec. 8.
LSU opened as a 2-point favorite for its Nov. 2 showdown against Alabama in Baton Rouge. The Crimson Tide began as 12-point favorites in the opener agaisnt Michigan, but the line dropped to -10. Southern Cal, a trendy national title pick, is a 6-point home favorite over Oregon on Nov. 6.
Read on for the complete list of opening numbers, courtesy of BeyondtheBets.com.
FRIDAY, AUG. 31
Boise State at Michigan State -6.5
SATURDAY, SEPT. 1
Michigan vs. Alabama -12
Notre Dame -13.5 vs. Navy
Marshall at West Virginia -20
Clemson -2.5 vs. Auburn
SUNDAY, SEPT. 2
Kentucky at Louisville -11.5
Colorado -6 vs. Colorado State
THURSDAY, SEPT. 6
Pittsburgh at Cincinnati -5
SATURDAY, SEPT. 8
USC -21 vs. Syracuse
Washington at LSU -21
Oklahoma State -9.5 at Arizona
Miami at Kansas State -7
Iowa State at Iowa -5
Georgia -3 at Missouri
Florida at Texas A&M -1
Nebraska -6.5 at UCLA
FRIDAY, SEPT. 14
Washington State -17.5 at UNLV
SATURDAY, SEPT. 15
USC -10 at Stanford
Alabama -6.5 at Arkansas
Notre Dame at Michigan State -3
Florida -5 at Tennessee
SATURDAY, SEPT. 22
Kansas State at Oklahoma -16
Michigan at Notre Dame -1
LSU -10.5 at Auburn
Clemson at Florida State -8
Missouri at South Carolina -5
California at USC -24
SATURDAY, SEPT. 29
Ole Miss at Alabama -31
Texas at Oklahoma State -3.5
Tennessee at Georgia -13.5
Ohio State at Michigan State -4.5
Wisconsin at Nebraska -3
Arkansas -2.5 at Texas A&M
Baylor at West Virginia -11
THURSDAY, OCT. 4
USC -16 at Utah
SATURDAY, OCT. 6
Washington at Oregon -20
Notre Dame -9.5 vs. Miami
West Virginia at Texas -4.5
LSU -7.5 at Florida
Arkansas -4.5 at Auburn
Kansas at Kansas State -20
Nebraska at Ohio State -2
Georgia -2.5 at South Carolina
SATURDAY, OCT. 13
Texas vs. Oklahoma -6
USC -17 at Washington
Alabama -14.5 at Missouri
Stanford at Notre Dame -5
Nevada -17 at UNLV
SATURDAY, OCT. 20
UNLV at Boise State -35.5
Colorado at USC -36
Alabama -17 at Tennessee
BYU at Notre Dame -10
Baylor at Texas -11
LSU -8 at Texas A&M
Stanford -4 at Cal
South Carolina at Florida -4
Florida State -10 at Miami
Michigan State at Michigan -6
Kansas State at West Virginia -7.5
FRIDAY, OCT. 26
Cincinnati at Louisville -3.5
SATURDAY, OCT. 27
USC -14 at Arizona
Mississippi State at Alabama -24
Notre Dame at Oklahoma -12
Texas A&M at Auburn -3
Michigan -2 at Nebraska
TCU at Oklahoma State -9
Ohio State -3 at Penn State
Tennessee at South Carolina -7.5
Michigan State at Wisconsin -5
Florida vs. Georgia -4.5
THURSDAY, NOV. 1
Virginia Tech -6.5 at Miami
SATURDAY, NOV. 3
Alabama at LSU -2
Oregon at USC -6
Pittsburgh at Notre Dame -13
Missouri at Florida -5.5
Oklahoma State at Kansas State -1
Nebraska at Michigan State -5
TCU at West Virginia -7
THURSDAY, NOV. 8
Florida State at Virginia Tech -1
SATURDAY, NOV. 10
Arizona State at USC -27
Texas A&M at Alabama -20
Baylor at Oklahoma -17
Notre Dame -12 at Boston College
Mississippi State at LSU -17
Georgia -6 at Auburn
West Virginia at Oklahoma State -6.5
Arkansas -3 at South Carolina
Kansas State at TCU -3.5
Missouri at Tennessee -1
Pittsburgh -2.5 at Connecticut
SATURDAY, NOV. 17
USC -16 at UCLA
Stanford at Oregon -13.5
Oklahoma -4 at West Virginia
Ole Miss at LSU -26
Ohio State at Wisconsin -7
FRIDAY, NOV. 23
LSU -3 at Arkansas
Arizona State at Arizona -5.5
Washington at Washington State -3
SATURDAY, NOV. 24
Notre Dame at USC -14
Auburn at Alabama -18
Oregon -16 at Oregon State
Oklahoma State at Oklahoma -8
TCU at Texas -7.5
South Carolina at Clemson -4
Florida at Florida State -7.5
Mississippi State -10 at Ole Miss
Michigan -3 at Ohio State
Missouri at Texas A&M -3
SATURDAY, DEC. 1
Oklahoma -10 at TCU
Texas -3 at Kansas State
SATURDAY, DEC. 8
Army vs. Navy -4.5
