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College football Week 2 betting insights
Industry insiders give their insights on the top games this week
Week 1 in college football was terrific. It began with Deion Sanders’ Colorado Buffaloes holding on to beat North Dakota State 31-26 (but not covering) as 11.5-point favorites on Thursday night. There were several impressive performances on Saturday as well, such as No. 1 Georgia (-10.5) dominating No. 14 Clemson 34-3 and No. 8 Penn State (-7.5) crushing West Virginia 34-12.
Week 2 brings several intriguing games, headlined by No. 3 Texas as a 7.5-point favorite at No. 10 Michigan in Ann Arbor, Mich. The Wolverines being that big of a home underdog is extremely rare; it hasn’t happened since 2007. Elsewhere, No. 7 Oregon (-19.5 vs. Boise State) will attempt to rebound after a disappointing Week 1 performance against Idaho. And hopes are high in Knoxville, Tenn., as No. 14 Tennessee is an 8.5-point road favorite at No. 24 NC State in a good early-season test for the Volunteers.
Two bookmakers – Thomas Gable, the sportsbook director at The Borgata in Atlantic City, and Seamus Magee, a trader at BetMGM sports – give updates on the betting action, including where the public money and smart money have come in on several games.
Odds listed from DraftKings Sportsbook.
No. 3 Texas (-7.5, 42.5) at No. 10 Michigan
Gable: “Texas opened -6.5, currently sitting -7.5. At 7.5, we are getting some Michigan money. Not sure if we’ll stay there for too much longer, may go back down to 7. Total of 42.5 is down two points from where we opened at 44.5. Nothing too significant there in terms of a decision on a total. I would expect this to be the most heavily-bet game of the day on Saturday. The majority of the tickets are on Texas.”
Magee: “This was between 3.5 and 4 for most of the summer. It’s ballooned to 7.5 and has been one-way traffic on Texas. It’s looking like we’ll need Michigan to cover pretty badly. Mostly sharp action on the total, been bet down a bit. We’re sitting still at 7.5, but -115 on the +7.5 is where the interest on Michigan has started.”
No. 14 Tennessee (-8.5, 61.5) at No. 24 NC State
Gable: “Opened [with Tennessee] laying 7. It’s currently 7.5. This one may be heading to -8. It’s been mostly Tennessee money even though they’re on the road. Another one where the total has gone up from 58.5 at open to 61.”
Magee: “This has been an interesting one all week. Game of the Year line was Tennessee -4.5 earlier in the year; it’s up to -7.5 right now. One-way traffic on Tennessee; it’s hard to find any NC State bets right now. I think a lot of people are excited about the Volunteers QB, Nico Iamaleava. The Wolfpack could be the biggest need of the day on Saturday.”
Colorado at Nebraska (-7.5, 59)
Gable: “Nebraska opened 7-point favorites, currently sitting -7.5. I think you’re going to see this bounce back and forth between those two numbers. When we got to 7.5, we got some Colorado money, but it’s shaping up to be the second-most heavily bet game for us. We are getting more money this week on Colorado than last week, and the majority of tickets are on the Buffs. Second-most bet game of the week.”
Magee: “Another Game of the Year, but this hasn’t moved much from where we had it. It was 7, some 6.5 when it opened. The spread is pretty balanced so far. If people are betting anything, it’s Colorado moneyline. I’d imagine at kickoff, it’ll be a bigger number. Whatever team is playing Colorado [this season], we’re going to need them to win and cover.”
UTSA at Texas State (-1, 64)
Gable: “Another game that’s attracted a decent amount of action. Texas State opened as a 2.5-point favorite. We took some early UTSA money at +2.5, moved it down to +2 and now +1.5, which is where it’s currently sitting. We’re getting some buyback with Texas State; this will probably end up at +2. The total has moved from 60.5 to 64.5, one of the highest totals on the board for Saturday.”
Georgia Southern (-1, 59) at Nevada
Gable: “We opened this Georgia Southern laying 3 on the road, and this is now down to -1.5. We saw early respected Nevada money and some Nevada ML at +115. The total also has moved from 55.5 up to 59.”
Boise State at No. 7 Oregon (-20, 61.5)
Magee: “Oregon is going to be in everyone’s parlay. Everyone is throwing them in moneylines. We opened it -18.5. Sharp money pushed it up to -19.5.”
