Where the action is: Betting the biggest games of college football Week 2
By ANDREW AVERY
Much like Week 1, you won’t find a ton of marquee matchups on the board this week, but there are some intriguing battles nonetheless. Here’s a look at some of the action coming in on a few of the biggest games on the Week 2 college football board.
Oregon Ducks at Michigan State Spartans – Open: -2.5, Move: -5
In what is the biggest matchup of the day, Sparty will be out for payback as they lost to the Ducks by a score of 46-27 in Oregon early on last season.
The Spartans won their Week 1 game versus Western Michigan by a score of 37-24, but failed to cover as 16.5-point favorites. The Ducks defeated Eastern Washington 61-42, racking up 731 yards in the process, but also failed to cover as 35-point faves in their opener.
According to John Lester of online shop BookMaker.eu, this is one matchup on the Week 2 docket that sharp bettors jumped all over.
“The wiseguys pounced on this as soon as we opened,” Lester. “There has been some buyback after crossing the key number but we have a decent amount of liability with the Spartans.”
Oklahoma Sooners at Tennessee Volunteers – Open: Pick, Move: +2
A pair of Top 25 programs battle it out in a matchup between the Big 12 and SEC as the 23rd-ranked Volunteers host No. 17 Oklahoma.
The teams met last season as the Sooners thumped the Vols by a score of 34-10 with OU covering as a 21-point home favorite. This time around, books opened this game anywhere from a Pick to Vols -1, but a parade of OU money has forced moves since post.
“We opened Oklahoma pick and it’s been all Sooner money since the opener,” says Peter Childs of online shop Sportsbook. “With over 80 percent of the action on Oklahoma, we’ve gone from Okie -1, -1.5, -2 to this morning going to -2 (-115). This is a late, ESPN game so if money keeps coming in on Oklahoma like it has, I wouldn’t be surprised if we get to that magic number of 3.”
At BookMaker, Lester says he has seen solid two-way action at his shop on this matchup.
“We saw the full line swing in this one, opening the Vols as short chalk and now OU is a 1.5-point favorite,” he says. “We’re in a good spot here with fairly split action. I like the home team here.”
LSU Tigers at Mississippi State Bulldogs – Open: +4
LSU will no doubt be out for a little revenge in this matchup after Mississippi State defeated the Tigers 34-29 at Tiger Stadium last season.
The Tigers have dominated this matchup at the betting window, however, posting a record of 4-1 against the spread in the last five meetings and 9-1 ATS in the last 10 meetings at Mississippi State.
“We opened LSU -4 and really haven’t moved off our opener,” Childs. “We have adjusted the odds assigned to the PS, going from LSU -4 -115 to at times dealing Miss St +4 -115. It’s been a very evenly bet game and at this point, we can’t lose money no matter the result.”
That sentiment is different at BookMaker.eu, however, as Lester points out.
“Most of the betting community is down on Mississippi State this year and high on LSU,” Lester. “I think we’ll continue to see Tigers money as the day progresses. An MSU victory would be great for us.”