LAS VEGAS – In early Week 6 college football betting action at The Wynn sports book in Las Vegas, five games have already seen favorites become underdogs after opening lines were released there on Sunday, as the public has stated their strong opinion in support of the Miami Hurricanes, Army Black Knights, Stanford Cardinal, Mississippi State Bulldogs and Rutgers Scarlet Knights. According to Johnny Avello, The Wynn’s Executive Director of Race & Sports Operations, many bettors are wagering based on what they last saw with these teams while some are simply fading their opponents.
Rutgers is the perfect example hosting a Michigan Wolverines team that opened as 1.5-point road favorites at The Wynn for Saturday’s Big Ten matchup. The Scarlet Knights have since moved to -3 as bettors seem to have jumped ship on the Wolverines after they were blown out 30-14 by Minnesota at home last week as 10-point favorites.
“I know the Michigan team, things aren’t going well right now, but you make the Rutgers the favorite over them?” Avello told The Linemakers on Sporting News on Monday. “It seems weird, doesn’t it? This line is coming back, I’m telling you that right now. This is just an overreaction to who’s playing well now, as far as win-loss records are concerned. I wouldn’t be surprised if this game comes all the way back to Michigan close to the favorite.”
A big game in the ACC on Saturday opened with the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets as 3-point home favorites only to see bettors back their opponent Miami, now 1.5-point road chalk. The Hurricanes have won the last five meetings with Georgia Tech both straight-up and against the spread.
“Georgia Tech I guess has done everything you can ask of them so far, they’re 4-0,” Avello said. “I guess the only negative I can find on them is that they don’t beat Miami. They haven’t beaten Miami in quite some time.
“Maybe Miami’s win last week over Duke impressed the bettors. I know there were a lot of people who didn’t think they could get that win against Duke. They thought that would be a tough game.”
A couple other marquee matchups on Saturday have seen roles reversed from favorite to underdog, with the Texas A&M Aggies going from road favorites to underdogs and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish moving from home chalk to dogs. Stanford visits South Bend for the annual rivalry game with Notre Dame and opened +1, but early wagering has made the Cardinal a 1.5-point road favorite.
“That game’s hovering either way,” Avello said. “That game has switched sides a few times. These guys meet every year, Notre Dame has beaten this team only one out of the last five. I’m kind of impressed with the way Notre Dame’s played so far. Stanford’s defense has been great. (Brian) Kelly and (David) Shaw are both very good coaches. I guess it’s right where it should be.”
Meanwhile, the Aggies opened -1.5 at Mississippi State, but the public likes the Bulldogs, who were 1.5-point home favorites to win this huge SEC showdown at The Wynn on Monday afternoon. Both teams are unbeaten, and Texas A&M has won the last two meetings by a combined 35 points.
“Mississippi State’s been great so far,” Avello said. “They’ve had a week off after the LSU win. That was a huge game for them. Their other games they scored a lot of points, defensively they’ve been solid. It’s a good spot for them. With that being said, this Texas A&M team, they seem to be pulling that Houdini act. I think Arkansas probably had them last week, they end up winning that game.
“This is a tough call again, this game could swing back to A&M the favorite at some point. So I think it will just keep hovering, just like the Notre Dame game, back and forth maybe.”
Finally, Army opened as a 1.5-point home underdog against the Ball State Cardinals. But the Black Knights were -3 at The Wynn as of Monday afternoon. Avello said there’s one reason he opened Army as a home dog.
“Army lost to Harvard last week,” he said. “If they didn’t lose to Harvard last week, I may have opened that game differently. But that game convinced me that Army’s not too good.”
Other notable Week 6 college football line moves
-- Louisville from -6.5 down to -3 at Syracuse on Friday
-- BYU from -14.5 up to -17.5 vs. Utah State at home on Friday
-- Ohio State from -10 down to -7.5 at Maryland on Saturday
-- West Virginia from -20 up to -25.5 vs. Kansas at home on Saturday
-- Toledo from -12.5 down to -6.5 at Western Michigan on Saturday
-- South Carolina from -10 down to -6 vs. Kentucky at home on Saturday
-- USC from -7.5 up to -11 vs. Arizona State at home on Satuday
-- Baylor from -12.5 up to -15.5 at Texas on Saturday
-- Louisiana Tech from -9 up to -12 vs. UTEP at home on Saturday
-- Georgia Southern from -14.5 up to -17.5 at New Mexico State on Saturday
Check out Week 6's opening lines in the document below:
College football opening lines, Week 6
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