Wagerallsports
- Joined
- Mar 6, 2018
- Messages
- 64,560
College football win totals: Hopes not high for Coach Prime, Belichick
LV REVIEW JOURNAL SUBSCRIPTIONBettors were all over Colorado the past two seasons under coach Deion Sanders, quarterback Shedeur Sanders and two-way star Travis Hunter.
The Buffaloes rewarded their backers by eclipsing their season win totals each year and posting one of the nation’s best records against the spread at 16-8-1.
But bettors appear to be jumping off the Buffs bandwagon now that Hunter, the reigning Heisman Trophy winner, and Shedeur Sanders are in the NFL.
Sharp bettors at STN Sports have wagered on Colorado to go under 6½ wins (-125) this season, and the total is 6 (over-125) at Circa Sports.
“We took some scalper bets on over 6 and the juice has gone up a little there,” Circa college football oddsmaker Connor Hower said. “Shedeur was a guy that was playing at a pretty high level for the Big 12 conference and Travis Hunter was probably the best player in the sport. I would expect them to take a pretty big drop-off just honestly (based) on those two.”
Red Rock Resort sportsbook director Chuck Esposito said STN Sports also has taken sharp bets on Oklahoma over 6½, Texas Tech over 8½, Kansas under 7½ and Central Florida under 6½. Oklahoma is 7 and Central Florida is 5½ at Circa.
Chapel Bill
There isn’t any betting buzz around North Carolina in its first season under coach Bill Belichick. The 73-year-old has attracted more attention for his much younger girlfriend, 24-year-old Jordon Hudson, than for doing his job with the Tar Heels. North Carolina has a win total of 7½ (u-125) and is in the middle of the pack in the ACC.
“The ACC’s weird just because the middle to bottom of that conference is weak and a little unpredictable, in terms of major conference teams, and … North Carolina is kind of in that mix,” Hower said. “I don’t really know what to expect from them this season but I have them rated as a very, very average college football team.”
Double-digit win totals
Defending national champion Ohio State and Oregon have the highest win totals at Circa at 10½, with each shaded to the under.
“I have Oregon (rated) a little closer to 10,” Hower said. “They’ll probably have one game that will be lined within a field goal either way.
“They’re bringing in a new quarterback is the main thing. We’ll see how close they can replicate their offense of last year.”
Dante Moore is expected to replace Dillon Gabriel at quarterback for the Ducks, who Hower expects to be short underdogs at Penn State in Week 5. Oregon also has what Hower called “potentially losable games” at Iowa and Washington and at home against USC.
The Buckeyes open the season Aug. 30 as 3-point home favorites over Texas.
“That’s obviously a game that they can lose, but they get them at home,” Hower said. “Both those teams are breaking in a lot.”
Julian Sayin is expected to replace Will Howard at quarterback for Ohio State, while Heisman Trophy favorite Arch Manning will replace Quinn Ewers under center for the Longhorns.
The Buckeyes also will host the Nittany Lions and have road games at Washington and Michigan.
Penn State and Notre Dame are the only other teams in double digits at 10, with each shaded to the over.
“Penn State, Oregon and Ohio State are all very close, especially this far out,” Hower said. “The only reason Penn State is on 10 and the others are 10½ is Penn State has to play both Oregon and Ohio State, where the other two only have to play (Penn State).”
CJ Carr is expected to replace Riley Leonard at quarterback for the Fighting Irish, who open the season with games against Miami (Florida) and Texas A&M and also host Boise State and USC.
“Riley Leonard did so much for them and he just made it work,” Hower said. “They will probably experience a drop-off on offense just not having him back there. They have lots of capable opponents.”
SEC shuffle
Circa has four teams at 9½ in Georgia (o-180), Texas (o-150), Alabama (u-120) and defending ACC champion Clemson (o-140).
“I have Ohio State, Oregon, Penn State, Georgia, Alabama and Texas roughly within two points of each other at this point in the offseason,” Hower said. “Texas, Georgia and Alabama are the clear top three teams in the SEC.”
