2015 College Football: Week 8 Opening Line Report
Utah at USC: Public bettors are definitely sold on this Utah team, as the 6-0 Utes are getting 71% of early bets as 3.5 point dogs at USC. Trendy underdogs are not profitable over time, but bettors on Michigan State last week don’t care too much about that trend. Despite going just 3-3 so far this year, USC has the all-around talent to compete with anyone in the nation, which is why they’re still favored over an undefeated Utah team. It’s also worth noting that the lookahead line over the summer was USC -7 so there was already a perception from sportsbooks that USC would be better than Utah. Public bettors will likely bring this line back down to 3 but sharps will probably take advantage of anything below.
Tennessee at Alabama: Alabama opened -14 at most books but that was far too low of a line, as they’re already up to -15.5 at CRIS and -16.5 at 5Dimes. It’s a bit surprising that public betting is relatively even after an impressive few weeks from Alabama but Tennessee could be a 6-0 team if not for late game collapses, so that’s probably part of the reason why the public is split on this game. Tennessee has only covered in 2 of the last 8 games vs. Alabama and an early move from -14 to -16.5 is almost entirely due to sharp money, but there may be value on the Volunteers if they reach +17.
Clemson at Miami FL: Clemson has had some “big” wins this season, already defeating Louisville, Notre Dame, and Georgia Tech, but this will be their biggest test on the road thus far. The Tigers opened -4.5 at CRIS and -5.5 at Pinnacle but both books have moved them to -7 already behind nearly 2/3 of bets on Clemson. Miami certainly has the talent to spring the upset and this is already one of the most bet games of the weekend. We wouldn’t count on this line going above -7 and if it does, sharps will likely pounce on the home underdog.
Memphis at Tulsa: Memphis will finally start getting some national recognition after beating Ole Miss at home last week. This game is another perfect example of the importance of knowing where a line originated: At CRIS, Memphis opened -10 and moved all the way to -12.5 before settling down to -11.5 this morning. However, at 5Dimes Memphis opened -12 and fell to -11. So far over 70% of bettors are taking Memphis but there seems to be some sharp money on both sides at the different sportsbooks. Here’s a look at the betting timeline at CRIS so far, but members can choose to look at complete timelines for 5Dimes, Pinnacle, and The Greek using the dropdown menu:
As always, we recommend checking our Free Live Odds page for the latest line moves, betting percentages, breaking injuries, market news and more.
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