2015 College Football: Week 9 Opening Line Report

2015 College Football: Week 9 Opening Line Report

North Carolina at Pittsburgh: This may not have been a marquee matchup at the beginning of the year but both teams are 6-1 and sit atop the ACC Coastal Division. During the preseason Pitt was +3000 to win the ACC while UNC was +2100, but both teams have a great chance now as Miami-FL and Georgia Tech have woefully underperformed this season. Bookmakers still believe UNC is the better team, opening -1 around most the market. Public betting has been fairly split so far but UNC has already moved to -2.5/-3, likely due to respected money on the Tar Heels. This game kicks off at 7 pm ET on Thursday night, so it’s no surprise that this is one of the most-bet games of the week already.

Florida vs. Georgia: In what is known as the “World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party”, the Bulldogs and Gators traditionally meet on netural turf in Jacksonville, FL. The Gators have actually been the more impressive side this year and opened -3.5 at both CRIS and 5Dimes. However, 60% of early bets are taking Georgia which has helped bring the line down to -3 and -2.5 around the market. This game could ultimately determine who makes the SEC title game, with Florida at 4-1 in conference play and Georgia at 3-2, so there’s a lot on the line once again in this rivalry.

Notre Dame at Temple: Here’s another game that we wouldn’t have pegged as a “marquee” matchup before the year, but Temple is off to a 7-0 start, its best in school history. Notre Dame opened -11.5 at BetOnline, -10.5 at Pinnacle, and -9.5 at CRIS, but now most of the market has settled on -10 for the time being. The majority of early bets has come in on the Irish and they’re still undoubtedly the stronger team, but Temple getting double-digits at home has clearly been appealing for bettors which has brought the line down.

USC at California: This line has been all over the place depending on the sportsbook. Here’s a look at how the matchup opened at three prominent books and where the current line stands (Keep in mind BetOnline opened first, then Pinnacle, then CRIS):

The public was against USC last week against Utah but sharp money on the Trojans and an easy cover has completely changed the views of bettors. This week USC is getting more than 2/3 of early bets at Cal, who are coming off a blowout loss at UCLA last Thursday. It will be intriguing to see how sharp bettors feel about USC this week, as there may be some value on Cal if they get up to +7.

As always, we recommend keeping up with all the latest line moves and betting percentages over at our Free Live Odds page.