Serious college football bettors don’t care about the point spread in the College Football Championship between the Oregon Ducks and the Ohio State Buckeyes. 80 percent of serious bettors think the point spread is just wrong, measuring by the wager action. Since it was announced the point spread has been shrinking. Oregon began as a 7.5 point favorite and it’s been bet down to a 5 point favorite. The smart money, in other words, is with the Buckeyes.
What’s really interesting is all the betting action going on the “money line.” That’s when bettors play the game straight without getting points in order to win more money. $100 on OSU at the beginning of the week was paying $260 if you didn’t take the points and the Buckeyes won. Now it’s only worth $175. The huge amount of straight money backing OSU has bookmakers in a tough spot. As Jason Logan writes at covers.com, “It’s a 4:1 ratio of money on the dog, and at plus juice it makes the liability even that much worse.” That means 80% the “sharps” or serious gamblers are picking the Buckeyes straight up. And the bookmakers potentially have a lot to lose if Oregon doesn’t win outright.
