Even though top ten teams continue to roll (6-4 ATS last weekend, 22-5 ATS the last three weekend and 44-18 ATS on the season), sportsbooks offshore are reporting a great college football Saturday. In the case of BetOnline, Dave Mason reports, "Very profitable college football weekend for us. Biggest by far, not only this year, but in the history of the company!" Almost across the board I am hearing that college overall was great for the sportsbooks even though they still can't get over the Alabama and Stanford hump of those teams covering once again. On the NFL side, I am hearing everything from small loss or as the folks at Sports Interaction put it, "very tough Sunday". Considering the Saints and the over cashed with ease for bettors, Stevie Wonder could see another prime-time favorite/over in the NFL is not a good way to end the weekend. Every shop I checked in with said they need the Jaguars for their "balls" tonight. So let us get recap the weekend and look ahead below:
NFL results that made the books the most money Sunday:
*Vikings was a MAJOR win for the books.
*Jets
College Football teams that cashed for the sportsbooks on Saturday:
*Michigan State helped sides, teasers and moneyline Wisconsin bets.
*West Virginia
*Duke
*LSU
What NFL teams cost them money Sunday:
*Saints. Prime-time favorite and the over. Covered game, 1st half and 2nd half. Never a good thing for the books.
*Some shops reporting they had good action on the Falcons over the Lions on both the side and in teasers.
*Steelers
Worst CFB result:
*Alabama and Stanford killed many books on Saturday.
"Our BEST CFB week so far but a tough week for NFL. Need Jacksonville HUGE to cover tonight"
-Sports Interaction
NFL early betting action for this week:
*Patriots over the Steelers game is where all the money is coming in on, with a distant second being the Giants over the Dolphins.
"There is four times more money on the Patriots-Steelers game than any other game on this weekend’s NFL betting board."
--Offshore Bookmaker
CFB early action for this week:
*They are not even playing this weekend, but the LSU-Alabama showdown is getting all the attention.
*Even though they are both dogs, early money coming in on Kansas State and USC.
"We opened LSU-Bama last night (first in industry I think). Opened Bama -6.5. Moved down to 4 overnight and currently sits at 5.5. The game isn’t til next week but everyone is betting the early line (mostly LSU action). In fact, there is more money on this game than any other game on THIS week’s college schedule. Additionally, there is more money on this than ever game on Week 8 NFL schedule except Pats-Steelers. Crazy eh?"
-BetOnline
Interesting notes:
*Top 10 Teams Killing Bookies!
*(Based on the AP poll the week the game was played)
*Top 10 teams are . . .
*6-4 ATS last weekend
*22-5 ATS the last three weekends
*44-18 ATS on the season
*33-5 ATS when teams were favored by 27 or less points
*18-1 ATS for teams ranked #6, #7, or #8
*Non-Top 10 teams favored by 20 or more points are only 52-50 ATS on the season.
(ATS stands for “against the spread”)
(4 games in which Top 10 teams played each other are disregarded)
(1 game was a point-spread TIE (aka: a push))
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