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David Purdum
The point spread for the Texas-Ohio State encounter on Saturday has been decreasing throughout the week, with an important sportsbook shifting the Longhorns from underdogs to favorites on Thursday.
By Friday morning, Ohio State was generally regarded as a 1-point home favorite, with some sportsbooks, such as ESPN BET, coming in at -1.5.
The Buckeyes began as 3-point favorites months back, but sportsbooks have indicated a consistent influx of bets on the Longhorns over the summer, leading to the adjustment of the line towards Texas.
Circa Sportsbook, recognized for appealing to professional bettors, had witnessed enough action on the Longhorns to elevate them to a 1-point favorite on Thursday. Derek Stevens, the proprietor of Circa, mentioned on VSIN that a $550,000 wager on Texas occurred prior to the shift to Longhorns -1. By Friday, the line had reverted to pick ‘em at Circa.
«It appears that the public is influencing the line,» Chris Bennett, sportsbook director at Circa, informed ESPN. «We’ve observed significant interest in Texas, yet not from the typical bettors, referring to a specific group of knowledgeable customers with whom we have extensive experience.»
The Buckeyes haven’t been a home underdog since 2018 against Michigan, and they have only been favored by fewer than three points at Ohio Stadium once since 2012. If the line remains with Ohio State as the favorite, Texas will be the first team ranked No. 1 in the preseason Associated Press Top 25 to open as an underdog.
«The consensus is that Texas is just more seasoned than Ohio State,» commented Ed Salmons, an experienced football oddsmaker for the Westgate SuperBook in Las Vegas. «Arch Manning is viewed as a significantly better quarterback than the Ohio State quarterback [Julian Sayin]. Both are so uncertain, no one truly knows.»
Salmons noted that it became clear during the summer that bettors were backing Texas and that, once the line fell from the initial Ohio State -3, there was a possibility it could shift all the way to Texas being favored.
«Currently, the public favors Texas, but we’ll see on game day,» Salmons stated. «Sometimes you think that, and then suddenly large bets come in for Ohio State. It’s a game that we anticipate will generate a lot of interest.»
The majority of the betting activity, both on the moneyline and spread, favored Texas at Caesars Sportsbook as well, though some of the larger bettors had yet to engage in this prominent matchup of Week 1.
«There hasn’t been significant wise guy activity so far,» remarked Joey Feazel, lead football trader for Caesars Sportsbook. «I think that reflects more on the true unpredictability of this game and not having a clear sense of what to expect from either team. I anticipate we’ll see more action as we approach game time.»
