Early Point Spreads Show Why Sooners a Playoff Favorite
The Golden Nugget last week released lines on its college football games of the year, an annual rite of summer signaling that the season itself isn't that far away.
The point spreads on Oklahoma's games tell the story of why the Sooners are seen as one of the consensus favorites to make the College Football Playoff for the second year in a row: OU is no less than a 6.5-point in each of the listed games.
Point Spreads for Oklahoma's Games of the Year
Sept. 17: Ohio State at Oklahoma (-6.5)
Oct. 1: Oklahoma (-8) at TCU
Oct. 8: Texas vs Oklahoma (-12)
Nov. 19: Oklahoma (-9.5) at West Virginia
Dec. 3: Oklahoma State at Oklahoma (-9.5)
I’ll have a podcast coming in the next few days with Tony Miller, who runs the Golden Nugget sportsbook. In the meantime, a few observations:
*I didn't see anything that really surprised me regarding OU. Looking back at my projected lines, everything fell pretty much right in line with what I expected.
Oklahoma State appears to be earning more respect from the oddsmakers than I anticipated. On the other hand, the TCU line ended up a little higher than I expected.
*With everything going on at Baylor right now, it makes sense that Vegas would hold off on posting lines for the Bears.
*LSU and Florida State join the Sooners as the only other teams favored in every game.
Interestingly, most of the online books have installed the Tigers as somewhere around a three-point favorite over Alabama, one of the more eye-catching spreads on the board. ‘Bama is also a slight underdog at Tennessee this season. Sounds to me like a potential shift may be coming to the top of the SEC this year.
*The spreads lend credence to the idea of a Pac-12 bloodbath in the fall. Plenty of tight spreads to go around – it would appear as though most of the intraconference games’ lines lie at four points or fewer.
*My favorite bet on the board might just be Wisconsin getting six points when the Badgers host Ohio State on Oct. 15. Wisky has a bye the week preceding the game, and with one notable exception, the Badgers always seem to play the Buckeyes tough.