Deion’s Buffs getting more bets than NFL games

• David Purdum, ESPN Personnel WriterSep 8, 2023, 11:47 AM ET

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  • Signed up with ESPN in 2014
  • Journalist covering betting industry since 2008

Sportsbooks were noticing something unusual heading into the very first NFL weekend of the season: a college football game involving two long shots was the most popular bet on the board.Sportsbook operator BetMGM reported Friday that Colorado-Nebraska had actually attracted more bets than every staying NFL game in Week 1– a rarity, according to bookmakers, particularly for a matchup that didn’t look overly attractive before the year.The bulk of the betting action, upwards of 90%

, was on the preferred Buffaloes. At PointsBet/Fanatics, more cash had actually been bet on Colorado minus the points versus the Cornhuskers than had actually been banked on 30 NFL teams, with just the Kansas City Chiefs and Detroit Lions, who played Thursday, amassing more assistance from bettors.Editor’s Picks 2 Associated The Buffaloes were agreement 2.5-point house favorites over Nebraska on Friday,

a line that has actually moved drastically since the summer season, when sportsbooks had the Cornhuskers listed as 9-point favorites over Colorado. But after disturbing TCU recently as 21-point underdogs, coach Deion Sanders and the Buffaloes are the betting public’s darlings. “Each time I have actually glanced at the college football ticker because Saturday, I have seen a line of Colorado bets, “Joey Feazel, lead college football trader for Caesars Sportsbook, told ESPN.”The action has actually been crazy.”The buzz surrounding the Buffaloes at sportsbooks started in the offseason, as Sanders revamped the roster. It went to another level after the upset of TCU. Bets on two-way star Travis Hunter and quarterback Shedeur Sanders to win the Heisman Trophy have actually poured in at sportsbooks this week, triggering remarkable line movement. Hunter has moved from 80-1 to 16-1; Sanders has gone from 100-1 to 22-1 at Caesars Sportsbook.Colorado-Nebraska is by far the biggest wagering game on a college football slate that consists of Texas at Alabama. At PointsBet/Fanatics, more money had actually been bet on just Colorado than had actually been banked on the Texas-Alabama point spread in general. And at DraftKings, approximately twice as much money had actually been on Colorado-Nebraska as had actually been bet on any other college game.Ethan Useloff, a trader for PointsBet/Fanatics, stated getting in the season, there had actually been more bets on Colorado, a 100-1 long shot, to win the championship game than powerhouses such as Ohio State and Georgia.”They are being backed as

if they were one of the favorites to win everything, “Useloff informed ESPN.