Colorado, Deion still draw strong betting interest
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David Purdum, ESPN Staff WriterAug 27, 2024, 09:36 AM ET
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- Joined ESPN in 2014
- Reporter covering gambling market since 2008
The betting interest on Deion Sanders’ Colorado Buffaloes early last season was extraordinary, bookmakers state, and it appears to be occurring again.College football kicks into high gear this week with a slate featuring openers in between perennial powers such as Georgia-Clemson, Notre Dame-Texas A&M and LSU-USC. However to start the week, the game that has drawn in the most wagering interest at DraftKings was North Dakota State-Colorado. The Buffaloes, entering their second season under Sanders, are big long shots again, noted at 200-1 to win the national championship at ESPN BET, but they remain popular with the betting public. BetMGM reported that entering the season it would lose more money on Colorado winning the national championship than any other team, other than Ohio State. A$10,000 bet on the Buffaloes, at 25-1, to win the Huge 12 in their very first year in the conference is among the notable early action on Colorado at BetMGM.Still, bookmakers say the early banking on the Buffaloes this season, while elevated, isn’t at the exact same level as last season. Steve Mikkelson, who has remained in the bookmaking industry since 1987, said he had actually never seen the wagering public fall for a college football long shot like it finished with the Buffaloes early last season. “It shocked me, to be honest,”Mikkelson told ESPN.Editor’s Picks 2 Related
The frenzy lasted the very first 4 weeks of last season, producing NFL-sized betting manages and golden opportunities for professional wagerers. Colorado opened with an upset of TCU as 21-point underdogs, a game that resulted in one the most significant losses of the season for sportsbooks.” Each week, they were our most significant liability,” Cameron Drucker, senior trader for BetMGM, stated. “It’s the first that’s occurred in
a while, where one team was so publicly wager each and every single week.”Colorado followed it up with a win over Nebraska in a game that attracted more money from wagerers than a lot of NFL Week 1 contests, a rarity according
to bookies.”We didn’t get that worried, but once they beat Nebraska, then it resembled,’Whoa, hold it a 2nd, ‘” stated Mikkelson, who oversees the odds for BetMonarch sportsbooks, which operate in Colorado.The Buffaloes ‘run would concern a crashing halt two weeks later on. After a remarkable overtime win versus Colorado State, the Buffaloes headed to No. 10 Oregon at 3-0 and with overwhelming support from the wagering public. So much cash was bet on Colorado to beat the Ducks straight-up as a 21-point underdog that some sportsbooks started providing discount rates to wagerers happy to back the Ducks.Oregon won 42-6. The Buffaloes return a more skilled lineup this season, highlighted by quarterback Shedeur Sanders and two-way star Travis Hunter. Sanders and Hunter, at 30-1 and 50-1 respectively, are amongst the most-heavily-bet players to win the
Heisman Prize at some sportsbooks.”It is difficult to say if they’ll be as big as last year, but it’s at least trending to [Colorado] being among our greatest liabilities up until now, “Tucker said.Colorado is a 9.5-point preferred over North Dakota State in its opener Thursday(8 p.m.
, ESPN ).