What to bet on today: Early college football line moves
Minnesota suffered its first loss of the season Saturday, but bettors have quickly backed the Gophers to bounce back.
Circa Sports, which has been the first sportsbook to post college football lines all season, opened Minnesota as a 7-point road favorite against Northwestern when lines were released Sunday, and bettors pounced, driving the Gophers up to minus 11 by Sunday night. The number was 12½ at Circa on Monday morning and as high as 13 at other books.
The Gophers (9-1, 6-1 Big Ten), ranked No. 11 in the newest Associated Press poll, lost and failed to cover as 3-point underdogs Saturday at Iowa, falling 23-19. Northwestern (2-8, 0-7) blew out Massachusetts 45-6 in a game that fell right around the closing number, ending up at minus 38½ at some books and minus 39½ at others.
Other Week 13 games that moved quickly from the Circa opener by Sunday night:
— Southern California moved from a 10-point home favorite to minus 13 against UCLA.
— Oregon State moved from a 15½-point road underdog to plus 12½ at Washington State (12 on Monday).
— Alabama-Birmingham moved from a 1-point home favorite to minus 4 over Louisiana Tech (5 on Monday).
— Tennessee moved from a 7-point road underdog to plus 4 at Missouri.
— The total on East Carolina at Connecticut moved from 62½ to 67.
As for UNLV, the Rebels opened as 3½-point home underdogs to San Jose State and moved to plus 4½ by Sunday night.
A quick look at Monday’s betting card:
NFL
Monday Night Football goes to Mexico City, with Kansas City facing off with the Los Angeles Chargers.
The Chiefs had risen to 5-point favorites at some books by Sunday night after sitting at 3½ for much of the week. The total is 53.
Look for a full betting preview of the game later today on reviewjournal.com.
NBA
A nine-game slate includes Los Angeles Clippers forward Paul George’s first game against his former team, Oklahoma City. It is also slated to be George’s first game playing alongside Kawhi Leonard in Los Angeles after being sidelined with a shoulder injury for most of the season.
The Clippers are 9½-point favorites (hitting 10 at some books) with a total of 222.
Other interesting games include San Antonio at Dallas (-4½, 226) and Boston at Phoenix (-3½, 228).
College basketball
A 28-game slate includes UNLV (-10½, 134½) hosting Abilene Christian.
NHL
There are only two games on the ice Monday: Anaheim at Washington (-220, 6 o-115) and Los Angeles at Arizona (-175, 5½).
More Betting: Follow at reviewjournal.com/betting.
Contact Jim Barnes at jbarnes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @JimBarnesLV on Twitter.
