Expect Harbaugh, Michigan to run up score against UNLV
No mercy and no tapping out. Jim Harbaugh has returned from the NFL, and in his first season as Michigan football coach, he will be looking to make a bold statement.
Harbaugh, through his cold, crazy eyes, will be looking for confidence-building, ego-inflating blowouts. That’s bad news for UNLV, which is rated as one of the nation’s weakest teams.
The Rebels get thrown to the Wolverines on Sept. 19 in Ann Arbor, Mich., where a former Super Bowl coach is set to step into the cage with Tony Sanchez, who was coaching high school games last fall.
UNLV-Michigan was one of 165 games on the board Friday, when Golden Nugget sports book director Tony Miller opened college football lines on the season’s most intriguing matchups.
“The Rebels are double-digit ’dogs in all six games we put up,” Miller said. “Sanchez is going to be good, but I don’t think it’s going to be this year.”
Even a blowout can be intriguing, because you can bet Harbaugh will want to pound Sanchez into submission. Sanchez is moving up from Bishop Gorman High after years of pounding outmanned Nevada prep opponents into submission. He’s in a different world now.
In the long run, I also expect Sanchez to succeed. He’s a fighter with some of Harbaugh’s competitive characteristics. But he could be in for brutal beatings in his first season.
The Wolverines opened as 33-point favorites over the rebuilding Rebels. In a Sept. 12 matchup at Sam Boyd Stadium, UCLA is a 32-point favorite over UNLV. The good news for Sanchez is the rest of the schedule is not as rough.
The Golden Nugget book was flooded with action on what would have been an otherwise dry, boring day in late June. In an annual tradition, Miller opened the lines and allowed bettors to take swings with a wagering limit of $1,000 a pop. Who cares if football season is more than two months away?
After weeks of research, Miller and his top oddsmaker, Aaron Kessler, locked themselves in an office Thursday with handicapper Bruce Marshall of The Gold Sheet to debate and decide on the numbers. Most of their lines look solid, but some will prove to be way off, and sharp bettors are always searching for the soft spots.
Here is one example: Boise State opened as a 6-point favorite over Brigham Young on Sept. 12, and money on the home underdog dropped the line five points to minus-1.
Ohio State, which rolled over Alabama and Oregon to win the national championship in January, is the No. 1 power-rated team, according to Miller, Kessler and most everyone else. It’s not cheap to back the Buckeyes.
“The only stumbling block I can see is maybe Michigan State. That’s a team that is going to give Ohio State some trouble,” Miller said. “I don’t think any other team can beat them.”
The Buckeyes opened as 14-point home favorites over the Spartans on Nov. 21, and the line was bet to 12½. Michigan State returns senior quarterback Connor Cook and another strong run defense.
No team has a better quarterback depth chart than Ohio State, with J.T. Barrett, Cardale Jones and Braxton Miller doing battle for the starting spot. Urban Meyer is 38-3 in his first three seasons as coach.
In the explosive Harbaugh-Meyer showdown on Nov. 28, the Buckeyes opened as 16-point road favorites before money on the Wolverines dropped the line to 13.
“That’s the one game Harbaugh is going to be really jacked up for with a chance to ruin Ohio State’s shot at another national championship,” Miller said.
Texas Christian, off a 12-1 season and led by senior quarterback Trevone Boykin, power rates as Miller’s No. 2 team, just ahead of Alabama and Baylor.
On the other end of the world, UNLV’s regular-season win total opened at 2½ at the Golden Nugget and CG Technology books in Las Vegas. The Rebels, 2-11 last season, have a reasonable shot to beat three opponents — Idaho State, San Jose State and Hawaii — on their home field.
Miller opened UNLV as a 14-point ’dog at UNR on Oct. 3, and the line was bet to 15½. The Rebels are getting 12 points at Fresno State, 28½ points against Boise State and 16 points against San Diego State. Sanchez appears in for a long season, and he’s starting from the bottom.
In ESPN’s college football preview magazine, UNLV is ranked No. 125 of 128 teams. Michigan, 5-7 last season, is ranked No. 25.
“We all have a big opinion on Michigan,” Miller said. “Harbaugh is worth about five or six points himself. He’s going to have that team fired up for every game. He’s a winner everywhere he goes.”
The San Francisco 49ers’ loss is a big gain for the Wolverines.
Las Vegas Review-Journal sports betting columnist Matt Youmans can be reached at myoumans@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2907. He co-hosts “The Las Vegas Sportsline” weekdays at 2 p.m. on ESPN Radio (1100 AM). Follow him on Twitter: @mattyoumans247.