Sports betting roundup: Close games in all sports make for betting excitement

Updated Oct. 7, 2024 12:08 p.m. ET

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Exciting baseball playoff games, lots of upsets in college football and NFL games that came down to the final seconds all made for a thrilling weekend for sports bettors.

Trends of the Week

In one of the best NFL games on Sunday, the Baltimore Ravens came away with a win over the Cincinnati Bengals 41-38 in overtime. The back-and-forth swings, including a Baltimore fumble and a Cincinnati missed field goal, in overtime were big for bettors with 73% of the bets and 67% of the money on the Ravens covering as 2.5-point favorites at the BetMGM sportsbook.

The three most bet teams in terms of number of bets against the spread all covered on Sunday — the Minnesota Vikings (-2.5), Washington Commanders (-3) and Ravens (-2.5).

Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty now has the best odds to win the Heisman Trophy at +225. On Saturday against Utah State, he ran for 186 yards and three touchdowns in the 62-30 victory. He also hit the first touchdown scorer, which was +140, and anytime touchdown of -2000.

Upsets of the Week

The biggest upset of the weekend was No. 1 Alabama falling to unranked Vanderbilt 40-35 on the road. The Crimson Tide were a 23.5-point favorite and took in 62% of the bets and 63% of the money in against-the-spread betting. Vanderbilt was +1100 on the moneyline, and only 32% of the money was on them.

Like the Ravens-Bengals game, the Sunday night game between the Dallas Cowboys and Pittsburgh Steelers also had many swings. Dallas’ touchdown with 20 seconds remaining gave the Cowboys a 20-17 victory in a game in which they were 2.5-point underdogs. Pittsburgh took in 64% of the bets and 70% of the money.

The Philadelphia Phillies and New York Mets are knotted at 1-1 in the NLDS after two exciting games on Saturday and Sunday. Trailing 1-0 in the eighth inning of Game 1, New York scored five runs to blow the game open and come away with a 5-1 victory. The Mets were +155 to win and only took in 35% of the money. In Game 2, the Phillies were -150 and took in 71% of the money. Philadelphia won the game 7-6.

Coming Up

In the college football odds to win the national championship, Ohio State still has the best odds at +300. They are also the most popular team among bettors, taking in the most bets (15.4%) and the second-most money (17.3%).

Georgia, which is +500, is taking in the most money (17.6%) on the third-most bets (11.5%).

Texas has the second-best odds at +450 and is generating the second-most money (11.9%) and the third-most bets (11.6%).

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This column was provided to The Associated Press by BetMGM online sportsbook.

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AP sports: https://apnews.com/hub/sports

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