College Football

College Football Week 1 betting recap: 'USC covering was massive'

Updated Sep. 3, 2024 1:06 p.m. ET

It’s not full-fledged football season just yet.

Bettors only had college football Week 1 odds to get involved with the past few days, though that was quite adequate, with a few marquee matchups.

No surprise, Georgia and Notre Dame were popular plays for the public betting masses. But Sunday night’s LSU-USC showdown in Las Vegas might well have been the most pivotal game, with the underdog Trojans posting an exhilarating 27-20 victory.

"The USC-LSU game was our entire weekend. We needed USC ‘bigly,’" BetMGM Nevada’s Scott Shelton said.

Oddsmakers from Las Vegas and across the country chimed in to recap the weekend that was in college football betting.

Fight On

Odds for LSU-USC were on the board for months ahead of Sunday’s games, with some sportsbooks posting numbers in late May.

BetMGM was among those books, opening at LSU -6.5.

There was no movement until Aug. 21, when the Tigers dropped to -4.5. Then, a few hours ahead of game time, LSU dipped to -4.

However, that was more a product of sharp money showing up on USC. The public money was still flowing freely on the favorite.

So getting not only a Southern Cal cover, but outright win, was huge for the books. The Trojans got a 13-yard Woody Marks touchdown run with eight seconds remaining to seal the deal.

"USC covering was massive. USC on the moneyline was even better," Shelton said.

A few miles down Las Vegas Boulevard at the South Point, sportsbook director Chris Andrews was also satisfied with the outcome.

"It was a good result. The only losing outcomes for us: LSU and Under, and LSU by 4 points was no good. So we dodged a few bullets there," Andrews said.

The total closed at 66.5, and while there was a fair amount of offense, neither team fully capitalized throughout the night, as the Under hit with ease.

At Circa Sports, before the game kicked off, sportsbook operations manager Jeff Benson discussed where bettors were putting the bulk of their money.

"Favorite and Over. Not shocking for a prime-time standalone game."

So the Circa team was just fine with the final result, as Benson posted on X after the game:

Bulldogs and Irishman

Georgia looked every bit the nation’s No. 1 team in its season opener against No. 14 Clemson. Playing on a quasi-neutral field at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium, the Bulldogs rolled to a 34-3 victory as 10.5-point favorites Saturday.

A few hours later in College Station, Texas, No. 7 Notre Dame met No. 20 Texas A&M. The Fighting Irish closed as 3-point underdogs, but emerged with a 23-13 victory.

Those two wins proved fruitful for the betting public.

"Lots of Notre Dame/Georgia parlays cashed Saturday, so bettors had decent results in those games," BetMGM trading manager Seamus Magee said.

But Magee was speaking to the national picture. On a more local level, the South Point in Vegas did all right to both those results.

"We actually needed Georgia. I don’t anticipate that being the case too often, but it was nice to have it," Andrews said, before moving on to Notre Dame’s win. "That was good for us, too. We had great action all weekend. We won some and lost some. All in all, it was a good week."

Coach Prime Wins, Doesn’t Cover

The college football weekend began in earnest Thursday night, when most eyeballs were on Deion Sanders and his Colorado Buffaloes. Coach Prime & Co. hosted perennial FCS championship contender North Dakota State, and the Buffs had their hands full throughout.

Colorado ultimately got out with a 31-26 home victory, but failed to cover as a popular 11.5-point favorite.

"Good result on the spread and the total," BetMGM senior trader Cameron Drucker said, noting the total closed at 55.5. "However, we lost quite a bit on Travis Hunter and Shedeur Sanders props."

One such example: Sanders’ Over/Under on touchdown passes was 2.5. He threw three TDs to Hunter alone, added a fourth TD pass to Jimmy Horn Jr. and racked up 445 yards in the air for Colorado.

I Like Big Bets and I Cannot Lie

There weren’t a whole lot of major wagers reported in the college football Week 1 odds market. But a pretty sizable bet was made prior to the LSU-USC game Sunday night.

And it didn’t turn out so well. A Caesars Sports customer put $50,000 on LSU -4. So that’s gonna leave a mark.

On the bright side, a couple other Caesars bettors landed big parlay wins. One customer put $1,000 on a six-leg parlay and cashed out for a whopping $161,266.

The second hit came on a comparatively nominal $100 eight-team parlay, all on favorites, ranging from Penn State -7.5 vs. West Virginia all the way to Texas -35 vs. Colorado State.

All eight teams covered the spread, and the bettor pocketed a cool $17,571. That’s a pretty good ROI for a hundred bucks.

Caesars also saw a significant College Football Playoff championship bet come in. A customer put $13,500 on Alabama +1400 to win it all. If the Crimson Tide go the distance, that bettor profits $189,000 ($202,500 total payout).

Patrick Everson is a sports betting analyst for FOX Sports and senior reporter for VegasInsider.com. He is a distinguished journalist in the national sports betting space. He’s based in Las Vegas, where he enjoys golfing in 110-degree heat. Follow him on Twitter: @PatrickE_Vegas.