College Football

Sportsbooks win huge as Oregon crushes Deion Sanders, Colorado

Updated Sep. 23, 2023 9:25 p.m. ET

Sometimes a good ride ends slowly, with the car coming to an easy stop. And sometimes, the ride comes to a screeching halt.

The latter was the case Saturday for Coach Prime and the Colorado Buffaloes. After capturing the nation’s attention with a 3-0 start — with the first two wins earning scores of money for college football bettors — Colorado got boat-raced by the Oregon Ducks 42-6.

The result was even more welcome by sportsbooks than the Buffs’ failure to cover as 21-point favorites in Week 3, in a 43-35 double-overtime home win over Colorado State.

Oddsmakers weighed in on what was a huge result in favor of the house.

Massive Liability Dodged

Oregon closed as a 21-point favorite. Public/recreational bettors still felt confident that Colorado would not only cover the spread, but would pull off another big upset, as it did in Week 1 at TCU.

Multiple sportsbooks reported overwhelmingly lopsided play on Colorado moneyline, which ranged from +550 to +700, depending on where you bet. At the lower end of that scale, a $10 bet on Colorado to win outright would have profited $55, for a $65 total payout.

Pregame, books were looking at a huge loss if the Buffs got an outright win. Tickets and money were piled high on a Colorado upset.

"Colorado moneyline is now the biggest liability we’ve seen in the past three seasons of college football," said Zachary Lucas, TwinSpires Sportsbook director of retail sports.

But this game was over in a hurry. Oregon led 35-0 at halftime and breezed to a 42-6 win, not only averting any thoughts of being upset, but also easily covering the three-touchdown spread.

"We [were] definitely Ducks fans today. Across the board, [we] were rooting for an Oregon blowout," SuperBook senior risk supervisor Casey Degnon said.

The oddsmakers certainly got that.

"It’s the best result of the young season so far," Lucas said. "The public took it on the chin in this game."

Going the Wrong Way

As the blowout unfolded, it didn’t take long for sportsbooks to start adjusting Colorado in other markets. Pregame, BetMGM had Colorado at +8000 in College Football Playoff championship odds.

That still made the Buffs a semi-long shot, but was a far shorter price than Colorado’s +30000 (300/1) opening odds.

By halftime, BetMGM moved Colorado all the way out to +25000 (250/1).

"The shine is officially off of the Buffaloes," BetMGM Nevada’s Scott Shelton. "The public cleaned up the first two weeks, but the books have gotten right the last two weeks."

That said, with all the excitement Deion Sanders and Colorado generated in the betting market – even outstripping most NFL teams the past month – Shelton said it’s been an entertaining few weeks.

"You probably won’t see anything like that again for some time. It was definitely fun while it lasted," Shelton said.

Patrick Everson is a sports betting analyst for FOX Sports and senior reporter for VegasInsider.com. He previously worked for Covers. Follow him on Twitter @PatrickE_Vegas.