Top-ranked Texas Longhorns to start NCAA season as underdogs
For the first time ever, the Longhorns were ranked as the No. 1 team in college football.
The college football season gets underway this week with a massive showdown on Saturday. The top-ranked Texas Longhorns travel to Ohio State, the reigning NCAA champions, in one of the biggest match-ups of the season.
Earlier this month the Longhorns were ranked by AP as the No. 1 team in college football, the first time that the organization has held that crown. But what really matters is their results on the field and they have a tough task to start the season.
As of Friday morning, Ohio State were actually the bookmakers’ favorite for the game as consensus 1-point home favorite. ESPN BET had the Buckeyes at -1.5.
However that line has shifted a lot since the fixtures were first announcing, with the Longhorns starting as 3-point underdogs initially. Since then a flow of betting money towards the Longhorns has moved the line towards them, some of which comes from the interest in Arch Manning as the starting quarterback for Texas.
“It seems like the public is moving the line,” explained Chris Bennett, sportsbook director at Circa. “We’ve seen a lot of interest in Texas, but not from the usual suspects, and by that I mean a subset of sharp customers we have a lot of history with.”
If the line holds with Ohio State as the favorites it will be the first time in college football history that the No. 1 team will be an underdog in its first game. The Buckeyes have their own impressive record in the betting markets and have not been the underdog at home since 2018, when they took on Michigan.
“The public right now likes Texas, but we’ll see the day of the game,” said Ed Salmons, football oddsmaker for the Westgate SuperBook, Las Vegas. “Sometimes you think that, and then all of a sudden you’ll see these big Ohio State bets. It’s a game we’re expecting a ton of handle on.”
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