Sports betting roundup: Football week produces upsets in college and late deciders in NFL

From college football upsets on Saturday to last-minute deciders in the NFL on Sunday, it was quite a week.

Here’s a look at the action, using data from the BetMGM Sportsbook:

Trends of the Week

While there were plenty of upsets in college football, the NFL saw popular favorites win and cover. The Detroit Lions (-7.5 at the Indianapolis Colts), the Green Bay Packers (-5.5 vs. the San Francisco 49ers) and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (-6 at the New York Giants) were the three most bet teams in terms of money and all three won and covered.

The most exciting NFL game was the Dallas Cowboys upsetting the Washington Commanders 34-26. The wild fourth quarter, which saw 41 points scored, was good news for over bettors because going into the final 15 minutes the total of 45 looked sure to go under. In terms of bets, 64% of the money was on the over.

Ohio State-Indiana was the most bet game on Saturday. There were four times as many moneyline bets on Indiana (+325) than any other team. The Buckeyes not only won the game 38-15, but covered the 10.5-point spread. In terms of against-the-spread betting, it was pretty evenly split with 51% of the bets and 58% of the money being on the Buckeyes.

Upsets of the Week

The biggest upset in college football was No. 7 Alabama being blown out by Oklahoma 24-3. Alabama entered the game 13.5-point favorites and saw 84% of the bets and 81% of the money. The Crimson Tide also took in 78% of the money in moneyline bets (-600).

Another upset on Saturday was Colorado losing to Kansas 37-21. Colorado (-2.5) was the second-most bet team in terms of bets and money. The Buffaloes saw 66% of the bets and 67% of the money.

There were two big upsets in the NFL on Sunday. The Cowboys beat the Commanders 34-26 as 10.5-point underdogs. Washington drew 70% of the bets and 75% of the money. The Tennessee Titans upset the Houston Texans 32-27 as 7.5-point underdogs. The Texans took in 67% of the bets and 46% of the money.

Coming up

After the craziness in college football over the weekend, Ohio State still has the best odds to win the college football national championship at +275.

Georgia and Oregon are next at +400, closely followed by Texas at +450.

Notre Dame (+1400) and Penn State (+1800) are the only other teams with odds shorter than +2000.

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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