The Vegas Top Ten For Week One 2019

After a full slate of Saturday football games know officially under our belt we've come out of summer slumber to share our thoughts on our Top 10 heading into Week 2.  It should come as no surprise that we fancy Georgia over Alabama, as we invested in them at 3/1 to win the SEC on the Bet the Board Podcast , SEC preview edition.  Utah jumped Michigan State into the 10 spot after an impressive performance on the road versus BYU while LSU also received a bump after showcasing their new fangled offense under passing game coordinator Joe Brady.

As we look towards the weekend our “Overrated” squad this week just happens to be featured in the marquee game of the weekend.  Meanwhile Missouri Tiger fans, even after an ugly loss in Laramie, all is not lost (Except post season eligibility but don’t blame us for that).  Last but not least, we head to Capital One field for our Best Bet of the weekend

Bet the Board Top 10 heading into Week 2:

1.)  Clemson

2.)  Georgia

3.)  Alabama

4.)  LSU

5.)  Oklahoma

6.)  Michigan

7.)  Auburn

8.)  Ohio State

9.)  Florida

10.)  Utah

Overrated:  Texas Longhorns

Texas may be #10 in the national polls but around these parts they will have to show a bit more before they garner that level of respect.  Texas took SIGNIFICANT professional money on their season win total Under 9.5 and 9 all summer, and that influential money didn’t stop last week, as we saw them tick down from -21 to down as low as -19 in their opener against Louisiana Tech (a game in which the scoreboard and metrics didn’t exactly line up).  La Tech threw for 6.3 yards per pass and racked up 340 passing yards which should concern the Texas faithful.  The Longhorns have been dealing with some injuries in their backfield and that will be tested this week against a stout and physical LSU defensive front.  Once again, we have seen the market move against Texas, as the Tigers climbed from -4.5 to -6.5 on the road in this much anticipated matchup.

Underrated:  Missouri Tigers

Missouri is a team that caught the eye of influential sports bettors this preseason and that trend looks continues into Week 2, despite losing outright as a 15.5-point favorite on the road in Wyoming.  Missouri opened -10.5 in their home opener against West Virginia, but was quickly bet up to -14 across the market.  The casual fan and sports bettor will look at this move with skepticism however after looking at the Tigers Week 1 game the box score tells us what we need to know.  Missouri lost the turnover battle 3-0, including a fumble return that went to the house yet dominated in first downs (28-12) and yards per pass (8.8 to 5.8).  The Tigers also fumbled on Wyoming’s 1-yard line and Kelly Bryant threw a pick in the end zone.  Missouri must clean up a few things defensively, but the move on Missouri out to -14 is real.

Best Bet: Maryland ML (-120):

Both Maryland and the Orange are coming off shutout wins, with the Terrapins thumping Howard 79-0 in a completely dominant performance (allowed 68 total yards, including only 1 yard rushing).  Former Virginia Tech QB Josh Jackson looked outstanding, throwing for 245 and 4 TD’s, all while spending a significant portion of the game on the bench.  Syracuse, while taking on a “game” Liberty squad, won 24-0, yet lost the first down battle 18-17, and only threw for 5.0 yards per pass while rushing for 4.4 yards per carry.  Liberty couldn’t get anything going on the ground but we see an advantage here for Maryland on both sides of the ball.  This number opened Syracuse -2.5, and has flipped towards Maryland as this number continues to trends towards the key number of “3”.  There is still some -1.5 out there and some cheap money lines, so we’ll side with the home team believing Josh Jackson is the difference maker at quarterback Maryland has so desperately needed against an Orange team in an awful situational spot early in the season