No. 1 versus No. 2 is twice as nice
It’s a rare treat for fans and bettors this week — two college games pitting No. 1 vs. No. 2 in a five-day period.
On Tuesday, No. 1 Michigan State and No. 2 Kentucky close out a blockbuster college basketball doubleheader at Madison Square Garden, right after No. 3 Kansas and No. 4 Duke play. The South Point in Las Vegas opened with Michigan State as a two-point favorite and Duke favored by 21⁄2 points.
On Saturday in college football, No. 1 Louisiana State travels to Tuscaloosa to meet No. 2 Alabama. A consensus of sportsbooks had Alabama as a 61⁄2-point favorite Sunday, but oddsmakers and bettors will be monitoring health reports about Crimson Tide quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.
Locally, the USC and UCLA basketball teams also open this week. USC’s men are at the Galen Center on Tuesday to meet Florida A&M. UCLA is at Pauley Pavilion on Wednesday against Long Beach State. Circa Sports in Las Vegas has its win-total proposition for USC set at 191⁄2 games. For UCLA, the total is 161⁄2 — lower than its crosstown rival in part because the Bruins have a tougher nonconference schedule.
The week’s biggest basketball attraction in L.A. will be Wednesday when the Clippers host the Milwaukee Bucks at Staples Center. That’s a potential championship series preview. The Clippers are 2-1 favorites to win the NBA’s Western Conference. The Bucks are 3-2 favorites to win the East.
The Clippers (5-2) enter the week 4-3 against the spread (ATS). The Lakers (5-1) are 5-1 ATS.
In L.A. college football, USC opened as a one-point favorite at Arizona State on Saturday. The Sun Devils were off last week after losing 42-32 to UCLA at the Rose Bowl two weeks ago. UCLA is off this week after routing Colorado 31-14 as 61⁄2-point favorites.
In the NFL, the Chargers play at Oakland on Thursday, fresh off a 26-11 win over Green Bay as four-point underdogs. The Raiders opened as 11⁄2-point favorites, largely because homefield advantage is generally worth about three points in the NFL. The Rams opened as four-point favorites at Pittsburgh.
More on the NFL
Plenty of people go through their NFL pools picking all the home teams each week, and those people are coming off a great week.
NFL teams were 11-0 straight-up and ATS when playing on their home fields Sunday. And the home team covered the spread Thursday, too, as Arizona lost a close one to visiting San Francisco 28-25.
Still, sportsbooks from Las Vegas to New Jersey had another winning Sunday, as bettors continually landed on the wrong side of the most heavily bet games.
It started in London, where Jacksonville was bet to a one-point favorite but Houston got a 26-3 victory.
Minnesota was a fivepoint favorite at Kansas City, where the Chiefs were without Patrick Mahomes. But the Chiefs won 26-23 on Harrison Butker’s 44-yard field goal. And Miami, a 31⁄2-point underdog at home against the New York Jets, won its first game of the season 26-18.
The Chargers helped the sportsbooks by taking out 41⁄2-point favorite Green Bay, which entered the game 6-2 ATS.