BETTING GUIDE
Looking to place a wager on some football games this weekend? The Post-Gazette has all the information you need to make picks in key contests, locally and nationally. Here’s the outlook for games beginning Thursday night and running through a long Labor Day weekend. Odds are current as of Wednesday afternoon, per DraftKings. Historical information is from Odds Shark. Public betting info is from Action Network.
College Football West Virginia at No. 17 Pitt
Spread: Pitt, -7.5
Moneyline: Pitt -300, West Virginia +250
Over/under: 51
Trends: The Panthers have not won by a margin of more than 7.5 points in any of the 11 meetings since 2000, when they scored a 38-28 victory over the Mountaineers at Three Rivers Stadium. … The Panthers are drawing just 51% of the spread bets but 70% of the cash wagered, a sign bigger bettors are backing them. … Sharps also seem to like the under, which has attracted 98% of the cash wagered in the market on just 64% of the bets. … The Mountaineers were just 2-4 against the spread in true road games last season. … Pitt has covered in three of its past four season openers.
Penn State at Purdue
Spread: Penn State, -3.5
Moneyline: Penn State -165, Purdue +140
Over/under: 52.5
Trends: Penn State is drawing 60% of the spread bets but just 32% of the cash wagered, a signal the bigger bettors are with the Boilermakers. … The under is also a popular bet with sharps here, drawing 86% of the cash on just 59% of the bets. … The Boilermakers have not beaten the Nittany Lions in West Lafayette straight up since 2003. … The under cashed six times in Penn State’s last nine games of 2021. … The teams have also combined for more than 52.5 points in just two of their past 12 meetings, a streak that dates to 2000.
No. 23 Cincinnati at No. 19 Arkansas
Spread: Arkansas, -6.5
Moneyline: Arkansas -240, Cincinnati +200
Over/under: 52
Trends: The under cashed in six of the Bearcats’ final eight games of 2021. … The big bettors also seem to like this under, with 98% of the cash flowing to that market on just 60% of the bets. … The Razorbacks failed to cover in three of their final four home games last season.
No. 11 Oregon at No. 3 Georgia
Spread: Georgia, -17
Moneyline: Georgia -900, Oregon +625
Over/under: 52.5
Trends: Noticing a trend? The big bets are again breaking toward the under, which is drawing 79% of the cash on 47% of the wagers. … The Ducks were just 2-3 against the spread as an underdog last season. All three losses came on the road or at neutral sites. … The Bulldogs covered in three of their four neutral site games in 2021.
No. 5 Notre Dame at No. 2 Ohio State
Spread: Ohio State, -17
Moneyline: Ohio State -800, Notre Dame +575
Over/under: 59
Trends: The Buckeyes are drawing 68% of the spread bets on just 43% of the wagers, a sign big bettors are fading the public support for Notre Dame. … The Fighting Irish covered in seven of their final eight games of 2021, while Ohio State covered in just two of its last six. … Eleven of the Buckeyes’ 13 games last season went over a total of 59 points.
Florida State at LSU
Spread: LSU, -3
Moneyline: LSU -155, Florida State +135
Over/under: 51.5
Trends: LSU is drawing 86% of the bets but just 57% of the cash wagered, a sign some sharps are gravitating toward the Seminoles. … The under has cashed in each of the Seminoles’ past five games, including a 47-7 win against Duquesne last week, and four of the Tigers’ last six games of 2021. … The Tigers have covered in just three of their past nine games.