It’s the first weekend of the year with an exclusive SEC versus SEC slate this season. There are some games with massive implications, and several teams on upset alert. Where is the money coming and going across sportsbooks? Let’s take a look.
The slate
Texas A&M at Missouri
Opening Line: Missouri -1.5
Current Line: Missouri -3.5
South Carolina at Florida
Opening Line: Florida -14.5
Current Line: Florida -11.5
Texas vs Oklahoma
Opening Line: Texas -6
Current Line: Texas -7.5
Ole Miss at Vanderbilt
Opening Line: Ole Miss -10.5
Current Line: Ole Miss -9.5
Tennessee at Arkansas
Opening Line: Tennessee -14
Current Line: Tennessee -13.5
LSU at Kentucky
Opening Line: LSU -10
Current Line: LSU -8.5
Georgia at Alabama
Opening Line: Georgia -3
Current Line: Alabama -1.5
The takeaway
The line movement has been consistent in every game this week. The ones that are most interesting are the South Carolina-Florida lines and the Alabama-Georgia movement. The Georgia game opened at -3 Sunday morning and by nightfall shifted nearly 5.5 points to the other side with Bama being favored by -2.5. What’s most interesting there, besides the massive movement in the initial hours, is that it’s settled at -1.5 in favor of Bama with the money being split nearly down the middle (Alabama 51% and UGA 49%).
Expect a flood of bets to come in on Saturday especially in the final hours since it’s a prime time game, and keep an eye out for any sharps coming in late after initially sharps drove the line in favor of Alabama five days ago.
The other interesting shift is in the South Carolina game. That’s a game that opened with Florida being a two-touchdown favorite, but saw a dramatic drop by three points in the midweek. That’s wild considering that 62% of the money is still on the Gators’ side. One of the explanations for that could be Dylan Stewart potentially playing. However, a defensive end with 1.5 games played, and just one tackle on the season shifting a game by three full points, seems far-fetched, especially since Florida is at home.
