Before you make your college football bets this weekend, it's worth knowing which side other bettors are backing - especially on games drawing sharp action.
We talked to Jay Rood, Bet.Works' chief risk officer and theScore Bet's head trader, to see how sharps and public bettors are playing the Week 2 slate:
No. 6 LSU at No. 9 Texas
Current line: LSU -6.5
One of the biggest draws for bettors in Week 2 is, unsurprisingly, the best game of the weekend, and it's been all love for the road favorite.
The game opened LSU -4.5 and initially saw decent two-way action, but it's been all Tigers since then. Rood says his book took some Texas money at +5.5 but has since bumped LSU to a 6.5-point favorite.
"Pretty much everyone is at -6.5 on this game," Rood said. "Kind of a surprise to me that it's moving that much with the offense that Texas has the opportunity to put up here."
Since 2015, home underdogs of +6.5 or more coming off 30-point wins - as Texas is this week - are 12-24 (33%) against the spread (ATS) and 7-29 (19.4%) straight-up (SU), though the Longhorns are 8-2 ATS as an underdog under Tom Herman.
No. 21 Syracuse at Maryland
Current line: Maryland -2
The biggest mover this week is unquestionably this game, which opened at Syracuse -2.5 before a flood of sharp money on Maryland pushed the Terps to -2 favorites.
Maryland entered the year with low expectations but won over bettors with a 79-0 win over Howard in Week 1. The Terrapins' offense looked the part with new QB Josh Jackson, but the team's two-way performance is what makes this an attractive bet.
"Maryland looked really good on offense but they also shut out their opponent," Rood said. "That speaks a lot to the focus of Maryland."
Don't sleep on Syracuse, though. The Orange blanked Liberty last week with an aggressive pass rush, and coach Dino Babers is a strong ATS bet as an underdog in his career.
No. 23 Stanford at USC
Current line: USC -2.5
This game had the makings of a public feast before both starting quarterbacks went down in Week 1, setting up a battle of the backups on Saturday.
Sharps have gobbled up USC despite public love for Stanford, which is 13-4 SU since 2014 against quarterbacks with fewer than seven starts. Rood expects late action from the public on the Trojans, though he admits the market could go either way.
"That game's gonna garner a lot of attention on game day," Rood said. "If I was a handicapper, this is a game I would draw a line through. There's too many unknown variables."
Oregon State at Hawaii
Current line: Hawaii -6.5
Saturday's latest game is also one of the most popular games on the menu. While public bettors are playing the Beavers' moneyline, sharps are hammering Hawaii and the over against a hapless Oregon State defense.
The Beavers' 2017 and 2018 defenses each ranked among the four worst power conference units of the last 13 seasons by S&P+, and they allowed 52 points last week in a loss to Oklahoma State.
This week, bettors bought Hawaii all the way from -4.5 to -6.5, and Rood says sharps are still playing the Warriors after they beat Arizona as 10.5-point 'dogs in Week 1. The total also sits at 78.5 - the highest of the week - with action on the over.
"I think we're going to be in the unenvious position of needing Oregon State and the under in this track meet," Rood said.
C Jackson Cowart is a betting writer for theScore. He's an award-winning journalist with stops at The Charlotte Observer, The San Diego Union-Tribune, The Times Herald-Record, and BetChicago. He's also a proud graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill, and his love of sweet tea is rivaled only by that of a juicy prop bet. Find him on Twitter @CJacksonCowart.
