There were plenty of upsets and some thrilling finishes in Week 8 of the NFL season, including Jayden Daniels’ Hail Mary touchdown pass as time expired to give the Washington Commanders a win over the Chicago Bears.
Here’s a look at the weekend in sports, with data from the BetMGM Sportsbook.
Trends of the Week
The three most bet teams in terms of money did not cover the spread in the NFL on Sunday. The Baltimore Ravens (-8.5) lost outright to the Cleveland Browns, the Green Bay Packers (-3.5) beat the Jacksonville Jaguars by only three points, and the Philadelphia Eagles blew out the Cincinnati Bengals (-2.5).
The Commanders’ last-second 18-15 win impacted bettors because Chicago was about to win and cover after closing as a 1.5-point favorite. The Bears took in 53% of the money in against-the-spread bets, but Washington (+100) was a more popular pick for the moneyline, taking in 75% of the bets and 69% of the money. The Commanders were the most bet underdog to win on Sunday.
In college football, Indiana (-5.5) was the most bet team to cover on Saturday, bringing in 83% of the bets. The Hoosiers had little trouble with Washington, winning 31-17 to move to 8-0 this year.
The Los Angeles Dodgers are up 2-0 in the World Series against the New York Yankees. In Game 2, the Dodgers were -140 on the moneyline and took in only 29% of the bets and 39% of the money. In Game 1, the Dodgers were -125 on the moneyline and took in 38% of the bets and 44% of the money. Los Angeles is now -450 to win the World Series, while New York is +340.
Upsets of the Week
The Browns, who beat Baltimore 29-24, closed as 8.5-point underdogs, making them the third-biggest underdog in Week 8 NFL betting. In against-the-spread betting, 69% of the bets and 66% of the money was on the Ravens to cover the spread. Cleveland was +350 on the moneyline, so if a bettor bet $100, they would have won $350.
The PGA Tour was in Japan over the weekend for the Zozo Championship, where Nico Echavarria won for the second time in his career. Entering the tournament, he had +20000 odds to win and took in only 0.2% of bets and 0.1% of the money.
Coming up
With the college football season in full swing, here’s a look at Heisman Trophy betting.
Colorado’s Travis Hunter is the most popular pick among bettors. At +250, he is bringing in the most bets (16.8%) and the most money (31.1%). He’s seen his odds improve weekly — a week ago he was +1800.
Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel has the shortest odds at +240, but he is bringing in only 4.5% of the bets and 6.4% of the money.
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This column was provided to The Associated Press by BetMGM online sportsbook.
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