Here’s what the Vegas oddsmakers are saying about the LSU-Clemson game
Clemson is back in the College Football Playoff national championship game for the fourth time in five years. Once again the Tigers are the underdogs in the betting world, though this time they’ll play LSU, not Alabama.
As of Sunday night, the consensus bettling line on the national title game is was at 5.5 points in favor of LSU. In point-spread gambling, payouts typically are such that a bettor must wager $110 to win $100 in profit — a $100 bet would net $90.91. This will vary slightly by sportsbook.
Alternatively, fans can wager on the money line, which depends solely on which teams wins, regardless of score. Right now, the consensus money line on Clemson is +180, meaning if Clemson were to win by any score, a $100 bet on them would make a $180 profit.
The State spoke with longtime gambling industry reporter David Purdum, of ESPN Chalk, last week to get his thoughts on the betting side of the national championship.
The State: Tell me a little bit about what’s the line been doing, and will it change with a week left before the game?
David Purdum: Let’s start at the beginning: It opened as low at 3, LSU was a favorite, as low as a 3-point favorite. This was directly after the end of the Fiesta Bowl, Clemson vs. Ohio State. It got all the way up to 6.5 at some places. I think if you look around, you might be able to find that now at some obscure sportsbooks. So it has moved. The consensus line is now LSU -5.5, and that’s across the nation, a week before the game.
Will it move? Well, sportsbooks do increase betting limits closer to the game. We get more information available for everyone, so they feel more comfortable that they’re on top of everything and will increase limits. So it definitely could. Some bigger money could come in and shape this line. Which way that money comes in? That’s a good question. Right now, the overflow of the money, the majority of it, is on LSU. In fact, bookmaker William Hill, they operate in about six states around the nation, they reported (Sunday) that 93% of the money that’s been bet on the national championship game point spread is on LSU. That is a very lopsided split, especially for a championship-level game, a big, big game when you know the handle (amount bet) will be massive. So right now, the overwhelming money is on LSU.
TS: Is this the most bet-on college game of the year? Or do other regular-season matchups or bowl games exceed it?
DP: This one definitely will be because of the gap, how long it’s been up. I mean, you’ll have been able to bet on it for two weeks by the time kickoff comes. So that will add to the handle. The championship game isn’t always the most heavily bet game. Sometimes there are other games that surpass it.
The championship game in football definitely gets more handle than most college football games, if not all, but in college basketball that’s not always the case. After the Final Four, in the championship game, it comes on a Monday, you only got a day to bet on it, the college basketball game is not always the most heavily bet game. But to answer your questions more specifically, it will likely be the most heavily bet game.
TS: Clemson was also the underdog last year. What’s been their history in these championship games from a betting perspective?
DP: So this is their fourth (championship appearance) out of the last five years. I believe they have been an underdog in every one of those games, if I’m not mistaken. They were all against Alabama. Obviously they’ve succeeded in those games. Dabo Swinney has a great record against the spread as an underdog, and his straight-up record as an underdog isn’t too shabby either. His teams have excelled in the underdog role for sure.
TS: Are there any prop bets for the game on specific outcomes or totals? Anything unusual or out there because it’s the national championship?
DP: You can bet on the over/under on total points. It’s sitting at 69.5, so expecting a high-scoring game — any time you have an LSU offense I expect that’s the case. There will be other kinds of individual props, a lot of over/unders on rushing yards for (Travis) Etienne, for example, Trevor Lawrence. The sportsbooks know which guys are the marquee names and will build proposition bets around them.
Nothing (unusual) at the regulated sportsbooks, and not even offshore. You get those wild ones at the Super Bowl, but you don’t get as many of them in the national championship game. ... Very straightforward. You’ll be able to bet on the first quarter, second quarter, the second half, the third quarter. You’ll be able to bet throughout at the game, at different points in the game, with what’s called live in-game betting. So you would be able to, if you’re in a state that has legal sports betting, you would be sitting there on your phone, and something would happen, they’d go to commercial break, and new odds would pop up that are reflective of what’s happening in the game so far.
When is the Clemson-LSU football game?
Who: Clemson vs. LSU
Time and date: 8 p.m. Monday, Jan. 13
Location: Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans
TV channel: ESPN
Betting spread: LSU by 5.5
This story was originally published January 7, 2020 at 7:30 PM.
