Associated Press
With exciting college football matches, a new NFL schedule, the start of the WNBA playoffs and baseball season drawing to a close, it’s a big week for sports betting.
NFL betting, like Week 2, saw upsets for several teams, including the most bet on teams at BetMGM online sportsbook.
Trending this week
On Sunday Night Football, the Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Atlanta Falcons 22-17. Atlanta lost the ball on their final two attempts, including at the Kansas City 13-yard line. This boded well for bettors, with 75% of the money and 66% of the bankroll betting on the Chiefs to cover the three-point deficit. The same was true for the moneyline, with 72% of the money and 82% of the bankroll bet on the Chiefs.
There was one prop that turned out tough for the Chiefs: Patrick Mahomes’ rushing yards (19.5) over. Mahomes had 30 rushing yards before taking knee-lows of -5, -4 and -4 at the end of the game, eventually finishing with 17.
Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever opened the WNBA playoffs in Connecticut. The Sun were 6.5-point favorites. They won 32% of the bets and 46% of the bets on the spread. Connecticut ultimately defeated Indiana 93-69. Clark finished with 11 points, 4 rebounds and 8 assists. Her player predictions of over points (20.5), under assists (8.5) and over three-pointers made (3.5) were the most bet on in the game. Two of the three were wrong.
Upsets of the week
The top three teams in terms of dollars bet on to cover the spread in the NFL on Sunday were the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (-6), New Orleans Saints (-3) and Tennessee Titans (-3). Not only did all three teams fail to cover the spread, but all three lost in straight games.
Something similar happened in the NFL anytime touchdown scorer market: Three of the four players with the most money bet on didn’t score. Rashid Shahid (+150), Davante Adams (+140) and CeeDee Lamb (+100) didn’t reach the end zone, but Justin Fields (+250) did.
One of the best college football games of the weekend was Michigan’s 27-24 win over USC. USC was a 4.5-point favorite and won 75% of the money wagered and 74% of the prize money.
next time
With one week left in the regular season, the Los Angeles Dodgers (+325) remain the favorite to win the World Series in MLB betting.
Close behind them are the New York Yankees and Philadelphia Phillies, both at +450. The Houston Astros are close behind at +800. These are the only four teams with odds over +1000.
___
This column was provided to The Associated Press by BetMGM online sportsbook.
___
AP Sports: https://apnews.com/hub/sports