Las Vegas rooting for a Heisman upset
David Purdum
ESPN Staff WriterJay Rood, MGM vice president of race and sports, said a Heisman Trophy upset could be in the cards this weekend. He's certainly rooting for one.
Louisville quarterback Lamar Jackson is a heavy favorite to hoist the Heisman at Saturday's presentation ceremony (8 p.m., ESPN). A win for Jackson, the overwhelming favorite, would deliver MGM's sportsbook a low-six-figure hit.
"I think our chances of maybe an upset occurring are pretty good actually," Rood said. "But if he wins the Heisman, it's going to be like losing a fairly decent NFL game."
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Rood said he took a $1,000 bet on Jackson at 50-1 early in the season, a ticket that would net $50,000. "Everything else is $10,000, $15,000 winners here and there," he added.
Before the season, the MGM pegged Jackson as a 100-1 long shot. Clemson's Deshaun Watson, Stanford's Christian McCaffrey and LSU's Leonard Fournettewere the favorites. Jackson quickly caught up.
The Cardinals' sophomore accounted for 18 touchdowns in the first three games. His electric opening stretch was capped by a five-touchdown performance in a blowout victory over Florida State, cementing his position as Heisman frontrunner and significantly upgrading Louisville's stock. Jackson emerged as the Heisman favorite on Sept. 18 and remains a heavy favorite heading into the award ceremony. By the time Nevada sportsbooks closed betting on the award winner Nov. 20, as required by gaming control, Jackson was a heavy 1-50 favorite.
But that was before Jackson threw three interceptions in an upset loss to Kentucky to finish the season. It was the second straight loss by the Cardinals and was believed to have narrowed Jackson's lead in the Heisman race.
His performance against Kentucky was enough for the owner of a $100 betting ticket that would pay $10,100 to sell it for $8,500 on Nevada sports betting market site PropSwap, a service that allows bettors to buy and sell pending bets.
Heading into championship game weekend, Jackson's two closest competitors were Washington quarterback Jake Browning and Watson, the Clemson quarterback. Browning and Watson each played in conference championship games last week. Watson accounted for five touchdowns in Clemson's victory over Virginia Tech in the ACC title game. Browning completed 9 of 24 passes for 118 yards with 2 touchdowns in the Huskies' victory over Colorado in the Pac-12 championship.
This is the second year Nevada sportsbooks have taken bets on the winner of the Heisman Trophy. The MGM lost last season, when Alabama running back Derrick Henry won the award, and now is in an even more precarious spot this year with Jackson.
"If you open anything at 100-1, it's not going to be great cashing it out, especially on something you don't handle much to," Rood said. "I mean, if someone wins the Super Bowl at 100-1, you can still grind something out. But when you're talking about the Heisman -- we do 1/100th of what we write to the Super Bowl -- you have no shot."
College football odds and ends
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</aside>• Washington beat out Big Ten champion Penn State for the fourth and final playoff spot. Ed Salmons, head football oddsmaker at the Westgate SuperBook, projected that Washington would have been a 4.5-point favorite over Penn State on a neutral field.
• Penn State rallied back from a 28-7 first-half deficit to beat Wisconsin in the Big Ten championship game. Down 21, the Nittany Lions were listed as 14-1 underdogs to win straight-up.
David Purdum
ESPN Staff WriterJay Rood, MGM vice president of race and sports, said a Heisman Trophy upset could be in the cards this weekend. He's certainly rooting for one.
Louisville quarterback Lamar Jackson is a heavy favorite to hoist the Heisman at Saturday's presentation ceremony (8 p.m., ESPN). A win for Jackson, the overwhelming favorite, would deliver MGM's sportsbook a low-six-figure hit.
"I think our chances of maybe an upset occurring are pretty good actually," Rood said. "But if he wins the Heisman, it's going to be like losing a fairly decent NFL game."
<alsosee style="box-sizing: border-box;"></alsosee>
Rood said he took a $1,000 bet on Jackson at 50-1 early in the season, a ticket that would net $50,000. "Everything else is $10,000, $15,000 winners here and there," he added.
Before the season, the MGM pegged Jackson as a 100-1 long shot. Clemson's Deshaun Watson, Stanford's Christian McCaffrey and LSU's Leonard Fournettewere the favorites. Jackson quickly caught up.
The Cardinals' sophomore accounted for 18 touchdowns in the first three games. His electric opening stretch was capped by a five-touchdown performance in a blowout victory over Florida State, cementing his position as Heisman frontrunner and significantly upgrading Louisville's stock. Jackson emerged as the Heisman favorite on Sept. 18 and remains a heavy favorite heading into the award ceremony. By the time Nevada sportsbooks closed betting on the award winner Nov. 20, as required by gaming control, Jackson was a heavy 1-50 favorite.
But that was before Jackson threw three interceptions in an upset loss to Kentucky to finish the season. It was the second straight loss by the Cardinals and was believed to have narrowed Jackson's lead in the Heisman race.
His performance against Kentucky was enough for the owner of a $100 betting ticket that would pay $10,100 to sell it for $8,500 on Nevada sports betting market site PropSwap, a service that allows bettors to buy and sell pending bets.
Heading into championship game weekend, Jackson's two closest competitors were Washington quarterback Jake Browning and Watson, the Clemson quarterback. Browning and Watson each played in conference championship games last week. Watson accounted for five touchdowns in Clemson's victory over Virginia Tech in the ACC title game. Browning completed 9 of 24 passes for 118 yards with 2 touchdowns in the Huskies' victory over Colorado in the Pac-12 championship.
This is the second year Nevada sportsbooks have taken bets on the winner of the Heisman Trophy. The MGM lost last season, when Alabama running back Derrick Henry won the award, and now is in an even more precarious spot this year with Jackson.
"If you open anything at 100-1, it's not going to be great cashing it out, especially on something you don't handle much to," Rood said. "I mean, if someone wins the Super Bowl at 100-1, you can still grind something out. But when you're talking about the Heisman -- we do 1/100th of what we write to the Super Bowl -- you have no shot."
College football odds and ends
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| GAME | MATCHUP | DATE | OPENING LINE | MONDAY |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orange Bowl | Florida State vs. Michigan | Dec. 30 | Michigan -8 | Michigan -7 (-105) |
| Peach Bowl | Washington vs. Alabama | Dec. 31 | Alabama -11 | Alabama -14.5 |
| Fiesta Bowl | Clemson vs. Ohio State | Dec. 31 | Ohio State -3.5 | Ohio State -3 |
| Cotton Bowl | Western Michigan vs. Wisconsin | Jan. 2 | Wisconsin -7 | Wisconsin -7.5 |
| Rose Bowl | Penn State vs. USC | Jan. 2 | USC -6.5 | USC -7 |
| Sugar Bowl | Auburn vs. Oklahoma | Jan. 2 | Oklahoma -4 | Oklahoma -5.5 |
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</aside>• Washington beat out Big Ten champion Penn State for the fourth and final playoff spot. Ed Salmons, head football oddsmaker at the Westgate SuperBook, projected that Washington would have been a 4.5-point favorite over Penn State on a neutral field.
• Penn State rallied back from a 28-7 first-half deficit to beat Wisconsin in the Big Ten championship game. Down 21, the Nittany Lions were listed as 14-1 underdogs to win straight-up.
