I am looking for lines that are way out of wack because of the popularity of the teams involved. Examples:
11/10...Miss. State +19 1/2 @ Alabama. Alabama will be coming off of two straight away games, at Tennessee and at LSU. It is easily their toughest stretch of the season, or should be. Miss. State is also coming off a game against a Louisiana school. That being a home game against La. Tech. If this were the Auburn game (a team that Miss. State is on a par with), the line would be 9.
09/08...Michigan State -10 @ Arizona State. A lot of strange things happen when you have people vote for playoff participants. It is a beauty contest. Teams that do not belong get in, and teams that do belong are left out. There is one thing though that will remain a constant. A two loss team will never get in over a Power 5 team with one loss. It will just never happen as long as there are 4 or more Power 5 teams with 1 or less losses. MSU HC Mark Dantonio has been around and knows how the game is played. He knows that if his team, which returns 19 starters, loses to Arizona State, a potential last place finisher in the Pac 12 South, his chances to get to the playoffs are all but gone. If this game were played in Michigan, the line would be -30.
(to be continued)
11/10...Miss. State +19 1/2 @ Alabama. Alabama will be coming off of two straight away games, at Tennessee and at LSU. It is easily their toughest stretch of the season, or should be. Miss. State is also coming off a game against a Louisiana school. That being a home game against La. Tech. If this were the Auburn game (a team that Miss. State is on a par with), the line would be 9.
09/08...Michigan State -10 @ Arizona State. A lot of strange things happen when you have people vote for playoff participants. It is a beauty contest. Teams that do not belong get in, and teams that do belong are left out. There is one thing though that will remain a constant. A two loss team will never get in over a Power 5 team with one loss. It will just never happen as long as there are 4 or more Power 5 teams with 1 or less losses. MSU HC Mark Dantonio has been around and knows how the game is played. He knows that if his team, which returns 19 starters, loses to Arizona State, a potential last place finisher in the Pac 12 South, his chances to get to the playoffs are all but gone. If this game were played in Michigan, the line would be -30.
(to be continued)