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By Dan Behringer, LVSportsBiz.com Sports Betting Writer
Are the UNLV football Rebels for real?
After a 52-21 thrashing of Idaho State last Saturday in which they amassed 554 total yards, they look for real.
Still, most football analysts and handicappers expected the Rebels to win that game. They were 20.5-point favorites.
But next Saturday offers a different test: at the Cal Golden Bears. While there is not yet a betting line on the game, the ESPN matchup predictor says Cal wins 78.3 percent of the time, and UNLV comes home with the victory only 21.7 percent of the time.
UNLV ended its 2021 season with a humbling 48-14 loss to Air Force. Cal concluded the 2021 campaign by beating USC, 24-14.
“We’re over getting circled on the schedule,” Arroyo told the Nevada Appeal after UNLV’s dominating win. “That’s over.”
Kickoff is 1 p.m. A few hours later, fans and bettors will have a few more clues on whether or not UNLV is for real and whether or not “it’s over.”
For those who really, truly believe, Covers.com has a futures price on odds for UNLV winning the National Football Championship. It’s +250000 or 2,500/1.
A futures ticket might make a memorable souvenir.
Elsewhere:
— Raiders vs. Chargers: There’s one betting line for a Las Vegas team that is fairly well-established. And that is the one for the Las Vegas Raiders at San Diego Chargers game set for 1:25 p.m. next Sunday.
That line is Chargers -3.5 with the total at 52.5 though Caesars Sportsbook has the game at Chargers -3 and the total at 52, according to Covers.com.
The Raiders, of course, were a perfect 4-0 during the preseason and also a perfect 4-0 ATS in Games That Didn’t Count.
Now the football will be in the hands of the first team of Derek Carr, Davante Adams & Co. in Week 1. It will be highly revealing to see whether Chargers bettors or Raiders will be cashing tickets when time expires in that late Sunday game.
Raiders coach Josh McDaniels, after the Raiders cut their roster to 53, had what is perhaps the no-jive quote of the season: “It’s a tough league, and you can’t relax.”
For what it’s worth, OddsShark.com has a prediction: Chargers 27.6, Raiders 19.
— Aces on the road: It’s a pivotal Game 3 for the Las Vegas Aces on Sunday as they travel to Seattle to play the Storm in their best-of-five series. Oddsmakers have made the Storm a slender 1.5-point favorite with the total at 167.5. Sharp-eyed bettors probably noticed that while the WNBA teams split the first two games of the series, both games came in under the total.
— And there’s baseball: The crowds you see in the Las Vegas race and sports books aren’t there for Major League Baseball. Nope, very few are queued up to bet the Cincinnati Reds at the Washington Nationals. They are there largely for one reason — football.
Which is ironic because professional and recreational handicappers now have almost a full season of baseball data to draw upon. The football season, however, is still in its infancy.
Covers.com notes the top five most profitable teams for bettors so far. They are, respectively, the Baltimore Orioles, New York Mets, Seattle Mariners, and Houston Astros. (The Miami Marlins are dead last.)
“Nobody thought we would be in this situation that we’re in right now,” Orioles manager Brandon Hyde told the Baltimore Sun after the Orioles won again Thursday as big underdogs.
Might be worth noting as September plays out.
— Laugher of the week: While it’s early in the college football season, the Central Michigan at Oklahoma State was unfettered joy for over bettors. The total was 58, but the Chippewas and Cowboys combined for 102 points in Oklahoma State’s 58-44 win.
— Pick of the week: Since the madding crowds are out for football, we’ll join the throng and go out on the limb with a pick for Saturday. We’ll play San Diego State -6.5 vs. Arizona.