More money is being put into the 2022 backyard brawl than any other college football week 0/1 game according to Max Meyer, an editorial content writer at Caesars Sportsbook.
The college football game that has drawn the most handle at @CaesarsSports is West Virginia at Pittsburgh (-7).
Both the West Virginia and Pittsburgh sides rank in the top-5 for most spread handle for Weeks 0/1.
Who knew JT Daniels vs. Kedon Slovis would cause such a stir?
— Max Meyer (@TheMaxMeyer) July 25, 2022
Both teams place in the top five handles, a sports gambling word for the total money put on a team to cover, for opening games. Interestingly enough there is more money being put on Pitt to cover with 55% of the money, but 65% of the bettors have gone towards West Virginia to cover.
Pitt is No. 2 in total handle for the opening games while West Virginia is No. 4. Meyer doesn’t release the full financial figures but mentions that the line has fluctuated since it was introduced at -7 in favor of Pitt.
After being introduced, significant money went towards Pitt with Meyer hinting that a very large bet was placed from a high roller that single-handedly influenced the line. Then line went up to -9.5 in favor of Pitt before.
Then 2021 Biletnikoff winner Jordan Addison transferred to USC and the line fell to -6.5 in favor of Pitt before settling at its current and original number of -7 in favor of Pitt.
In the article, Meyer interviewed Joseph Feazel, the lead college football trader at Caesars Sportsbook, about this game and a few others of notability. Feazel didn’t even mention West Virginia in his response but mentioned that the Sportsbook has high expectations for Pitt this season.
“We were obviously high on the Pitt from the beginning, we probably opened their season win total the highest in the market,” Feazel said. “When we opened up this game, [wideout Jordan] Addison was still on Pitt. We had one pretty respected bettor bet into the Pitt line, and it drove the price up.
“This game’s action has been very back-and-forth. I think Pitt’s going to do well this year with Kedon Slovis, this is his time to shine, and Pitt has a great defense. We have high expectations for them still, that’s why we opened them as high as we did.”
The two rivals face off for the first time since 2011 in a highly anticipated season opener on September 1st at 7:00 p.m. The game has gotten national attention with College Gameday announcing that they will broadcast from Pittsburgh that Thursday night.