{"text":"

By Max Meyer

The college football regular season has hit the stretch run, as we have our first November Saturday coming up this weekend. With so many contenders fighting for the four bids in the College Football Playoff, there is plenty on the line in this week’s matchups. In fact, there are four battles between top-25 teams this week, highlighted by two top-10 power programs facing fellow ranked foes. 

Last weekend, Purdue handed then-No. 3 Michigan State its first loss of the season. Now the newly No. 19-ranked Boilermakers travel to Columbus to take on No. 4 Ohio State. The Buckeyes opened as 19.5-point home chalk at Caesars Sportsbook, and that line is currently up to -21. Many Caesars Sportsbook bettors are rolling with the underdog, though, as Purdue is capturing 85% of the total number of tickets and 78% of the total dollars wagered. 

“People react to what they saw last, and Purdue handled Michigan State and played really well,” said Adam Pullen, Assistant Director of Trading at Caesars Sportsbook. “Now you’re getting three touchdowns, it’s a juicy spread that can be hard to ignore for some people. Ohio State is usually such a public team. But getting all those points on a good team like Purdue that’s coming off an upset, it’s not a surprise to see them as a public dog this week.”

Another team in contention facing a tough opponent this weekend is No. 8 Oklahoma. The Sooners are undefeated on the year, however they could use a marquee victory to move their way up the rankings. They’ve been presented that opportunity this week, going up on the road against No. 13 Baylor. 

After Oklahoma opened as a 6.5-point road favorite, it has dropped down to -5.5 vs. the Bears. The Sooners are still generating the majority of the action, snagging 64% of the total number of tickets and 54% of the total dollars wagered. 

“Oklahoma is still undefeated, and if they win out, it’s likely they’ll make it to the Playoff,” Pullen said. “But they just haven’t looked as dominant as in previous seasons with all of their close games. People will see that Baylor lost last week to a TCU team playing with a new coach, I’m sure that has something to do with Oklahoma getting most of the action. It’s also under a touchdown, when people see good teams laying less than a touchdown, it’s hard to ignore sometimes because it seems so cheap.”

Besides Oklahoma, two other top-10 teams are laying less than a touchdown in their matchups this weekend. No. 6 Michigan is a slight 1.5-point road favorite at Penn State, while Notre Dame is 5.5-point road chalk at Virginia. 

When it comes to most lopsided spread action thus far on Week 11 top-25 games, two teams have reeled in 93% of the total dollars wagered—No. 10 Oklahoma State (-13) vs. TCU and No. 25 Arkansas (-3) at LSU.

“Even though LSU is having a down year, I don’t think they’re as bad as their record,” Pullen said. “Just look at last week, they gave Alabama all they could handle. I don’t think they’ve thrown in the towel with the efforts they put up against Alabama and Florida. I’m surprised that it’s been so lopsided on Arkansas, I would think LSU’s game against Alabama would hold some more value. I personally make it LSU as a small favorite, and I don’t think it will be as lopsided when this kicks off.”

The biggest Week 11 wager on any upcoming college football game taken at Caesars Sportsbook comes in a Mountain West meeting. A Nevada bettor laid $50,000 on Utah State moneyline +170 at San Jose State for potential winnings of $85,000. 

Check out Caesars Sportsbook’s latest odds and trends for every Week 11 college football contest involving a top-25 team below.