Betting stampede on Longhorns shrinks OSU line
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David Purdum
The point spread on Saturday’s Texas–Ohio State showdown has been dropping all week, with one influential sportsbook moving the Longhorns from underdogs to favorites on Thursday.
As of Friday morning, Ohio State was a consensus 1-point home favorite, with some sportsbooks, including ESPN BET, at -1.5.
The Buckeyes opened as a 3-point favorite months ago, but sportsbooks have been reporting a steady stream of money on the Longhorns throughout the summer, causing the line to move toward Texas.
Sportsbook Circa, known to cater to professional bettors, had seen enough interest on the Longhorns to move them to a 1-point favorite on Thursday. Derek Stevens, the owner of Circa, said on VSIN that a $550,000 bet on Texas preceded the move to Longhorns -1. The line had ticked back to pick ’em by Friday at Circa.
“It seems like the public is moving the line,” Chris Bennett, sportsbook director at Circa, told ESPN. “We’ve seen a lot of interest in Texas, but not from the usual suspects, and by that I mean a subset of sharp customers we have a lot of history with.”
The Buckeyes have not been a home underdog since 2018 against Michigan and have been favored by less than three points at Ohio Stadium only once since 2012. If the line holds with Ohio State as the favorite, Texas will become the first team ranked No. 1 in the preseason Associated Press Top 25 to be an underdog in its first game.
“The perception is that Texas is just more experienced than Ohio State,” said Ed Salmons, veteran football oddsmaker for the Westgate SuperBook in Las Vegas. “Arch Manning is considered a much better quarterback than the Ohio State quarterback [Julian Sayin]. Both are such unknowns, no one really knows.”
Salmons said it became obvious over the summer that the betting public was supporting Texas and that, once the line dropped from the opening number of Ohio State -3, it had the potential to move all the way to the Longhorns being the favorite.
“The public right now likes Texas, but we’ll see the day of the game,” Salmons said. “Sometimes you think that, and then all of a sudden you’ll see these big Ohio State bets. It’s a game we’re expecting a ton of handle on.”
The bulk of the betting action, both on the moneyline and spread, was on Texas at Caesars Sportsbook as well, but some of the bigger bettors had not weighed in on the marquee matchup of Week 1.
“There has not been a lot of wise guy action thus far,” said Joey Feazel, lead football trader for Caesars Sportsbook. “I believe that says more to the true variation of this game and not knowing exactly what you are going to get from either side of the ball. I expect we will see some action closer to game time.”
Let’s play another 18!
After an epic Game 3 that went a record-tying 18 innings, Game 4 of the 2025 World Series will be a true test for both the Los Angeles Dodgers and Toronto Blue Jays. Can the Dodgers ride the high of Freddie Freeman‘s walk-off home run to a third straight victory, or will the Blue Jays’ bats bounce back to tie the Fall Classic at two games apiece? What will Shohei Ohtani — who will be on the mound for L.A. — do for an encore after a history-making night at the plate?
In other words: What can we expect?
From the pregame lineups to in-game analysis and our postgame takeaways, we’ve got you covered on another big (and long?) night at Dodger Stadium.
Key links: World Series schedule, results
Live analysis
Gamecast: Follow the action pitch-by-pitch here
Lineups
Dodgers lead series 2-1
Starting pitchers: Shane Bieber vs. Shohei Ohtani
Lineups
Blue Jays
1. Nathan Lukes (L) LF
2. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (R) 1B
3. Bo Bichette (R) DH
4. Addison Barger (L) RF
5. Alejandro Kirk (R) C
6. Daulton Varsho (L) CF
7. Ernie Clement (R) 3B
8. Andres Gimenez (L) SS
9. Isiah Kiner-Falefa (R) 2B
Dodgers
1. Shohei Ohtani (L) P
2. Mookie Betts (R) SS
3. Freddie Freeman (L) 1B
4. Will Smith (R) C
5. Teoscar Hernandez (R) RF
6. Max Muncy (L) 3B
7. Tommy Edman (S) 2B
8. Enrique Hernandez (R) LF
9. Andy Pages (R) CF
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Jesse Rogers
LOS ANGELES — Toronto Blue Jays star George Springer was not in the starting lineup for Tuesday’s Game 4 of the World Series after leaving Monday night’s game against the Los Angeles Dodgers with right side discomfort.
Springer, 36, suffered the injury on a swing in the seventh inning of Game 3, exiting not long after calling for the athletic trainer.
Springer underwent an MRI, but the team wasn’t forthcoming about the results, with manager John Schneider indicating only that Springer was “hour-to-hour.”
“I think swinging will be the key to kind of determine if he’s in there or not,” Schneider said earlier Tuesday, not long before the lineup was announced. “But he was the first one here, a lot of treatment, a lot of work, and George is going to do everything he can to be ready.”
Springer has been a key offensive cog and leader during the Blue Jays’ postseason run. He has four home runs this month to go along with an .884 OPS, including a three-run homer in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series against the Seattle Mariners.
He injured his right knee on a hit by pitch in that series but was able to start the next day.
Bo Bichette replaced Springer as Toronto’s designated hitter in Game 4, with left fielder Nathan Lukes leading off. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. batted second followed by Bichette and then right fielder Addison Barger.
“Whenever this season is over, you guys will be surprised to see how much [Springer] has grinded physically,” Schneider said.
Springer’s status for the rest of the series is unclear, but he remains on the Toronto roster.
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