Betting the Big XII: Early Season Lines

It is officially summer and here in the desert that means casinos are begging for your money; sports books especially as nobody bets baseball. With football, by far the biggest money maker of all the sports, still months away and basketball and hockey behind us, casinos must get creative to keep the money coming in.

Enter early season lines.

The Golden Nugget, a once Has-Been that has benefited from new ownership and a revitalized Downtown area, has released its lines on some of the season’s top draws. I have highlighted a few for you, but you can find the entire list here.  

Thursday, September 3^rd

TCU -18 @ Minnesota – The only thing that could slow the Horned Frogs in the early season matchup is a swarm of mosquitoes rolling in from one of Minnesota’s 10,000 lakes.

Saturday, September 5^th

Texas @ Notre Dame -7.5 – Not much love for the Longhorns as they continue to redefine their offense under new head coach Charlie Strong.

Saturday, September 12^th

Oklahoma @ Tennessee -3 – And not much more for the Sooners.

Iowa -4.5 @ Iowa State – 4.5 points at home in our Super Bowl? I’ll take that action.

Saturday, September 26^th

Oklahoma State @ Texas -2.5 – It’ll be interesting to see where each team is at this point.

Saturday, October 10^th

Oklahoma -6.5 vs Texas – The Red River Rivalry being played on my 40^th birthday. Nice.

Saturday, October 17^th

TCU -29 @ Iowa State – I’m hoping this ends up to be an early mistake for the odds makers. Time will tell.

Oklahoma -3 @ K-State – Revenge is a dish best served cold.

Thursday, October 29^th

West Virginia @ TCU -20 – TCU covered most of their spreads last season. Seems the books don’t want to undervalue them this season.

Friday, November 27^th

Baylor @ TCU -6 – Will this be the de-facto championship game?

I may try to dig into this a little deeper next week. For now, I’m off to make a little stop Downtown and make a little deposit into my retirement account.