Early Line Movement For College Football Bowl Season

• Nevada’s odds opened at -6.5 on the spread and moved to -1.
• Minnesota moved from a -7 favorite to -4.
• Texas A&M is a 7-point favorite to beat Wake Forest.

LAS VEGAS – College football bowl season is quickly approaching and there has already been plenty of odds movement due to different players sitting out of bowl games and the public having an influence on the lines.

The three bowl games that saw the biggest line movement on online betting sites are the Quick Lane Bowl, the Guaranteed Rate Bowl, and the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl.

Quick Lane Bowl: Nevada Vs. Western Michigan

The biggest line movement that a bowl game has seen thus far has been for the Nevada Wolf Pack as they originally opened up as a 6.5-point favorite and have moved way down to a 1-point favorite.

The shift comes as Nevada’s starting quarterback, Carson Strong is uncertain if he’ll play or not due to declaring for the NFL Draft. Strong has been one of the best quarterbacks in the country this season with the sixth-most passing yards (4,186) and sixth-most touchdowns (36).

If Strong does not suit up for this game, it would leave Nate Cox under center, who has only attempted 20 passes this season. With that, now could be the perfect time to get in on Nevada’s college football odds in the event that Strong does play.

Guaranteed Rate Bowl: Minnesota Vs. West Virginia

As for the Guaranteed Rate Bowl, the Minnesota Golden Gophers opened as 7-point favorites and have seen their line move down to 4 points. This comes as the Gophers are dealing with injuries to three key running backs in Treyson Potts who had 566 yards and 6 touchdowns, Bryce Williams with 205 yards and 3 touchdowns, and Mohamed Ibrahim who went for 163 yards and 2 touchdowns.

Not only would West Virginia had a better chance of covering the 7-point opening spread, but they could very well still cover 4 points.

TaxSlayer Gator Bowl: Texas A&M Vs. Wake Forest

Looking at the Gator Bowl between #20 Wake Forest and #23 Texas A&M, this line opened up at 6.5 points in favor of the Aggies and has favored them even more as the current line now sits at 3.5 points in the Aggies favor.

This comes as the public drove down the price with 87% of total bets coming in on Wake Forest to cover the spread. The majority of bets are leaning on the Demon Deacons being that they are the higher-ranked team going into the game with underdog odds.

However, Wake Forest has struggled against the spread this season going 6-7 despite their 10-3 record while Texas A&M has done a solid 7-5 ATS and are winning their games by an average of 13.4 points. Knowing this, the movement could be taken advantage of for those betting on the Aggies to win.