For the second straight year, the BCS Championship game saw Ohio St. jump out to an early lead only to get blown out by an SEC foe (the Buckeyes are now 0-9 vs. SEC teams in bowl games) as LSU dominated on the way to a 38-24 victory.
    LSU easily covered the spread, which opened as high as 6 but was bet down to 3.5 across Vegas by kickoff. The majority of bettors also lost on the total, which opened at 50 and was bet down to 47.
    The books also fared well with the futures as LSU and Ohio St. were both among the betting favorites when the odds were put up a year ago, so who are the top contenders for next year's title game on Jan. 5, 2009, in Miami, Fla.? The Las Vegas Hilton has obliged by posting USC as the 3-1 favorite, followed by Florida (4-1), Oklahoma (7-1), Ohio State (10-1), Georgia and LSU (both at 12-1), West Virginia and Texas (20-1), Virginia Tech (25-1), and Missouri, Auburn, Penn State, and Illinois (all at 40-1). A year is a long time to tie up money, but those are likely the best prices you'll see on those teams, at least until some starting get upset in September if this past season was any indication.

NFL wild-card wrapup

    Favorites won three of the four NFL wild-card games last weekend with the Seahawks, Jaguars and Chargers winnings and the Buccaneers losing. The Jaguars were the only favorite to fail to cover against the closing number as it closed -3 vs. the Steelers and won 31-29. They covered earlier lines that were available, including some who got them +1 or pick-em and then -1, but by mid-week the line was to -2 and those bettors got a push while those who laid the -2.5 and -3 over the weekend ended up with losing tickets while the late bettors on the Steelers won.
    The two games on Saturday (Seahawks-Redskins and Jaguars-Steelers) flew over the totals while the two games on Sunday (Giants-Buccaneers and Chargers-Titans) went under.
    
    Seahawks 35, Redskins 14: This line opened as high as Seattle -5 here in Vegas but was quickly bet to 3.5 and stayed there most of the week. After moving to -3 (-120) most of the weekend, that's pretty much where it closed with a few differences at the Wynn going -3 (-115) and the Stratosphere -3 (-125). The total opened at 40 but came down with inclement weather reports out of Seattle and closed at 38.5.

    Jaguars 31, Steelers 29: The Stratosphere actually opened the Steelers -1, but most places opened it at pick or Jaguars -1. Regardless, almost all the money early in the week came in on the Jaguars until it reached 3 and the books started to see some buyback on the Steelers. Like the first game, this one closed at 3, but while the Wynn, Stratosphere, Palms and Golden Nugget closed at -110 each way, most other books shaded one way or the other with the MGM Mirage properties making Jaguars bettors lay -115 for the -3 while the Leroy’s outlets had the Steelers +3 (-130). The total opened at 38 and closed at 40.5.

    Giants 24, Buccaneers 14: This game opened Bucs -3 at every book in town except for the Harrah's’s and MGM Mirage books on the Strip, which opened at Bucs -2.5 and saw those quickly disappear. Most books attached -120 to the Giants +3 and saw most money on that side during the week, but most of the late money came in on the Bucs and the line closed -3 and the standard -110 at most books. However, the Wynn and Leroy’s books attached -120 to the Bucs -3 with the MGM Mirage properties going to -125. The total opened at 39.5 and closed at 40, so it just stayed under.

    Chargers 17, Titans 6: This game was kept off the board last Sunday in Vegas as the books waited to see the status of Tennessee starting quarterback Vince Young after he was injured in the season-ending win over the Colts. When the line went up Monday, the Chargers opened -8.5 and the line moved steadily upward, sat at 10 most of the weekend, and closed at -10.5 all over town as the public continued to back the Chargers even after it became known that Young would indeed start. The total opened at 40.5 and closed 39.5, but the books didn’t mind losing those bets as the favorite/over parlays got taken down.

Divisional playoffs opening line moves

    Seahawks at Packers: This line was the only one to go up Saturday night as the AFC had to wait to see if the No. 3 Chargers or the No. 6 Titans would advance to determine the divisional playoff matchups. Most Vegas books opened the Packers -8 while the Palms and the MGM Mirage went with 7.5 and the Station Casinos went with 8.5. MGM Mirage moved to 8 after about an hour later though the Palms held the line at 7.5. By Tuesday, 8 was the consensus line, though the Las Vegas Hilton had joined the Palms at 7.5 with the Stations still at 8.5. The Hilton opened the total at 41 but everyone else went with 40.5. There was no early movement on Sunday night, but by Tuesday every book was at least at 41 with the Palms and MGM Mirage at 41.5 and the Hilton and Harrah's at 42.

    Giants at Cowboys: This line went up around the two-minute warning of the Giants’ victory on Sunday at a few minutes before 1 p.m. Vegas time. Half the books in town opened with the Cowboys -7.5 and the other half at -8. The 7.5s have won out as every book in town had the line at 7.5 on Tuesday morning. As I pointed out in a story for the Sports Eye Publications, it's interesting to note that the No. 2 NFC seeded Packers are a bigger favorite over the No. 3 seed Seahawks than the No. 1 Cowboys are over the No. 5 Giants. The total opened at 48 all over town except for 48.5 at the Palms and 49 at the Stratosphere. Early bets came in on the under, not only at the Palms and Strat but elsewhere as well, dropping to 47 at most books in town by 6 p.m. Vegas time and had stayed there as of Tuesday.

    Jaguars at Patriots: This is a line I read wrong at the start of the week. After the Chargers had disposed of the Titans, this line went up as Patriots -12 at most books in town with the Wynn going with 11.5 and the Palms at 12.5. After the first hour of wagering, no one had budged, though offshore books were at 11.5, so I figured the line would be coming down. However, money came in on the Patriots (it seems the Patriots will indeed lay any priced on the undefeated team, even against the red-hot Jaguars, who are arguably playing the best football in the league at this time). Books were split on the total between 48.5 and 49 and this has also gone up with 49 being the consensus total as of Tuesday with the Palms at 49.5 and the Leroy's books at 50.

    Chargers at Colts: The Wynn and Palms again differed from the norm as most every book opened the Colts -8 while the Wynn went low with -7.5 and the Palms went high with -8.5. The Wynn quickly moved past the 8 to 8.5 while the Palms held the line. While it looked like 8.5 might be the best number on the game, several books had gone to 9 by Tuesday, including the Hilton, Wynn, Stations and Caesars. The total opened at 48 and has come down to 46 at some books.

Betting stats and trends

    Here are the ATS records from this season of the teams playing this weekend (teams that played last weekend will have odd-numbered games in applicable cases):
    Seahawks: 10-6-1 ATS overall, 3-5 on road, 9-8 with the under, 4-4 o/u on road 
    Packers: league-best 12-3-1 ATS, 6-1-1 at home, 9-5-2 with the over, 5-2-1 over at home
    Jaguars: 11-6 ATS, 6-3 on road, league-best 13-4 with over, 8-1 over on road
    Patriots: 10-6 ATS overall (2-6 in last eight), 5-3 at home, 11-5 with the over, 5-3 at home
    Chargers: 12-5 ATS, 4-4 on road, 10-7 with the over, 7-1 on the road
    Colts: 9-7 ATS, 5-3 at home, 9-7 with the under, 4-4 o/u at home
    Giants: 11-6 ATS, 7-2 ATS on road (and 8 SU wins on road), 9-8 with the under, 7-2 with under on the road
    Cowboys: 9-7 ATS, 5-3 at home, 10-6 with the over, 4-4 o/u at home

Future betting

    Here are the Super Bowl future-book odds courtesy of the Wynn Las Vegas. The Super Bowl line is the AFC -12 with a total of 55:

Patriots  5-9
Colts  7-2
Cowboys  5-1
Packers  8-1
Chargers  11-1
Jaguars  14-1
Seahawks  18-1
Giants 25-1

    And since I started this column with the 2009 BCS odds from the Las Vegas Hilton, here are the future-book odds for the 2009 Super Bowl in Tampa on Feb. 1, 2009:

Patriots  9-5
Colts  6
Chargers  10
Cowboys  10
Jaguars  15
Packers  15
Steelers  25
Seahawks  30
Giants  30
Broncos  30
Eagles  30
Titans  30
Bears  30
Vikings 30
Bengals  40
Browns  40
Saints  30
Buccaneers  40
Redskins  40
Cardinals  40
Rams  50
Panthers  60
Texans  60
Jets  100
Ravens  100
Bills  100
Lions  100
49ers  100
Chiefs  100
Raiders  100
Falcons  200
Dolphins  300