Cowboys' Super Bowl odds spike
— -- Bettors didn't think much about the Dallas Cowboys before the season.
That's changed.
After its upset of defending champion Seattle, Dallas is now 12-1 to win the Super Bowl at the Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook. Only the Seahawks and Green Bay Packers have better odds in the NFC.
For the sports books, it's a great year for a perennial public favorite like the Cowboys to make a run. Betting was so light on Dallas in the offseason that its odds to win the Super Bowl fell significantly. In late January, the SuperBook opened the Cowboys at 30-1 to win it all. By September, after an offseason full of ridicule, Dallas had fallen all the way back to 75-1. Only five teams -- Tampa Bay, Cleveland, Oakland and Jacksonville -- had longer odds to start the season.
Vegas gamblers also bet heavily against the Cowboys in some of the early point spreads that were released in May by the SuperBook. Dallas went from a 1.5-point home underdog to New Orleans in May to a 7-point home 'dog to the Saints in September. The Cowboys destroyed the Saints 38-17 in Week 4.
While the majority of bettors faded the Cowboys, there were still a few wise to the team's potential. The SuperBook took 13 more bets on the over on Dallas' season win total of 8 than it did on the under. And the larger bets on the Cowboys' season win total were on the over, according to SuperBook assistant manager Jeff Sherman.
Dallas was a big as a 10-point underdog to the Seahawks at the Wynn and SuperBook on Sunday. The Cowboys (5-1, 4-2 ATS) dominated with 23 first downs to Seattle's nine. It was the biggest upset of the season, point-spread-wise, and handed the sports books one of their biggest wins of the day.
"We had one of our house players make a decent size bet on the Seahawks minus-9.5," SuperBook football oddsmaker Ed Salmons. "We had a ton of moneyline action on the Seahawks as well."
This week, though, the early action is on the Cowboys, who opened as 3-point home favorites over the New York Giants, but were laying 5 at most shops as of Monday.
Books lost big on ...
Denver Broncos (-9.5) 31, New York Jets 17: Approximately 95 percent of bets on the game were on the Broncos at the SuperBook and Aliante sports book. With Denver leading 24-17 with less than a minute to play, things looked extremely bleak for Broncos backers. It looked over when Jets quarterback Geno Smith was sacked in the end zone for what could have been called a safety that would have made the final margin 9, a hair short of covering the 9.5-point spread. But officials ruled Smith down at the 1-yard line. On the next play, Denver defensive back Aqib Talib intercepted Smith and returned it 22 yards for a touchdown to cover the spread.
"When it looked like they were going to call a safety, you could hear everyone in the sports book grumbling and cursing at the refs," said Jason Simbal, vice president of race and sports at CG Technology, who works out of the M Resort. "Then, they erupted when the interception occurred."
Simbal said the pick-six with 15 seconds left caused a seven-figure swing against his shop.
Books won big on ...
San Diego Chargers (-7.5) 31, Oakland Raiders 28: In addition to the Cowboys' upset of the Seahawks, the Chargers' failing to cover as big road favorites against the Raiders was one of the best results of the day for the sports book.
"The late games always produce the bigger decisions, because of the parlay liability that builds up," Salmons said. "If the Chargers wouldn't have covered, it really would have been bad."
College football report
The Mississippi State Bulldogs, the new No. 1 team in the nation, will likely be an underdog two more times in the final weeks of the regular season: at Alabama on Nov. 15 and at Ole Miss on Nov. 29, in what's setting up to be the biggest Egg Bowl ever. The SuperBook currently has the Rebels listed as 3-point favorites over Mississippi State. The Bulldogs have covered the spread in their past five games as an underdog, dating back to last season.
After opening at 175-1 to win the national championship at the MGM sports book, Mississippi State is now 5-1.
"We took 29 tickets on them at 175-1," MGM vice president of race and sports Jay Rood said. "Small bets, average size is about 25 bucks."
Rood said the Bulldogs' upset of Auburn produced his shop's biggest win Saturday. Ole Miss' win over Texas A&M also was a big decision that went in favor of the books.
"We had a ton of support for A&M," Salmons said.
Early Week 8 CFB action
Notre Dame at Florida State, 8 p.m. (ABC)
The Seminoles opened as high as 13.5-point favorites offshore. CG Technology opened at Florida State minus-12, and the Wynn went with minus-11.5. The line was sitting at FSU minus-11.5 at most shops Monday.
The Irish have covered the spread in their past four games as double-digit underdogs and are 10-6 against the spread as double-digit dogs under coach Brian Kelly.
Odds and ends
• Auburn's dramatic win over Alabama last season has had a lasting effect on the Crimson Tide. Dating back to last season's Iron Bowl, Alabama is 1-7 ATS. The Crimson Tide squeaked by Arkansas 14-13 Saturday thanks to a blocked extra point, but failed to cover and dropped to 3-11 ATS after a straight-up loss under coach Nick Saban.
• Baylor trailed TCU 58-37 with 11:38 left in the fourth quarter Saturday. At that point, the Bears were 16-1 underdogs to win the game on live betting at the William Hill sports book. According to William Hill spokesman Michael Grodsky, the book took only one bet on Baylor to win at those odds. The Bears scored the final 24 points of the game to win 61-58.