Sammy’s Sportsbook Whispers: UCLA Is Enjoying 'The Big Ten Schedule Lottery'

As discussed throughout the college football season, the UCLA Bruins are the best betting story and it’s not close. 

Consider this: On top of their regular-season Overs of 5.5, 6 and 6.5 that’ve all cashed, the Bruins have covered every game.

UCLA is also a perfect 9-0 against the spread (ATS).

"Some years it just works out that way," former Las Vegas bookmaker Ed Salmons told me. "They hit the Big Ten schedule lottery. No Indiana, no Ohio State, no Iowa and they got Oregon without Dante Moore."

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"It’s a really good team that doesn’t make mistakes. Bob Chesney is a phenomenal head coach and UCLA always seems to win the turnover battle. It also helps when you get two 75-yard touchdowns in the fourth quarter."

UCLA leads the entire Big Ten with a +1.88 turnover margin per game.

"I still make Utah -3 vs. UCLA on a neutral," Salmons said.

Circa Sports opened the Bruins as an 8.5-point home favorite over Illinois, and it took about 20 minutes for sharp money to move the line to UCLA -10.

Have Bob Chesney and the Bruins benefited from a favorable schedule? (Getty Images)

Another polarizing team is BYU. Social media chaos aside, the pollsters and oddsmakers view the Cougars very differently.

The College Football Playoff committee currently has BYU as the No. 10 seed in the latest 12-team projection. Their hypothetical matchup is BYU-Miami and oddsmaker Brad Powers makes Miami a 10-point favorite in South Florida.   

After starting 6-0 ATS, the Cougars have failed to cover their last three games by a combined 30 points. Bettors came into a couple Vegas casinos this past Sunday and bet Baylor +8.5 and +8 against the Cougars.

"I have nine SEC teams higher than BYU," Salmons said. "And 15 teams total."

Elsewhere, the betting board lit up like a Christmas tree on Wednesday afternoon with injury rumors about USC quarterback Jayden Maiava. At 2 p.m. ET Wednesday, Indiana was a 7.5-point favorite. 

By 2:37, Indiana had touched -11 at Circa. Buyback bets settled the market at IU -10.

"That can only mean the QB is out," professional bettor Slice said.

To the NFL, it’s always a fun exercise around mid-November to discuss which teams can actually win the Super Bowl. Obviously, 14 teams make the postseason with a handful of others on the fringe, but they can’t all win it.

"I think these teams have the pieces to win it all," Caesars Sportsbook head of football Joey Feazel said. "Bills, 49ers, Bears, Jaguars, Chiefs, Bengals, Rams, Broncos, Lions. That’s my list right now."

Feazel submitted this last before the Vikings acquired Kirk Cousins.

Kirk Cousins is making his way back to Minnesota. (Getty Images)

Anybody else?

"When Jordan Love plays the way he played last weekend, the Packers have a very, very high ceiling," Caesars Sportsbook senior director John Murray added.

"And they don’t even have Micah Parsons back yet."

Finally, most sportsbooks are rooting against a deep Bears playoff run. The Bears are a public darling every summer, but they were trendier than usual this summer thanks to last year’s overtime playoff loss to the L.A. Rams.

Their 7-2 start has only added more fuel to the fire across the country. BetMGM told my FOX colleague Patrick Everson they wrote a $100,000 Bears Super Bowl bet earlier this week that would win $700,000.

"If the Bears win the Super Bowl, I’ll be looking for a real job," one local Chicago street bookie told me over Telegram.