Bettors flock to Oregon State after sportsbook's initial line favors USC by nearly two touchdowns

An outlier opening line on USC-Oregon State prompted a flood of bets on the underdog Beavers this week and left one sportsbook with more money at stake on the Pac-12 tilt than any of the week's NFL games.

Caesars Sportsbook on Sunday opened USC as a 13.5-point favorite over Oregon State. Minutes later, oddsmakers at Circa Sports put up the Trojans as only a 5-point favorite. Bettors pounced on the discrepancy, causing the line to drop significantly at Caesars and tick up slightly at other sportsbooks, before settling at consensus number of USC -6 on Sunday night.

«We had a high opinion on [USC],» said Joey Feazel, lead college football trader for Caesars Sportsbook. «So we put out a number to kind of attract Oregon State money. And it worked.»

Action from influential bettors came in on the Beavers immediately at Caesars, and Feazel moved the line down aggressively. Line archives from odds provider Don Best Sports show Caesars went from USC -13.5 to -9 within 30 minutes and was down to -7 less than two hours after posting the opening number.

On Thursday, Caesars reported that 88.2% of the money wagered on the USC-Oregon State point spread was on the underdog Beavers, including a $110,000 bet on Oregon State +7 placed Tuesday in Nevada.

Meanwhile, sportsbooks that opened USC as less than a touchdown favorite were reporting lopsided action on the Trojans. At DraftKings, 79% of the money bet on the game's spread was on USC, and at the SuperBook at Westgate Las Vegas, there were seven bets on the Trojans for every one on the Beavers.

«I'm sure we will need the Beavers huge at kickoff,» said John Murray, executive director of the SuperBook. «The Trojans are public darlings again.»

Midway through the week, more money had been