Week 1 Picks - Inside Lacrosse now including Vegas Lines

[AllSportsCafe]

Ohio State (-5.5) vs. Air Force
Rutgers (-7.5) vs. Marist
Maryland (-7.5) vs. Richmond
Syracuse (-2.5) vs. Vermont
Denver (-2.5) vs. Utah
Jacksonville (-1.5) vs. Johns Hopkins
Duke (-10.5) vs. Bellarmine
Bucknell (-5.5) vs. Mercer

I found it interesting that inside lacrosse included the gambling lines, but given the uptick in sports gambling I guess it makes sense. I thought a few of the lines looked intriguing and wanted to get some other thoughts.

1. Richmond +7.5 against a Maryland team that needs to figure out an offensive identity sounds like a decent value.
2. I have always been a Syracuse (-2.5) fan so I am biased, but I think they could come out flying and bury a decent Vermont team.
3. Duke (-10.5) notoriously starts slow in February, I don't know if they've ever played Bellarmine, but 10.5 goals is a lot for the first game of the year.
4. Rutgers (-7.5) returns a lot, but again 8 goals is a lot to win by in an early February game.
5. Denver - Utah could be a close game, Denver will need a brand new offense against a Utah team that played well last year, I like Utah there.
6. Ohio State (-5.5) I think beats up on Air Force and ends up winning 13-5 or so.

Curious to hear what people think about the games, gambling, spreads, etc.

[Matnum PI]

I found it interesting that inside lacrosse included the gambling lines, but given the uptick in sports gambling I guess it makes sense... Curious to hear what people think about the games, gambling, spreads, etc.

Wow. Me, too. Not *amazing*, as you're saying but... Still a little startling.

[AllSportsCafe]

Must have missed the part where I said it was amazing. As a former college player, I can almost guarantee the spreads on our games would have come up in conversation with my friends not on the team after a few beverages, and most players on the team are at least aware of the spread.

On the flip side, this has been college football, basketball, hockey etc. for years now so what can you do.

[kramerica.inc]

You could also figure out relative spreads on games by mid/season with the old laxpower ratings/formula.

You just weren’t allowed to talk about it. Because …gambling.