The showdown between Georgia and Texas sees wild movement on the betting line

Something happened late Wednesday afternoon regarding the betting line between Georgia football and Texas. Something I don’t think I’ve ever seen before.

Sportsbooks set the baseline for this showdown about a week ago, marking Texas as a 2.5-point favorite. From then on, the limit rose to 3.5 points after the public placed their first bets on the game. The limit then remained in place for a few days until the craziest 20-minute stretch occurred on Wednesday, sending sportsbooks into a panic.

On Wednesday afternoon, sportsbooks saw some strong bets favoring Texas to cover the spread on Saturday. Due to these very high stakes, the bookmakers had to move the odds for this game from 3.5 points to 5.5 points in favor of the Longhorns. The line then fell back to five points, where it finally remained stable again.

If you are someone who is unfamiliar with sports betting and betting lines, it is not uncommon for a shark (someone who bets large amounts of money and makes a living betting on sports) to influence the lines of a game. But that their action causes the spread to shift by a full two points within 20 minutes? This is new territory.

“You can imagine that we do so much in 20 minutes, we really respected that action,” PrimeSports boss Joe Brennan told ESPN.

This line movement is not ideal for Georgia. This movement means that the people who make a living betting on sports really love Texas to win this game. Not only do they expect Texas to win, they also expect it to do so by a reasonably comfortable margin.

Now I know that the game takes place on the field and that betting has no influence at all on the final result, but this news makes me nervous. There’s a reason these sharks are so big in Texas, because why else would they bet so much money?

Hopefully Georgia can prove them wrong, so maybe next time they’ll think again before doubting the Bulldogs.