Why Don’t They Have Betting Lines for Every College Football Game?

Why don’t they have betting lines for every football game? I understand there may be a special circumstance like injury or weather now and then but I’m talking about games like this weekend’s UNLV game.

[Editor's Note: We asked Chris Andrews, the sports book director at South Point and author of our two books, Then One Day ... Forty Years of Bookmaking in Nevada and Then One Year ... History's Craziest Year as Seen by a Las Vegas Bookmaker, to answer this question. He provided us with the following.]

"Every game involving an FBS (Division I) team will have a line. When they play a school from a lower division, the line doesn’t come until the day of the game. Sometimes even a little later in the day."

Thus, you probably looked for a line a little too early, before it was posted.

And for those who need a little explanation, FBS stands for "Football Bowl Subdivision." It was formerly known as Division I-A, the highest level of college football in the United States. That's why every FBS game has a line.

No part of this answer may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without the written permission of the publisher.

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Robert Dietz Sep-15-2023

Historical Line Trivia

Well of course I have to add something on this topic. The author is correct -- most books this season, even offshores, are holding off on games involving 1-AA teams until day-of-game. This is a recent policy for most. I have not checked Pinnacle (unavailable to US) for their policies on the matter. These day-of-game policies pretty much became ubiquitous this season, which suggests books got sick of dealing with 5-point moves on 1-AA games.

And now, some historical trivia. Which Las Vegas sports book was known for taking the most money on Ivy League lines AND always having Ivy League lines available, when even the venerable Stardust was cautious?

The answer is the classic storefront Little Caesars' -- with its rocket car parked in front and folks wandering in with paper bags full of cash to bet in a place that looked like it belonged somewhere on a dark wharf.

Just the place to get down on the Ivies!

Question of the Day - 15 September 2023

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