Seahawks Open as Favorite; Bettors Push Spread Down to Pick Em

Russell Wilson

Las Vegas sees the Super Bowl as an even matchup.

Opening spreads fluctuated from favoring the Seahawks by 3 to favoring New England by 1. Pinnacle Sports posts Seattle +2. Footballlocks.com sees the game as a “pick ’em.” The MGM Grand now takes bets at Patriots -1.

The Seahawks looked to go to the Super Bowl as favorites. But a shaky performance against Green Bay that required late-game heroics to escape from, coupled with New England’s obliteration of Indianapolis forced an anticipated spread of four points or so down even. Since the opening lines, early wagering on New England pushed the spreads down even further (last year, Denver went from underdog to favorite based on the whims of bettors). Should the pick ’em hold, the game will play as the first Super Bowl without a spread.

The over-under at most sports books ranges from 48 to 49.5 points. Both championship games exceeded that point total on Sunday.

While the underdogs rides a wining streak of three Super Bowls, the favorites enjoy a 26-18-2 edge against the spread in the big game. The point total has edged “over” on one more occasion than “under.”

 

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