BYU Football: Vegas has Cougars favored over Utah, releases 4 other opening lines

Las Vegas casinos have been releasing college football lines over the past month, and recently released its “games of the year.” Golden Nugget casino released a handful of its games of the year this past week, with BYU involved in 3 of those. Lines for LSU and UNLV were also released earlier in the month.

In what may be a surprise to many BYU fans, Vegas has BYU as an early 3-point favorite over the Utes. With the game in Provo, changes in Utah’s offensive coaching staff, and a few more defections from Utah’s team (particularly along the offensive line), Vegas put BYU as a slight favorite. In case you forgot, BYU has lost to Utah 6 consecutive times, with the last win coming in 2009 (SORRY FOR THE REMINDER).

Here are each of the 5 games that Vegas has publicly released for BYU. Remaining games on BYU’s schedule will be released during game week. All lines are via vegasinsider.com. (Note: “+” means underdog, “-” means favored)

BYU (+13.5) vs LSU

BYU (-3) vs Utah

BYU (+10) vs Wisconsin

BYU (-5.5) vs Boise State

BYU (-14.5) vs UNLV

These lines will fluctuate as games will closer and more money is betted, but it is good barometer for where BYU stands in relation to opponents.

Vegas seems to like the Cougars, as they included BYU at 24 in their preseason rankings. Vegas is consistently among the most accurate predictors, so having Vegas in BYU’s corner may bode well for BYU’s 2017 prospects.