Betting buzz: Manning, Texas drop in futures markets after opening loss

Everything that happens in sports has additional context when viewed from a betting perspective. From season-changing injuries to record-setting moments and so much more, the news cycle will constantly and significantly affect the sports betting industry.

Our betting buzz file, with contributions from David Purdum, Doug Greenberg and others, aims to provide fans a look at the sports betting stories that are driving the conversation. 

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August 30: Manning, Texas drop in futures markets after opening loss

Doug Greenberg: Coming into Week 1's mega showdown with the Ohio State Buckeyes, Arch Manning and the Texas Longhorns had about as much hype backing them as could possibly be expected, leading sportsbooks to crown them as the preseason favorites for the Heisman Trophy and national championship, respectively. After a 14-7 road defeat to the reigning national champions, the Longhorns have lost some status in the futures markets.

Going into Saturday, Texas was the co-favorite with Ohio State for this season's national championship, showing +550 odds at ESPN BET. Following the game, the Buckeyes maintained the same odds to be the outright favorite, but the Longhorns lengthened to +750, third on the odds board behind Penn State (+600).

Manning, meanwhile, following his poor 2025 debut, dropped from +650 to +1600 on the Heisman odds board, tied for the fifth-best odds. The Texas starting quarterback actually may have saved some face by throwing his first touchdown pass of the season with three-and-a-half minutes left, propelling him from his low odds point of +2000.

Clemson Tigers quarterback Cade Klubnik and LSU Tigers quarterback Garrett Nussmeier became the new favorites for the Heisman as a result. Saturday night's showdown between the two Tigers will likely be pivotal in deciding who will take sole possession of the Heisman race lead.

After the spread undulated up and down all week, Ohio State ultimately closed as a 1.5-point favorite over Texas, marking the first time a No. 1-ranked team in the preseason Top 25 poll has gone into its season opener as an underdog.

With the win, the Buckeyes have now covered seven straight games against ranked teams, all of which were in the top 10. The Longhorns fell to 2-6 against the spread as an underdog under head coach Steve Sarkisian, per ESPN Research.

OSU's win was also likely good for sportsbooks, as heavy action on the Longhorns briefly made them the consensus favorite for the matchup. On Saturday morning, BetMGM reported that Texas' spread was its most-bet side by tickets and handle for the day.

August 13: Jackson, Burrow leading way in early NFL MVP betting

Doug Greenberg: Less than a month before the NFL season, bettors and sportsbooks alike are eyeing up a pair of perennial AFC North superstars to win the league's highest individual honor.

Baltimore Ravens QB Lamar Jackson is the consensus odds leader to win NFL Most Valuable Player for the 2025 season, showing +450 odds at ESPN BET. Those odds are a bit shorter on the two-time MVP compared to the rest of the sportsbook marketplace because it recently took a $50,000 wager at +550, substantially increasing its liability in the market.

Bengals QB Joe Burrow, meanwhile, has been a darling in the MVP market all offseason and currently sits second on ESPN BET's odds board at +600, with the book reporting him as its highest ticket share at 15.7%.

BetMGM says Burrow has the most bets and handle in the market, making him its largest liability, while DraftKings says it took an overwhelming 32% of bets and 38% of handle on him to win MVP in the span of a week; Jackson took the second-most wagers (8%) and money (9%) over that same time period.

Many bettors believe that Jackson could finally get over the hump this season and lead his team to a Super Bowl: The Ravens are ESPN BET's third-most bet team to win the championship by wagers and handle, trailing only the Buffalo Bills and reigning champion Philadelphia Eagles. Baltimore and Philly are tied for favorite status at +650, with Buffalo coming in right behind at +700.

The Ravens are also -160 favorites to win their third straight AFC North title, with the Bengals close at +260. Cincinnati has a respectable 23.2% of bets in that market compared to Baltimore's commanding 61.8%, and by total bets, the Ravens have the second-most tickets across all division winner markets, trailing only the Bills (-350) in the AFC East, according to ESPN BET.

August 12: Lynx supplant Liberty as WNBA title favorites

Doug Greenberg: The Minnesota Lynx (+155) surpassed the New York Liberty (+170) to be the favorites for the 2025 WNBA championship after defeating them on Sunday, according to ESPN BET odds. The Liberty opened as the favorites in the market and had been wire-to-wire favorites up until this point.

Minnesota was briefly the favorite for the 2024 title when it took a 1-0 lead over New York in last season's Finals. The last time the Lynx were title favorites during a regular season was 2018, the final season of Maya Moore's career.

At BetMGM, Minnesota holds 15.1% of the tickets and 12.7% of the handle, second-most behind the Indiana Fever, who hold a staggering share of each split (41.0% of bets, 57.3% of money). While this technically makes the Lynx the book's third-largest liability, also behind the Golden State Valkyries, the Fever are still by far the largest caution.

"The action on the Fever is so lopsided at this point, we are not concerned at this time with other teams," a BetMGM representative told ESPN in July.

The Liberty are back in action Tuesday night as 4.5-point favorites over the Los Angeles Sparks, while the Lynx don't play again until Saturday... when they'll face New York again, this time in Minnesota.