Does this mean that Air Force is favored by 2.5, which means if they win by a field goal they beat the spread?
Army Black Knights (8-2) vs. Air Force Falcons (3-2)
Game Info: Saturday, December 19, 2020 at 3:00 PM
Betting Odds: Air Force -2.5-- Over/Under: 37.5
Why -2.5? What does the negative sign indicate?
Vegas sets the point spread to try and keep the betting even on both teams. Based on what you have, Air Force is favored by 2.5 points. The 1/2 is to make sure there is a winner. If they win by 3 or more, they "beat the spread" and anyone betting on AF -2.5 wins. They almost always list the favorite as the negative value.
ReplyDeleteAnother way to think of it is according to vegas, the game is starting 2.5 to 0 in favor of the underdog. The Over/Under is their guess as to how many points will be scored. Again, the 0.5 to make sure there are winners and losers.
If let's say the score is Air Force 30 Army 27, because it is Air Force -2.5, it is really Air Force 27.5, Army 27; therefore, your bet on Air Force would win. If Air Force only won by 2, they did not beat the spread so you would lose your bet.
ReplyDeleteWhy 2.5? So they can get an even split of betters on both sides. If a lot of betters think Air Force would win by 3 or more, oddsmakers would bump it up to -3 or -3.5. If more people bet on Army, spread would go down to -2 or -1 or possibly no spread or Army as the favorites.
Most spreads are usually in the 2.5-3.5 range and 6.5-7.5 range because most games are usually won by about a touchdown or field goal. It is rare to see wins by 5 or 9 so spreads are rarely at that number.
I believe you are correct. If you bet on Air Force (not that you would), you only win if Air Force's score minus 2.5 is greater than Army's score.
ReplyDelete