Garrett Wilson, Chris Olave OUT for Ohio State as Line Moves Towards Utah in Rose Bowl
By Ben Heisler
The Utah Utes opened as 6.5-point underdogs in the 2022 Rose Bowl Game against Ohio State, but that number is now on the move.
WynnBET has shifted the line down to Utah +5.5 and may not be done after news broke that several of the Buckeyes' top players on both sides of the ball will not play in the January 1st matchup.
Ohio State head coach Ryan Day met with the media and indicated that four players are set to declare for the NFL Draft and are opting out: wide receivers Chris Olave and Garrett Wilson, defensive lineman Haskell Garrett, and offensive tackle Nicholas Petit-Frere. That's a big loss for a team that was expected to contend for the College Football Playoff before losing at Michigan in the final game of the season; costing them a shot at the final four spots.
There's Another Reason for Sharps to Back Utah over Ohio State
While key players being out for Ohio State is enough to warrant a one-point swing, sharp bettors may also look to another key factor for Utah this Saturday: motivation.
This year's Rose Bowl is perhaps the biggest game in Utah football history. Since moving to the Pac 12, the Utes will play in their first ever appearance in the New Year's Day bowl game. It's an impressive milestone for a team that left the Mountain West 11 years ago.
Back in the old days of massive conference realignment, Utah made one of the biggest moves moving from the Mountain West to the Pac-12. Now they're the 1st team to move into a P5 conference to lay claim to their conference championship & heading to the Rose Bowl. What a journey.
— Kevin McGuire (@KevinOnCFB) December 4, 2021
Not only are the players and coaches fully embracing the opportunity to play in Pasadena, their fans are coming out in force.
The Salt Lake Tribune reports that the school's allotment is sold out, and that Utah fans have been eating into Ohio State's ticket share as well. In a local radio interview on 1280 AM, Mark Harlan, Utah's Director of Athletics estimates that 60,000 Utes fans will be in attendance. The Rose Bowl, seats just over 90,000.
I was going to save this for my podcast but I’ll do it now. The Rose Bowl is a massive game for the Utah program. They are beyond excited for it. They’ve sold out every ticket offered. They want to win this game badly. Ohio State’s best players are opting out. Utah will win. https://t.co/x3b09EOCpo
— Geoff Schwartz (@geoffschwartz) December 27, 2021
Also, via the Columbus Post-Dispatch, while Utah sold out their allotment of tickets almost instantly, while Ohio State was right around 2/3 sold as of December 23rd with the game just days away. The number, according to the report is hovering right around 13,000 of 20,000 available seats.
In addition to moving to +5.5, Utah has gone from a +210 moneyline dog (bet $100 to win $210) down to +180 at WynnBET. Oddsmakers at the sportsbook confirmed to BetSided that while the reports of the opt-outs helped expedite the line move, they did take sharp money on the Utes before the news broke.