The Texas A&M Aggies were recently voted the No.6 team in the country entering the 2013 college football season, as the USA Today Coaches Poll was released last week. The Aggies were even ranked higher on the betting odds to win the 2014 BCS Championship, where they were behind only Alabama, Ohio State, and Oregon. But with the news surrounding Johnny Manziel and his eligibility as to whether or not he received money in exchange for autographs has the potential to shift the SEC and national landscape drastically.
Kevin Bradley, the Sportsbook Manager for Bovada.lv, stated that should Manziel not be allowed to play this season for Texas A&M, the Aggies would drop from 12/1 down to 33/1 to win the BCS National Championship. That would drop them in the category with teams like Miami, Michigan, and Oklahoma State.
“Considering Texas A&M were among the Top 5 favorites to win the BCS with Manziel playing, there is no doubt that this investigation has forced us to close down those odds, along with win totals, conference odds and pretty much anything that involves the Aggies or Manziel until we have more information. If he does in fact get suspended by the NCAA and is not starting against Alabama, the Aggies will move from getting only 4.5 points to at least two touchdown underdogs in that game. It will also impact the spreads on their whole schedule moving their win total from 9.5 to 7.5 and there from BCS Championship Odds from 12-1 to 33-1 if not higher. Ohio State’s Braxton Miller who was at 13/2 odds to win the Heisman will now be the new frontrunner with odds of under 5-1.”
Bovada Sportsbook has actually already formed a betting line for Manziel’s status for the first week of the season at home against Rice. The reigning Heisman Trophy winner is not favored to play in that one; 1/3 (-300) to sit out versus odds of 2 to 1 (+200) to play in the opener.
The details surrounding Manziel and what NCAA violations he may have committed are still surfacing with more coming to light. It centers on autographs that Manziel did, sometimes hundreds at a time. One report from ESPN’s ‘Outside The lines’ indicated that Manziel may have asked for compensation to continue autographing pictures and memorabilia for autograph bookers selling the merchandise.