Hurricane Ian intensified into almost a Category 5 hurricane prior to making landfall on the Gulf Coast of Florida on Wednesday afternoon. The storm prompted several schedule changes, including East Carolina vs. South Florida, as the Tampa-based Bulls moved the game across the state to Boca Raton at FAU Stadium for Saturday’s 2:30 p.m. ET kickoff.
There were also changes that moved a couple of Saturday games to Sunday, as SMU and Central Florida will play in Orlando at 1 p.m. ET and Eastern Washington and Florida will play in Gainesville at Noon ET.
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The South Carolina State vs. South Carolina game was moved from Saturday to Thursday night and we’ve seen other FCS and lower-division games either outright canceled or adjusted based on the forecast.
It is critically important for bettors to understand the House Rules at the different sportsbooks with regards to postponements and changes to games. At DraftKings, for example, the key bullet points are:
– Games must start in the same scheduling week of the league for bets to have action (CFB: Tues-Mon; NFL Thurs-Wed)
– If a game venue is changed and the home team remains designed as such, bets will stand (that means any bets for East Carolina vs. South Florida made before the venue change remain active)
– If a game venue is changed and the home and away team’s listings are reversed, bets placed on the original listing will be canceled (had the ECU/USF game been moved to East Carolina, bets would have been voided)
Not all sportsbooks have these same rules and it is your responsibility to see what that particular shop has listed.
Earlier in the week, we saw some totals get bet down for games in the Carolinas and Virginia, as Ian is expected to maintain the strength of at least a tropical depression on its northerly trek. That will create strong winds and heavy rains in many games coming up this Saturday.
Despite the uncertainty that comes along with forecasting the path of a storm, bettors jumped in on unders for games in affected areas on Monday.
Here are some of the games and the moves based on DraftKings Sportsbook’s odds:
Georgia Southern/Coastal Carolina: Opened 67.5, down to 60.5, back up to 62.5 (Coastal QB Grayson McCall likely to play)
NC State/Clemson: Opened 46, down to 40
Virginia/Duke: Opened 56.5, down to 48.5
Virginia Tech/North Carolina: Opened 57, down to 50, back up to 51.5
Liberty/Old Dominion: Opened 48, down to 41.5
Texas State/James Madison: Opened 55, down to 50.5
UTEP/Charlotte: Opened 57.5, down to 50
The line moves are even larger based on the Circa openers, with some upwards of 14 points.
We’ll have to watch for buyback on some of these totals as the forecasts become clearer closer to kickoff. For example, the National Weather Service forecast has the winds dying down by Saturday afternoon in Clemson. A lot of rain is still in the forecast, but wind gusts are the most damaging weather condition when it comes to scoring.
It will remain a fluid situation for bettors as the games approach, so keep an eye on the odds screen to see what happens with the lines and keep an eye on the forecast to see if you might be able to get some low overs on games that were obviously projected to be much higher scoring.
We’ll be keeping an eye on all the developments as the weekend approaches, so keep it locked right here.
