Bettors give slight edge to Michigan over Notre Dame

Jim Harbaugh has made plenty of headlines off the field in his first three seasons as Michigan’s coach, from climbing trees and having sleepovers with recruits to urging the president to nominate Judge Judy to the Supreme Court.

But the eccentric coach has yet to live up to lofty expectations on the field, where he’s guided the Wolverines to a 28-11 record while going 1-5 against rivals Ohio State and Michigan State and 1-2 in bowl games.

On paper, Harbaugh has his best team this season. Michigan returns nine starters on a defense that ranked third in the country last season.

Perhaps more importantly, Harbaugh finally appears to have an elite quarterback in Mississippi transfer Shea Patterson.

Several Las Vegas oddsmakers and handicappers are high on the Wolverines, who will meet Notre Dame on Saturday night in South Bend, Indiana, in a classic Week 1 matchup.

“It’s a big game for Jim Harbaugh. He needs to win this game to keep the fan base happy,” Sunset Station sports book director Chuck Esposito said. “It’s a big game for (Irish coach) Brian Kelly as well. Whoever loses this game could potentially have hot seat chatter after Game 1.”

The game is a pick’em at most Las Vegas sports books.

“We’ve seen sharp people come in on both sides of that game,” Westgate sports book manager John Murray said. “I kind of like Michigan. Last year’s team was building toward the 2018 season. They had a really young team last year, but now they have a more settled quarterback situation with Shea Patterson.”

Vegas Insider handicapper Hank Goldberg said after Tuesday’s NFL betting seminar at Sunset Station that he likes the Wolverines over the Irish.

“I know a guy at Notre Dame who said the Notre Dame alumni aren’t happy with the way Kelly coaches his quarterbacks,” Goldberg said. “Harbaugh is great with quarterbacks.”

Notre Dame also has a stout defense, but quarterback Brandon Wimbush completed fewer than half of his passes last season and the Irish must replace their top receiver and running back and two offensive linemen who were taken in the first 10 picks of the NFL draft.

Not every industry expert is on Michigan. South Point sports book director Chris Andrews opened Notre Dame as a 7-point favorite in May before sharp action on the underdog quickly moved the number to 1. But Andrews said he still likes the Irish.

“At this price, yeah. Notre Dame is going to have a pretty good season and they’re pretty tough at home,” he said. “I know a lot of people are really high on Michigan. I’m just not one of them. I think they’ll be OK, but when was the last time they won a big road game? It’s been awhile.”

The Wolverines haven’t defeated a ranked opponent on the road since 2006.

$130,000 parlay

A William Hill sports book bettor placed a $130,000 parlay on Wisconsin (minus 34½ over Western Kentucky) and Ohio State (minus 38 over Oregon State).

The South Point took the same parlay for $10,000 and $30,000 straight bets ATS on Ohio State and Wisconsin, and the Westgate took the same parlay for five figures.

UNLV-USC

The Rebels are 26½-point underdogs Saturday at Southern California, which will start true freshman JT Daniels at quarterback.

Handicapper Bernie Fratto, an ESPN 1100 radio host, likes UNLV to cover the spread behind a capable offense led by redshirt sophomore quarterback Armani Rogers and a running game that ranked in the top 20 in the nation last season.

“USC is starting a kid who should still be a senior at Mater Dei (High School). Yes, he deserves the job, but there’s going to be a transition period,” Fratto said. “I’m also looking at how USC is approaching this game. They’ve got Stanford in Week 2. USC should win by double digits, but once they get the lead, they’ll focus on Stanford.

“UNLV will score a lot of points this year, so that back door will stay open.”

William Hill sports book director Nick Bogdanovich also likes the Rebels.

“I think UNLV gives them all they want,” he said. “I think they’ll end up succumbing to USC, which is breaking in a new quarterback early in the year. But it ain’t like the (Los Angeles) Coliseum will be rocking for UNLV. I think they can stay in the game.”

Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com. Follow @tdewey33 on Twitter.