You bet: Point spread makes big move, with Lions now favored

PASADENA, Calif. -- Point spreads move all over the place leading up to big games, and sometimes it's hard to understand why.

We've seen a big shift in the Rose Bowl point spread over the past few days.

Utah was favored by 3 points in early betting Dec. 9, and the Utes were favored by as much as 2.5 points in some places as late as Wednesday. But just a few hours before kickoff, Penn State had moved as high as a 2-point favorite.

The line currently is Penn State -1.5 as of 2 p.m. Eastern.

I reached out to sports betting expert Jimmy Shapiro, CEO of Stuff Media Group. He was kind enough to pass along this comment from Adam Burns, BetOnline Sportsbook manager, about the interesting line movement.

"Utah was as high as -3 on Dec. 9, but the line has gradually moved in Penn State's favor the last few weeks," Burns said. "The spread had dropped to -1 on New Year's Eve, and then flipped to PSU -1 early this morning, and now we're offering -1.5.

"Overall, the action is pretty even, with just slightly more money on the Utes than the Nittany Lions. However, the sharper bettors have come in with some heavy bets on PSU over the last 24 hours, which has forced the spread shift."

We'll see where the line ends up by kickoff.