The first week of the NFL playoffs and the final week of college bowls was good for the books overall, although they did get burned by a couple of results.
The first two games on Saturday both saw one-sided action, with both the public and sharps losing with Cincinnati, but then winning with Dallas, which wound up being the only losing game of the weekend for the books.
On Sunday, the sharps and the public disagreed, particularly on Baltimore/New England. The sharp money backed the Ravens, but the books did well on that game, getting big volume from the public taking the Patriots. Green Bay/Arizona had significant line movement in favor of the Packers, and the sharp money was split, backing Green Bay early in the week and then coming in on the Cardinals later on. But the public was solidly on the side of Green Bay, and the books got another big win with the Arizona cover.
In the final slate of bowl games, the books enjoyed a win with Boise St/TCU, as TCU was a big public-backed side. Later on, however, the books took significant losses on a middle in Troy/Central Michigan when the final score landed on 3.
The BCS Championship was mostly uneventful from the books’ point of view. It was an OK game for some, and a small loser for others. The action was mostly split, but the public leaned towards Alabama, while the sharps leaned towards Texas. Books that took a lot of public money on that game likely wound up with a small loss.
