That’s how college football fans feel with reports surfacing that Baylor Bears quarterback Robert Griffin III will win the 2011 Heisman Trophy when the award for college football’s most outstanding player is handed out in New York Saturday night.
As first reported by NationalFootballPost.com, Griffin’s Heisman odds at offshore sportsbook BetOnline.com moved from +300 to -500 in just a 24-hour period.
According to Dave Manson, a spokesperson for BetOnline.com, the book took a few max-limit plays on Griffin at +300, driving the price down to +150. Since then, money has poured in on Griffin, moving the odds to a pricey -500 and shortening limits on the prop to $250 per wager.
“Yeah something definitely smells a little fishy here,” Mason told Covers.com. “We didn’t expect such massive one-sided action, especially with big names like (Stanford QB Andrew) Luck and (Alabama RB Trent) Richardson out there. We’ll monitor and if the money keeps coming in on RG3 - no matter how high we put the odds - we’ll have to draw our own conclusions and probably shut it down early.”
Heisman voters had to submit their ballots Monday afternoon, which seems to follow the timeline for a leak.
"Until last night and today it seemed like a wide open race, unlike the previous years," Mason said. "Doesn’t seem so wide open anymore though."
According to Heisman predictor StiffArmTrophy.com, Griffin is leading Luck in the Heisman voting, getting 86 first-place votes on 141 of the accounted ballots so far. The website tracks the Heisman race as voters declare their selections and, according to them, have correctly predicted the winner in nine of the nine years they’ve been tracking votes.
StiffArmTrophy.com did not respond to an email sent Tuesday morning.
ESPN.com's Heisman predictor also lists Griffin III as its pick to take home the prestigious award.
Some books, like BetOnline.com, are still offering Heisman props, while many others have taken the bet on the board.
Griffin wasn’t on many people’s radar to open the year, with Luck set as the Heisman favorite, priced at +300, back in March. Michigan QB Denard Robinson (+500), South Carolina RB Marcus Lattimore (+500), and Oregon RB LaMichael James (+600) rounded out the Heisman hopefuls.
The NCAA announced the five finalists for the 2011 Heisman this past week, giving nods to Griffin, Luck (+350), Richardson (+250), Wisconsin RB Montee Ball (+1,500), and LSU DB Tyrann Mathieu (+2,000).
