Columnist Jeff Haney: College football in full swing at Imperial Palace

Wednesday, July 18, 2001 | 10 a.m.

Jeff Haney's sports betting column appears Wednesday. Reach him at 259-4041 or haney@lasvegassun.com.

College football bettors at the Imperial Palace do like UNLV to win more than 6 1/2 games this season. The most dramatic line moves this week at the Strip resort, though, involved a couple of Pac-10 powers and an ACC stalwart.

The IP on Sunday afternoon became the first Las Vegas sports book to post over/under numbers on regular-season wins for 25 college teams. The IP also hung betting lines on more than 70 college "games of the year," from the Aug. 30 UNLV-Arkansas matchup to the Dec. 1 Army-Navy game.

"They finally started betting UNLV over," said Jay Kornegay, Imperial Palace sports book director.

The Rebels' total opened at 6 1/2 with a premium of minus 160 on the over, and has been adjusted to minus 180 on the over. Bettors playing UNLV under 6 1/2 get plus 140.

Although Rebel basketball games were on Nevada betting boards from February 10 through the end of the season, this marks the first time sports books here can accept wagers on UNLV football. An age-old ban on betting games involving UNLV (or Nevada-Reno) was lifted in February.

Among the teams drawing the heaviest action so far are Washington and Oregon State of the Pac-10.

Bettors are bearish on the Huskies. The money line on Washington's total of 7 1/2 wins has been bet from over minus 130 all the way to under minus 150.

The Huskies are coming off an 11-1 season (including a Rose Bowl victory), but lost quarterback Marques Tuiasosopo to the NFL, along with 10 other starters. Under players evidently put stock in the fact that Washington eked out a lot of late, close decisions a year ago and covered the point spread in only four of their regular-season games.

Conversely, bettors are playing Oregon State (also 11-1 a year ago including a bowl win) over the posted total of 8 wins. The money line on the Beavers has gone from under minus 150 to pick 'em.

The Beavers also lose a large corps of starters, but offered plenty of value to bettors a year ago, posting a 9-2 mark against the spread in lined games.

Georgia Tech is expected to make some noise in the ACC this season, and bettors are gung-ho about the Yellow Jackets winning more than 8 1/2 games. The money line at the IP on Tech going over 8 1/2 is up to minus 185 after opening at minus 130.

Kornegay said he has taken plenty of wagers on season totals at the maximum limit of $500.

"As soon as we opened the lines there were five or six real good players in the book ready to take their shots," Kornegay said. "Obviously they work hard coming up with their own numbers, and they're ready to back up their opinions at the window. ... Since then, it has come in waves."

The highest total on the IP board is Nebraska's 10 1/2, although the 10 attached to Florida could be considered a more powerful number because the Gators have only 11 regular-season games scheduled while the Cornhuskers play 12.

"We figured Florida would be the strongest team," Kornegay said. "If you bet the over on them, the only way you win is if they go undefeated. So far, they're betting under 10. The under opened minus 160 and now it's minus 200."

Oklahoma is the only other team in double digits, at 10.

Seven Rebel games are among the IP's college games of the year. UNLV is a 4-point underdog in its first two games -- at Arkansas in the opener and against Northwestern Sept. 7.

"Years ago, we started putting up one game of the year -- maybe it would involve Miami or Notre Dame when they always had great teams," Kornegay said. "We add a few more each season, so you could say we've gone from one game to 77 games of the year."

The college totals and key games join a deep menu of pro football betting options already on the board at the Imperial Palace, including NFL over/under wins, games of the year, and Week 1 lines.

"This is great for football fans everywhere, whether you're in Las Vegas or any other city," Kornegay said. "It's been a tradition of ours to put all these numbers up -- I think people look forward to it, and we certainly want to hold up our end of the bargain."

WIT Sports of Costa Rica lists odds on 20 players to win the Heisman -- and Thomas is not among them. He's part of the "field" (all others) at 25-1.

Northwestern running back Damien Anderson is favored at 7-2, according to WIT's odds, closely followed by Nebraska quarterback Eric Crouch at 4-1.