What is Vegas thinking? The Texas vs. Vanderbilt spread is complete nonsense

The Longhorns manage to get themselves into some pretty sticky situations each week, despite being a much more talented team than most of their opponents. Regardless of this fact, Texas is still 6-2 and 6th in the SEC standings as of right now.

It's no secret that Vanderbilt has been on an absolute heater this season with Pavia at quarterback, defeating South Carolina, LSU, and Missouri already in 2025. They've shown the ability to consistently execute and beat teams that they seemingly "shouldn't", and Texas may or may not be considered one of those teams in week 10.

Even so, it's absolutely insane that Texas is currently favored over the Commodores this week. Though it's only a 2.5-point spread, looking at Texas -2.5 on FanDuel.com looks incredibly odd.

College football isn't a sport that can be influenced by "name". Just because the Longhorns are a well-known commodity in the college football world shouldn't mean that they deserve to be favored when they're set to play another team of equal talent, which is what seems to be happening here. On an equal playing field, there's absolutely no reason for Texas to be favored.

That being said, the way Arch Manning played against Mississippi State may have influenced the market at the last minute. He led one of the top comebacks in Texas football history and had his best overall performance of the year.

If he continues to play like that in a more consistent fashion, then the Longhorns could be in a great position this weekend at DKR, so maybe that's what Vegas is currently banking on with this spread. It'll be interesting to follow the line movement of this one throughout the week.