Penn State Football: Las Vegas releases early point spreads for 6 games on Nittany Lions schedule

On3 imageby:Dan Morrison•07/12/22•

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Las Vegas has announced six new spreads for Penn State football’s 2022 season. This comes less than two months before the 2022 season begins.

FanDuel announced spreads on six Nittany Lions games, against Purdue, Auburn, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio State, and Michigan State. Among those games are several key conference games, which will likely determine the fate of the Big Ten East in 2022. Minnesota will be coming to Happy Valley for the 2022 whiteout game. Meanwhile, the Auburn game is a return game from last season’s whiteout.

The Nittany Lions are the favorite in four of the six games announced by FanDuel. They’re big underdogs against Ohio State, while only being slight favorites over Auburn, though.

The Spreads

  • Purdue (@Purdue)
    • Penn State -3.5
  • Auburn (@Auburn)
    • Penn State -1
  • Michigan (@Michigan)
    • Penn State +6.5
  • Minnesota (@PSU)
    • Penn State -9
  • Ohio State (@PSU
    • Penn State +13
  • Michigan State (@PSU)
    • Penn State -6.5

What does this mean for Penn State?

It’s important to take spreads at the end of the season with a grain of salt. Plenty of things can change between the offseason and then. Injuries and on-field results, in particular, will reshape those spreads. Overall, you can expect these lines to change, as people place bets, too.

However, there is still plenty that you can take away from these lines. For instance, it’s clear that Las Vegas thinks that Michigan and Ohio State are a clear step ahead of Penn State. They also think that the Nittany Lions are a half step ahead of Auburn, who went through a challenging offseason, but home-field advantage makes the game a virtual coin flip.

Playing on the road at Purdue to open the season is also an incredibly challenging draw. The expectation is going to be that the Nittany Lions win, but it won’t be easy and there is a real chance that the Boilermakers pull off an upset in that situation.

Coming off a remarkable season, a touchdown feels like a large spread over Michigan State. However, it goes to show that Vegas wasn’t convinced by the Spartans in 2021. They have faith that Penn State can win that game at home.

The Nittany Lions are a nine-point favorite against Minnesota, the biggest spread in the Nittany Lions’ favor. It’s already been announced this will be the whiteout game, an interesting choice when Ohio State visits Happy Valley. It also makes sense, given the inherent talent gap between the two schools.