The Story Behind the Wildest College Football Bet of the Offseason on 1000-1 Utah State

When it comes to sports betting, there can be some pretty wild stories behind a bet.

I’m pretty sure at this point everyone has heard at least one crazy betting story, we have even posted quite a few here on Side Action. You know the kind of bet that makes you literally scratch your head, and wonder if someone behind the scenes knows something that no one else does. Well, here’s one wild betting story about a crazy underdog, a 1000-1 long shot.  The story begins when two gambling buddies are chatting after hours at a Russian-style bathhouse.

Supposedly one of the men overheard some former Michigan players talking about a  team from the Mountain West as a sleeper for the next college football season. That team is Utah State,  who is a 1000-1 underdog to win the National Championship this coming college football season.

Via ESPN:

Doran explains to Kizenko that former Michigan athletes were at the wedding he attended the previous night and were really hyping up a team from the Mountain West as a sleeper for the next college football season.

“I think we should bet Utah State,” Doran says, suggesting they take the Aggies to win more than seven games during the regular season.

Kizenko looks over Utah State’s schedule, notes a big game in Week 2 and checks the odds on his phone, before letting out an expletive.

“F— it! Let’s hammer the national championship,” he blurts out. “They’re 1,000-1.”

Bets of $1000 on 1000-1 longshots are pretty rare, and this one definitely raised some eyebrows.

The guy put $1,000 on Utah State to win the national championship at 1,000-1 odds with Caesars Sportsbook.  If the Aggies could somehow win the National Championship, the bet would pay a net of $1 million. Adam Pullen, who has been taking bets in Las Vegas for 30 years, says wagers on 1,000-1 long shots are typically in the $5-$20 range or “the $100 variety at most,” nowhere close to the $1,000 Kizenko dropped on Utah State.

“It definitely stands out when you see a bet like this, a four-figure bet on this long of odds,” Pullen, assistant director of trading for Caesars Sportsbook, said. “That’s definitely not the norm.”

Kizenko placed his Utah State bet all the way back on April 17th. The day after he placed his first bet on the Aggies, the odds didn’t move, so he put another $1,000 on Utah State. Then a third $1,000 bet on Utah State came in the next day from an unidentified bettor at Caesars Sportsbook in Illinois. But supposedly no connection to Kizenko. So pretty much out of nowhere the Aggies had attracted more national championship bets of $1,000 or more at Caesars than any other team, except Alabama and Ohio State, the two consensus favorites.

Caesars Sportsbook isn’t too worried about Utah State winning the national championship.

“We’re not worried,” he said.

Well normally I wouldn’t keep an eye on Utah State during the college football season, but this year we will definitely have to check back in on them.

Not sure how Utah State became a thing,  but you know bettors like to flock to certain bets. If somehow Utah State can win it all, which I personally wouldn’t bet on, it all started from a guy over hearing some info at a wedding.

You gotta love wild betting stories.  But this one will be legendary if it can somehow hit.

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