Sports betting roundup: Cowboys win a thriller, but don't cover the spread

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Sports betting roundup: Cowboys win a thriller, but don't cover the spread

2025-09-16 01:41 Last Updated At：02:01

It was another solid September weekend in sports.

Week 2 of the NFL season was almost as exciting as Week 1, with a number of games coming down to the wire, including an overtime thriller between the Cowboys and Giants.

In addition, there were some great college football games on Saturday, and it was capped by what will likely be the biggest boxing fight of the year with Terence Crawford's win over Canelo Alvarez.

Here’s a look at the action from a betting perspective.

The Cowboys beat the Giants 40-37 in Sunday's wildest NFL game. At the BetMGM online sportsbook, Dallas (-5.5) was the second-most bet team in terms of number of bets and money. Winning by three, the Cowboys did not cover the spread.

The three most-bet college football teams in terms of tickets all did not cover the spread on Saturday. Oregon (-27.5) only beat Northwestern 34-14, Georgia (-4) beat Tennessee 44-41 in overtime and Clemson (-3) lost to Georgia Tech 24-21.

Tennessee (+145) was the most bet underdog to win on Saturday, and its kicker missed a 43-yard field goal in the closing seconds that would have given the Vols the outright win.

Scottie Scheffler won for the sixth time this year on the PGA Tour at the Procore Championship. He finished at 19 under, which was one shot better than Ben Griffin. Scheffler entered the event +225 and took in the most money in pre-tournament outright winner betting (34.7%).

Crawford beat Alvarez on Saturday night in Las Vegas. Crawford (42-0, 31 KOs) became the first male boxer in the four-belt era to hold unified division titles in three weight classes. Crawford closed at +165 and only took in 45% of the bets and 33% of the money. A bettor at BetMGM wagered $2 million on Crawford at +140 to beat Alvarez earlier in the day Saturday.

In the NFL, just four underdogs won, and all were underdogs by three points or fewer: Patriots (+2.5) vs. Dolphins, Seahawks (+3) vs. Steelers, Colts (+2.5) vs. Broncos and Falcons (+3) vs. Vikings.

The Major League Baseball regular season is nearing its end, so here’s a look at the teams with the best odds to win the World Series.

This column was provided to The Associated Press by BetMGM online sportsbook.

AP sports: https://apnews.com/hub/sports

A South Korean court sentences Yoon to 5 years in prison on charges related to martial law decree

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A South Korean court sentenced former President Yoon Suk Yeol to five years in prison Friday in the first verdict from eight criminal trials over the martial law debacle that forced him out of office and other allegations.

Yoon was impeached, arrested and dismissed as president after his short-lived imposition of martial law in December 2024 triggered huge public protests calling for his ouster.

The most significant criminal charge against him alleges that his martial law enforcement amounted to a rebellion, and the independent counsel has requested the death sentence in the case that is to be decided in a ruling next month.

In Friday's case, the Seoul Central District Court sentenced Yoon for defying attempts to detain him, fabricating the martial law proclamation and sidestepping a legally mandated full Cabinet meeting.

Yoon has maintained he didn’t intend to place the country under military rule for an extended period, saying his decree was only meant to inform the people about the danger of the liberal-controlled parliament obstructing his agenda. But investigators have viewed Yoon’s decree as an attempt to bolster and prolong his rule, charging him with rebellion, abuse of power and other criminal offenses.

Judge Baek Dae-hyun said in the televised ruling that imposing “a grave punishment” was necessary because Yoon hasn’t shown remorse and has only repeated “hard-to-comprehend excuses.” The judge also restoring legal systems damaged by Yoon’s action was necessary.

Yoon, who can appeal the ruling, hasn’t immediately publicly responded to the ruling. But when the independent counsel demanded a 10-year prison term in the case, Yoon’s defense team accused them of being politically driven and lacking legal grounds to demand such “an excessive” sentence.

Prison sentences in the multiple, smaller trials Yoon faces would matter if he is spared the death penalty or life imprisonment at the rebellion trial.

Park SungBae, a lawyer who specializes in criminal law, said there is little chance the court would decide Yoon should face the death penalty in the rebellion case. He said the court will likely issue a life sentence or a sentence of 30 years or more in prison.

South Korea has maintained a de facto moratorium on executions since 1997 and courts rarely hand down death sentences. Park said the court would take into account that Yoon’s decree didn’t cause casualties and didn’t last long, although Yoon hasn’t shown genuine remorse for his action.