Sports betting roundup: College football, NFL, Ryder Cup and baseball all in action

From college football to an exciting NFL Sunday, from the Ryder Cup to the final games of MLB’s regular season, the weekend provided loads of sports action.

Here’s a look at how things played out from a sports betting perspective:

At the BetMGM online sportsbook, the Minnesota Vikings (-2.5 vs. the Pittsburgh Steelers) were the most bet team on Sunday in terms of number of bets and money. Pittsburgh beat Minnesota 24-21 in Dublin.

The Baltimore Ravens (-2.5 at the Kansas City Chiefs) were also a popular team on Sunday, taking in the fifth-most number of bets and fifth-most money. Kansas City defeated Baltimore 37-20, which dropped the Ravens to 1-3 on the year. Patrick Mahomes is now 13-3-3 against the spread as an underdog in the NFL.

In one of the most exciting games of the day, the Green Bay Packers and the Dallas Cowboys tied 40-40 on Sunday Night Football. Green Bay entered the matchup as 6.5-point favorites, taking in 79% of the bets and 53% of the money. The over/under closed at 46.5, with 63% of the bets and 59% of the money coming in on the over.

The U.S. Ryder Cup team made things interesting in Sunday singles, but fell 15-13 to Europe at the end of the day. The American squad entered Sunday trailing 12-5 and were +1400 to win, but only lost one match outright to make things interesting late in the afternoon.

The New York Giants entered Sunday’s game against the Los Angeles Chargers winless and 6.5-point underdogs at home. But led by Jaxson Dart in his first NFL start, the Giants upset the Chargers 21-18. The Chargers were the second-most bet team in terms of number of tickets on Sunday.

Illinois kicked a field goal as time expired to beat Southern California 34-32. The Fighting Illini were 6.5-point underdogs entering the matchup, and USC took in 62% of the bets and 73% of the money. USC was the fifth-most bet team on Saturday in terms of money.

The MLB playoffs get started on Tuesday with the Wild Card round. The Philadelphia Phillies have the best odds to win the World Series at +450, followed by the Los Angeles Dodgers at +500 and the Seattle Mariners at +550.

The New York Yankees and Toronto Blue Jays are next at +700, with the Milwaukee Brewers at +800, the Chicago Cubs at +1400 and the San Diego Padres at +1500.

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

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

Detroit Tigers leftfielder Kerry Carpenter walks in front of the scoreboard on the Green Monster during a baseball game against the Boston Red Sox, Sunday, Sept. 28, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Jim Davis)

Europe poses with the trophy after winning the Ryder Cup golf tournament against the United States on the Bethpage Black golf course, Sunday, Sept. 28, 2025, in Farmingdale, N.Y. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

Green Bay Packers' Brandon McManus (17) kicks a game-tying fielg goal with Daniel Whelan (19) holding in the second half of an NFL football game against the Dallas Cowboys Sunday, Sept. 28, 2025, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes (15) throws during the first half of an NFL football game against the Baltimore Ravens Sunday, Sept. 28, 2025, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers (8) throws the ball during the NFL football game between Minnesota Vikings and Pittsburgh Steelers at Croke Park stadium in Dublin, Sunday, Sept. 28, 2025.(AP Photo/Peter Morrison)

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Madison Keys planned to walk into the player tunnel at Rod Laver Arena in a quiet moment when nobody was watching, and take a photo of her name listed with the other champions at the Australian Open.

After beating top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka in last year's final at Melbourne Park to win her first Grand Slam title, Keys pictured the moment she'd return to the stadium for the first time as defending champion.

“I’ve always kind of remembered walking through that tunnel and seeing all the names,” she said Friday, two days before the first major of the year starts. “It was a little bit of a pinch-me moment where I was like, ‘Wow, I’m going to be up there.’

“I have not seen my name in the tunnel yet. I hope I can go in there when there’s no one else so I can take a picture and send it to my mom."

Before facing the media in Melbourne, she couldn't help but notice other evidence at the venue of her breakthrough triumph.

“There’s a really cool photo of me holding the trophy," Keys said. “Getting to see those, it’s something you dream of in your career.”

The 30-year-old American said it was easy to look back almost 12 months and think everything worked to perfection, but "also you think about, ‘Wow, I almost lost.’

"I was match point down. So many three-set matches. There were some ugly matches. I think it kind of just makes everything a little bit better just because it wasn’t issue-free.”

Keys won a tune-up tournament in Adelaide in 2025 before ending Sabalenka's 20-match winning streak at the Australian Open. At 29, she was the tournament's oldest first-time women's champion. She also set a record as the player with the longest gap between their first two Grand Slam finals — her first was the 2017 U.S. Open.

The Australian Open victory launched her into a Top 5 ranking the following month. After the breakthrough, though, she was ousted in the French Open quarterfinals, the third round at Wimbledon and had a nervy first-round exit at the U.S. Open. At the season-ending WTA Finals, she lost two group-stage matches.

Sabalenka, meanwhile, admitted Friday that the loss here to Keys last year was tough.

“She played incredible and overplayed me. Took me a little time to recover,” she said. “We had matches after that. I worked on my mistake on those matches.

“Going to this AO, I’m not really focusing on that last year result but of course I would like to do just a little bit better than I did last year!”

Sabalenka, who beat Keys in the quarterfinals last week en route to the Brisbane International title, plays her first-round match Sunday night against Tiantsoa Rakotomanga Rajaonah, a wild-card entry from France.

Keys also lost in the quarterfinals in her title defense in Adelaide earlier this week. But she's taking it in her stride as she prepares for another career first: defending a major title.

“Even though I’ve been on tour for a long time, this is also still my first experience as that,” she said. “I’m really just trying to soak in all of the really cool fun parts."

Seeded ninth and on the other side of the draw from Sabalenka, Keys is scheduled to open against Oleksandra Oliynykova of Ukraine.

“Yes, I’m sure going on court I’m going to be very nervous," she said, "but I don’t think I’ve ever walked on court first round of a Grand Slam and not been nervous.”

Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus waves to the crowd after winning the women's final match against Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine 6-4, 6-3, at the Brisbane International tennis tournament in Brisbane, Australia, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Tertius Pickard)

Madison Keyes of the United States reacts during press conference ahead of the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)