Colorado closed as a 21-point road underdog to national championship runner-up TCU in its season opener on Saturday. The Buffaloes beat the Horned Frogs in a 45-42 thriller — and sportsbooks paid dearly for it.

Caesars Sportsbook college football lead Joey Feazel tells Front Office Sports that “the public definitely won,” with the popularity of the Colorado moneyline. Feazel says that a TCU game-winning drive would have been a perfect result for the book.

“Bettors were taking as high as +800 [Colorado moneyline] prematch and continued to bet them during in-game wagering,” DraftKings director of race and sports operations Johnny Avello tells FOS. “You ask if we won or lost on that particular game. How about hammered?”