#6Utah
Big 12 · 7-0
at
Cincinnati
Big 12 · 5-2
Sat 31 Oct · 3:45 PM ET · ESPN · Nippert Stadium
Rest UTAH 7 days, CIN 7 days · Travel UTAH 1,446 mi
Market
UTAH −6.5
total 56.5 · spread opened UTAH −9.5, moved +3.0 toward CIN
Atlas projectsAtlas
31.1–22.2
UTAH–CIN · total 53.3
Difference
−2.5
on the spread · total −3.2
C77/100
Mixed record.

A moderate disagreement of 2.5 points.

Across five seasons, cards this far from the market claimed 57% accuracy and delivered 49%. That gap is where this grade comes from.

How much weight this card's information deserves — not a recommendation.

Why

what the model is reading

Be careful about

  • One book is quoting this game, so the market number has no depth behind it and may move sharply.

Projection built Oct 29, 2026 4:14 AM ETMarket updated Oct 29, 2026 4:14 AM ETData status

New to Atlas? What a card is, and what a grade means

Market detail where the line opened, where it is now, and the prices
SpreadOpenCurrentMove
Utah−9.5−6.5+3.0
Cincinnati+9.5+6.5−3.0
Price−110−105—

The spread has moved 3.0 toward Cincinnati since the open.

TotalOpenCurrentMove
Game total56.556.5unchanged
Price (over)−110−110—
Moneyline · Utah −340 → −258 Moneyline · Cincinnati +270 → +210 De-vigged, the market gives Cincinnati a 30.9% chance. Books quoting: 1.

DraftKings · 1 book quoting

Projection detail the projected score, the chance of winning, the total's range and the most likely exact score
Projected score
31.1 – 22.2
Utah – Cincinnati
Projected spread
UTAH −9.0
market −6.5
Projected total
53.3
market 56.5 · 80% range 33–75
Utah win probability
70.3%
from the score grid
Under probability
52.8%
at the current total of 56.5
Most likely score
31–24
1.0% of the grid — one cell of 6,400
How this number is made. Every FBS team starts the season at a preseason expectation built from last season's ratings, roster talent, recruiting, returning production and the coaching situation. After every game a filter updates each team's offense and defense, opponent-adjusted, and the two teams' numbers meet here with the home advantage. The total adds the teams' pace and the wind. The market is never an input; it is shown so you can see where Atlas differs and read why.

Atlas difference

MeasureAtlas modelMarketDifference
SpreadUTAH −9.0UTAH −6.5−2.5
Total53.356.5−3.2
Cincinnati win probability29.7%30.9%−1.2 pts
A difference is not an edge. Atlas has measured what happens at every size of disagreement, and the gap between what the model claims and what it delivers widens as the disagreement grows. This game sits in the 2-4 band, where cards have claimed 57% accuracy and delivered 49% across 1,123 games.
Matchup how each offense compares with the defense it faces, season to date, ranked among 138 FBS teams

Season to date through 24 October: Utah 7 games, Cincinnati 7 games. Ranks are among 138 FBS teams, 1st the best; the crest marks which side ranks better on each line.

Utah offensevs Cincinnati defense
37.414th
Points per gameedge Utah
26.495th
6.9514th
Yards per playedge Utah
6.0295th
220.712th
Rushing yards per gameedge Utah
144.171st
261.743rd
Passing yards per gameedge Utah
280.0132nd
6.112th
20+ yard plays per gameedge Utah
4.9104th
1.444th
Sacks per gameedge Cincinnati
2.436th
54%9th
Third-down conversion rateedge Utah
41%95th
70%16th
Red-zone touchdown rateedge Utah
53%56th
Cincinnati offensevs Utah defense
35.431st
Points per gameedge Utah
14.69th
7.0910th
Yards per playedge Cincinnati
5.0731st
236.18th
Rushing yards per game
91.68th
227.779th
Passing yards per gameedge Cincinnati
227.090th
5.142nd
20+ yard plays per gameedge Utah
3.638th
1.967th
Sacks per gameedge Cincinnati
1.979th
48%24th
Third-down conversion rateedge Cincinnati
35%32nd
81%1st
Red-zone touchdown rateedge Cincinnati
40%17th
Utahvs Cincinnati
Situational
+0.1461st
Turnover margin per gameedge Cincinnati
+0.8612th
69.431st most
Plays per game
65.472nd most

Figures come from completed games only, so every one was known before kickoff. They are raw, not adjusted for opponents - All drivers has Atlas's adjusted view. College counts sack yardage as rushing, as the NCAA does.

Other models what FPI, SP+ and Elo say about this game, beside Atlas and the market
ModelMarginWinAs of
FPI (ESPN)UTAH by 7.571%Oct 28
SP+UTAH by 8.8—Oct 29
EloUTAH by 12.6—Oct 29
AtlasUTAH by 9.070%live
MarketUTAH by 6.5—live

Each model's number for this game as its source published it before kickoff; Win is the favored side's chance to win, where the model gives one. FPI's margin and chance are ESPN's own. SP+ is the difference in the two teams' ratings, plus 2.5 for a home side; Elo is the difference in ratings at 24 points a point, plus 2.6 for a home side, as Atlas measured it on past seasons. None of these is an input to Atlas's number, and none is here to settle anything: they show where Atlas sits among other models.

How this grade was computed the four things that set the letter, out of a hundred
C77

Mixed card

The disagreement is wide enough that the model's historical claim runs well ahead of what it delivered.

Calibration 32/45
Market agreement 20/25
Card conditions 10/15
Data completeness 15/15

Atlas sits 2.5 points from the market. The calibration curve, fitted to every completed season out of sample, expects cards at that distance to fall 10.1% short of what they claim — which is where the calibration component above comes from.

The total has moved 3.0 points since it opened. Cards on a market that has moved have calibrated worse in five of six seasons.

The grade describes how much weight the information deserves. It says nothing about which side of a market anyone should take, and Atlas does not publish that. How grades are computed.

All drivers all 4 things the model is reading, and how each team ranks against the rest of the country
Defense, in points UTAH +8.8 pts

Atlas rates Utah's defense at +9.9 points a game against FBS average and Cincinnati's at +1.2, opponent-adjusted, after 6 games this season.

UtahCincinnati
Pace and possessions 110 plays · 51st percentile

A combined 110 plays per game — the 51st percentile of this season's games. A middling number of possessions either way.

fewer playsmore plays
Offense, in points UTAH +3.2 pts

Atlas rates Utah's offense at +6.9 points a game against FBS average and Cincinnati's at +3.7, opponent-adjusted, after 6 games this season.

UtahCincinnati
Home advantage CIN +2.6 pts

Playing at home is worth 2.6 points in this season's model, fitted, not assumed.

UtahCincinnati
Market movement how far the market has moved since the number opened, and which way

Total, open to current

57.6 56.5 55.4 Atlas 53.3 — beyond this range open 56.5 now 56.5
MeasureValue
Opening number56.5
Current number56.5
Market directionunchanged
Atlas directiondown

Atlas and the market point opposite ways on this total. That is information, not a verdict.

Two findings that are not in conflict

Atlas has measured disagreement twice, against two different reference points, and they say different things.

Measured againstWhat it predicts
The closing numberthe model's own failure — so a large difference lowers the grade
The opening numberwhich way the line moves — tracked publicly, not graded

A model far from the close is wrong; a model far from the open is early. The second finding is tracked in the open closing-line record and is deliberately kept out of the grade.

Reliability record what Atlas claimed and what it delivered, across the seasons it never saw while being built

Calibration by disagreement band

82% 64% 45% this card0-110+ claimed realized

Two series, labeled directly. The widening gap is why Atlas grades large disagreements down.

This band, five seasons

MeasureThis bandAll cards
Realized accuracy48.6%49.2%
Claimed accuracy57.1%58.0%
Calibration gap−8.5 pts−8.8 pts
Seasons above 50%1 of 5—
Games measured1,1233,864
Read the gap, not the claim. Atlas's raw confidence numbers run high — a claimed 57% has historically delivered 49%. The grade already corrects for this. The claim is shown so the correction is visible rather than hidden.
What this card is. Research, analytics and market context. Atlas does not publish selections, does not size anything and does not project returns. Every figure is computed out of sample from a point-in-time database: nothing attached to a game uses information that did not exist before kickoff.