Hence, the worse the team the longer the odds have to be to induce betting and the better teams give get lousy odds to discourage betting. The odds change during the season because the actual performances will differ from the original odds and they have to make sure that the betting is spread around. However, at the beginning of the season, the odds will tell you where your team stands on paper. If you don't think those guys crunch the numbers to come up with those odds, you are mistaken.