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CFL Betting Notes - Week 11 By David Schwab VegasInsider
The Labor Day Weekend featured four division matchups in the CFL starting last Friday with Montreal doubling-up Ottawa 20-10 as a 4½-point home favorite. The total stayed UNDER the 45½-point closing line. Sunday’s action featured Game 1 of a home-and-home series between Winnipeg and Saskatchewan with the Roughriders carving-out the early edge in a thrilling 35-30 shootout as 7½-point home favorite. The total went OVER the 48 ½-point line.
Monday’s holiday double-header started off with Hamilton squeezing past Toronto 13-12 as three-point home favorite with the total staying well UNDER the 52-point line. Calgary got the early edge in its home-and-home series against Edmonton with a 28-13 victory as a 4½-point favorite at home. The total stayed UNDER the 49½-point closing line.
Saturday, Sept. 6
Calgary (8-1 SU, 7-2 ATS) at Edmonton (7-2 SU, 5-4 ATS)
Point-spread: PICK Total: 50½
Game Overview
Calgary’s win last week has it leading the way in the West. It has the best SU record in the CFL and it is has covered in its last four games. The fact that the Stampeders’ defense leads the CFL in points allowed (14.9) has gone a long way at keeping the total UNDER in seven of their first nine games this season.
Edmonton quarterback Matt Nichols got the start in Game 1 of this series for Mike Reilly and completed 18-of-30 attempts for 203 yards, but the Eskimos still had a hard time finding the end zone. What has really led Edmonton to its impressive first half record is a defense that is holding teams to just 18.9 PPG.
Betting Trends
Calgary has now won both meetings this season SU to extend its winning streak in this series to five games. The Stampeders are 7-1 ATS in the last eight meetings which includes a perfect 5-0 mark ATS when playing in Edmonton. The total has stayed UNDER in four of the last five meetings at Commonwealth Stadium.
Michigan State vs. Oregon Odds and Pick By: Craig Williams Sportingnews
The No. 4 Oregon Ducks, one of the favorites to battle it out in college football's first playoff tournament, host the No. 6 Michigan State Spartans in a high-profile early-season matchup (6:30 pm, ET, Fox).
Line: Oregon -13, Total: 58
Line movement: Bettors were happy to lay the Wynn's opening spread of Ducks -10.5, and the number had been bet all the way up to -13.5 by Monday. Midweek, the line ranged from 12.5 to 13.5 around Las Vegas. For updated spreads and totals from around Las Vegas, visit our live odds page .
Trends that matter: The last time Oregon played an opponent the caliber of Michigan State early in the season was in 2011, when they lost to LSU as a 3-point favorite by a score of 40-27. The Spartans opened against No. 24 Boise State in 2012, winning 17-13 but failing to cover the 8.5-point spread.
Offense vs. defense: It will be a classic clash of high-octane offense against dominant defense when the Spartans and Ducks meet. The Spartans were No. 4 in the nation in points allowed (12.7) per game and tops in yards allowed (248.2) last season. And according to Big Ten Network analyst Gerry DiNardo , the Spartans' defense may be better in 2014 (The Linemakers on Sporting News' Kenny White disagrees). “This is our eighth year covering Mark Dantonio, this is by far his most talented team -- especially at the line of scrimmage,” DiNardo said.
Michigan State's style of play -- a tough, physical, blitz-heavy defense with a strong running game -- is similar to Stanford's, a program that has grounded the Ducks' high-octane offense in each of the last two seasons (to be fair, a knee injury hampered Oregon's Marcus Mariota in last season's 26-20 loss.)
That Oregon offense accounted for 46.8 points (3rd in FBS) and 573 yards (2nd) per game in 2014. Nobody is expecting much to change offensively, but according to Andrew Greif , Ducks beat writer of The Oregonian, Mariota and Co. are still waiting to see which wide receiver steps up to become the top target.
Eleven different receivers caught passes for the Ducks in their blowout win over South Dakota in Week 1, but running back Byron Marshall was the most targeted. That isn't necessarily a bad thing, but not something that we expect to continue as the receiving corps continues to develop.
Injuries that matter: Michigan State QB Connor Cook, RB Jeremy Langford, LG Travis Jackson and WR Macgarrett Kings Jr. suffered injuries in Week 1, but it is unknown at this point how severe, but Dantonio expects them to practice and play . Oregon's preseason All-American cornerback, Ifo Ekpre-Olomu declared himself "fine" after injuring his ankle in Saturday's game.
The Linemakers' lean: We have a split-opinion among The Linemakers crew. Kenny White offers a small lean to Oregon, who he thinks actually has a better defense Michigan State. Sparty's D, says Kenny, will take a step back this year. Kenny made this game Oregon -15.5.
Richie Baccellieri, though, is on the dog. MSU QB Connor Cook is on his way to becoming a household name and has some athletic receivers to throw to. Also, the Ducks aren't used to facing defenses of this calber, and the Spartans' big offensive line should be able to create room for their rushing attack.
College Football Betting Preview: Michigan at Notre Dame By Teddy Covers Sportsmemo
CRIS Opener: Notre Dame -4.5 O/U 54.5 CRIS Current: Notre Dame -3.5 O/U 56 Rob Veno's Power Rating: Notre Dame -4 Teddy Covers' Recommendation: Over
Michigan has won and covered four of the last five meetings between these two teams, taking control of what had been a very competitive series in recent seasons. In fact, prior to the Wolverines recent success, the taking the underdog plus the points had been the prevailing theme, winning outright in nine of the previous 12 meetings. And, of course, with Michigan catching points in South Bend on Saturday, the trends clearly point towards the Wolverines as live underdogs here.
The Wolverines went through an ugly 0-5 SU and ATS run as an underdog heading into last November, but they covered three straight in that role down the stretch last year, finally showing success when catching points in hostile environments. And with an experienced senior signal caller in Devin Gardner, there’s little reason to expect Michigan to have any sort of dramatic home/road dichotomy in 2014.
Gardner was certainly dynamic in the Wolverines opener last weekend, although the level of competition wasn’t particularly high – Appalachian State in 2014 is a long, long way down from the App State team that upset the Wolverines in the Big House back in 2007. Michigan’s offense was nearly unstoppable in that contest, producing touchdowns on six of their first eight drives.
Reports out of Ann Arbor have made it clear that the Wolverines have no shortage of quality skill position talent surrounding their senior QB. Running backs De’Veon Smith and Derrick Green both ripped off 60+ yard touchdown scampers last week , while Devin Funchess caught three TD passes. And despite losing a pair of offensive line starters to the NFL draft this past offseason, the Wolverines continue to stockpile blue chip recruits on that OL; a unit that still looks strong.
Notre Dame spent the offseason installing a new defensive scheme under new coordinator Brian VanGorder, and their stop unit had to replace five starters from their front seven, including a handful of NFL draft choices. The defense performed well against Rice last week, but Michigan is a much tougher test for a somewhat suspect stop unit.
But Notre Dame’s offense looked extremely impressive in their blowout over Rice last weekend, a tougher foe than the Wolverines faced. After punting on their first two drives, the Irish started to click, producing touchdowns or field goal tries on nine of their final ten possessions.
In particular, QB Everett Golson looked brilliant in his return to South Bend; the same QB who guided the Irish to the national championship game as a freshman two years ago. Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly following the game in which his QB averaged more than 13 yards per pass ATTEMPT: “There's a lot of things that he will tell you that he's got to continue to improve on, but there's a confidence that he carries with him that is starting to emanate.”
Notre Dame certainly isn’t short on skill position talent surrounding Golson; loaded with playmaking weapons. And the Wolverines defense is coming off their worst season of the Brady Hoke era, with concerns both on the defensive line and in the secondary.
Last year’s game was a 41-30 shootout won by the Wolverines; the fourth time in the last five meetings that the losing team has scored 24 or more. No surprise here if BOTH teams get into the 30’s again this year, sending this game flying Over the total.
CFL | HAMILTON at MONTREAL Play On - Home underdogs or pick (MONTREAL) after failing to cover the spread in 4 or 5 out of their last 6 games, when playing on a Sunday 26-5 since 1997. ( 83.9% | 20.5 units ) 0-1 this year. ( 0.0% | -1.1 units )
CFL | SASKATCHEWAN at WINNIPEG Play On - Any team vs the the 1rst half line (WINNIPEG) after 1 or more consecutive straight up losses against opponent after 5 or more consecutive straight up wins 38-11 since 1997. ( 77.6% | 25.9 units )
The Kentucky Wildcats have gone 4-20 the last two seasons. Mark Stoops took over this program just about a year and a half ago, and you can already see the beginning of change with this Kentucky program. Stoops has recruited hard and strong with a top 20 recruiting class, and now has plenty of talent. You also have to remember that last year Miami, Ohio came here and provided the Wildcats with their only win against a FBS team in 41-7 whitewashing. QB Patrick Towles looks like he could be a tremendous upgrade, and while Kentucky will struggle in the SEC, they should add some early wins to grow some confidence and be more competitive. Ohio has gone to five straight bowl games, but they have lost almost the entire offense, including QB Tyler Tettleton. The Bobcats can defend, but where is the offense? They fumbled four times vs. Kent State in a 3-point win last week, but they may have to come from behind and throw the ball here against a very good pass-rushing Kentucky team. The Wildcats fit into a huge 92-28 ATS situation, and this should be a big home win for them. Take Kentucky.
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