Ty Willingham, who is really feeling the hot seat right now, will lead his Washington Huskies (0-3 SU, 1-2 ATS) against the Stanford Cardinal (2-2 SU & ATS) in a Pac-10 matchup that is scheduled to take place at 10 PM ET at Husky Stadium (artificial turf) in Seattle.
The Washington Redskins and the Super Bowl champion New York Giants kick off the 2008 NFL season Thursday night at Giants Stadium in a clash of NFC East division rivals (7 pm ET, NBC). Last season, Washington was 9-7 SU and 7-7-2 ATS; New York was 10-6 SU and 10-6 ATS. The total has gone under in all five of the past five meetings in New York.
USC has won the Pac-10 title every year since 2003, including a run of 33 victories in 34 games from October 12, 2002 through October 21, 2006. However, the Trojans’ complete and utter dominance has taken a wrong turn of late, with four losses in their last 14 conference tilts. They have also finished just 7-11 ATS the last two seasons in league play.
Arizona State has failed to defeat USC since 1999, when the Sun Devils went into the L.A. Coliseum as six-point underdogs and walked off with the 26-16 victory. Can lightning strike nine years later? Dennis Erickson’s squad will be even stronger than last season’s 10-3 club, and has a great chance to pull off the upset on October 11.
The Pac-10 finished with the highest winning percentage (67%) both SU and ATS among the BCS conferences in head-to-head matchups vs. the other five power leagues. (The 8-4 records topped the SEC’s 12-9 SU and 11-10 ATS marks.) This season will be a different story as the conference will not be as strong with the departure of three of the top four quarterbacks and the top four rushing leaders. None of the 10 member schools will court any serious BCS title aspirations.
Time now for the league breakdown with odds to win the conference, followed by National Championship odds:.
Saturday NFL with the Bills at the Skins
BetUS NFL odds: WASHINGTON -5.5, Total 36
NOTABLE STAT: Bills were 30th in NFL in scoring in 2007 (15.8 ppg)
KEY NFL FOOTBALL BETTING TREND: Washington is 4-9 SU in its last 13 pre-season
The Washington Redskins (9-7 SU, 7-7-2 ATS in 2007 regular season) will have a “game in hand” when they take to the field on Saturday (August 9) to tackle the Buffalo Bills (7-9, 10-6 ATS) in a pre-season matchup that is scheduled for 7 PM ET kickoff at FedEx Field in Landover, MD, just outside the nation’s capital.
In the BetUS NFL pre-season betting odds, the Redskins are listed as a 5.5-point favorite, with the total posted at 36 points.
Here are some NFL football wagering trends as they relate to this NFL betting matchup:
* BUF has lost five of its last seven games SU
* BUF has lost six of its last nine road games SU
* BUF has covered four of its last six road games
* BUF has played five of its last six road games UNDER the total
* WASH has won and covered four of its last five games SU
* WASH has won four of its last six home games SU
* WASH has played eight of its last 12 games OVER the total
* BUF has played nine of its last 12 pre-season games UNDER the total
* WASH has lost nine of its last 13 pre-season games SU
There’s perhaps a little edge for the Redskins here, as they have played a pre-season game, beating the Colts 30-16 at the Hall of Fame Game in Canton on Sunday. So they have already had a look at their draftees, undrafted free agents, and other newcomers, have given Jason Campbell a taste of what their new West Coast offense will feel like under fire, and the league has given brand-new head coach Jim Zorn a baptism of sorts.
But two of the rookies are not going to make an impact in this game. Malcolm Kelly, drafted out of Oklahoma, just had arthroscopic surgery on his knee, and fellow wide receiver Devin Thomas of Michigan State has a hamstring problem. That thins out the options, but it didn’t seem to have a big effect last Sunday. James Thrash is making a bid to be the main man in the three-WR sets, and people like Billy McMullen and Maurice Mann are hungry, and those will be a guys to watch in this game.
There really is no quarterback controversy in Washington – yet. Campbell was 5-for-5 with a TD pass in last week’s game. But Todd Collins, who completed 64% of his passes in leading the ‘Skins to the playoffs and signed for $9 million over three years in the off-season, will be ready nonetheless. And Colt Brennan, out of Hawaii, might be a decent fit in Zorn’s offense.
Buffalo is looking for improvement in its passing game and that is why the Bills drafted big (6’6″) receiver James Hardy out of Indiana, but Hardy may see limited time here because he sat out five days of camp with hamstring problems. For a team that is already holding out Josh Reed, and will be taking it easy with Lee Evans, that might cut down on the options for Trent Edwards and J.P. Losman, not to mention the other QB’s who may see time, Matt Baker and Gibran Hamdan. It will be interesting to see how much time first-round pick Leodis McKelvin gets, especially with Donte Whitmer being likely held out of action.
These aren’t the days of Marv Levy, when the Bills used to literally crawl through pre-season games. But Buffalo still doesn’t try especially hard. Let’s go with Washington, the 5.5-point favorite in the BetUS NFL pre-season football betting odds.
JAY’S PLAY: WASHINGTON -5.5 ** (Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)
The 2008 NFL betting season is coming, and if you like to bet on the NFL, you are in the best possible place for online betting.
