Conference Clashes Highlight Weekend Football Odds Slate

When football bettors think of conference clashes the college ranks probably come to mind, but showdowns between contending teams in either of the two NFL conferences can sometimes be a valuable preview of a possible playoff matchup down the road.

For example, this upcoming Sunday in the NFL, the Cincinnati Bengals travel to Lucas Oil Stadium to face the Indianapolis Colts. Both of these AFC teams won their division last season and they are off to another strong start this year. The Bengals have been listed as 3-point road underdogs on the 5Dimes NFL betting odds for this game and the betting line for the total has been set at 49.5. Cincinnati is 6-2-1 against the spread in its last nine games as a road underdog and the Colts are 5-1 ATS in their last six games as favorites at home.

Another conference matchup between two division winners in the NFC from a year ago has the Carolina Panthers on the road against Green Bay as 7.5-point underdogs. The total for this game has been set by 5Dimes at 49. Carolina has covered ATS in nine of its last 11 road games as underdogs, while the Packers have gone just 1-5 ATS in their last six home games against a team from the AFC South.

A big conference clash on Saturday’s college football slate takes us to the Big 12 where No. 15 Oklahoma State will go on the road as an 8.5-point underdog against No.12 TCU. The betting odds on the total have been set at 62. The Horned Frogs stunned Oklahoma two weeks ago 37-33 as 3.5-point home underdogs and they were on the wrong end of one of the greatest comebacks in college football this past Saturday as 7-point road underdogs in a wild 61-58 loss to Baylor. 

Later on Saturday in the Pac-12, No. 23 Stanford will take on No.17 Arizona State as a 3-point road favorite with the total set at 54.5. The Cardinal are 12-4-1 ATS in their last 17 road games against a conference foe and the Sun Devils are 1-3 ATS in their last four conference games at home. Stanford holds a 3-0-1 edge ATS in the last four meetings and the total stayed UNDER in three of those games.