Weekend Football Betting: Bengals Set to Face Saints

Sports bettors have a number of great football matchups to wager on this weekend, but one of the more intriguing ones is an inter-conference NFL battle between the Cincinnati Bengals and the New Orleans Saints on Sunday afternoon.

Both of these preseason Super Bowl contenders continue to struggle to find their identity well into the regular season. The 5-3-1 Bengals are actually in last place in the highly competitive AFC North, while New Orleans leads the watered-down NFC South with a straight-up record of 4-5. The NFL betting odds in this contest on the latest 5Dimes board have the Saints favored by 8 points at home with the total set at 50.5. New Orleans remains dominant at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome with a 24-6-1 record against the spread in its last 31 home games as a favorite.

Another interesting matchup on this Sunday’s NFL slate pits a pair of surprising NFC division leaders against one another. The 7-2 Detroit Lions will go on the road as 2-point underdogs against the 8-1 Arizona Cardinals. The betting odds for the total in this game have been set at 41.5. Detroit is 3-8-1 ATS in its last 12 road games as an underdog and the Cardinals have covered ATS in their last three home games as favorites.

There are also a number of huge showdowns on Saturday’s college football schedule, including Nebraska on the road against Wisconsin with a possible berth in the Big Ten title game out of the West Division on the line. Each team comes in with a SU 4-1 record in conference play and 5Dimes has listed the Badgers as 6-point home favorites with the total set at 57. The Cornhuskers have failed to cover in their last three games against Wisconsin and the total has gone OVER in all three contests.

Another matchup that could have some major ramifications for a conference title game pits Virginia Tech on the road against Duke. The 4-5 Hokies can only play the role of spoiler in this matchup, but 8-1 Duke is on the verge of locking up a second-straight ACC Coastal title with a 4-1 record in conference play. The Blue Devils have been listed as 5-point home favorites and the 5Dimes betting odds for the total have been set at 46.5. The Hokies have won nine of the last 10 meetings SU and the total has stayed UNDER in three of the last four games.