Temple at Cincinnati
The Owls are coming off a huge win against the Memphis Tigers to improve to 3-2. Quarterback D’Wan Mathis was stellar going 32/45 and passing for 322. Cincinnati is also coming off a signature win over Notre Dame. Quarterback Desmon Ridder has been great for the Bearcats and looks to take advantage of a Temple defense that has shown signs of weakness.
Verdict: (Temple +29) Normally I LOVE to bet on big lines like this, but Cincinnati is coming off one of their biggest wins in program history and is primed for a letdown on a short week. Temple is also coming off a season-defining win, but they are the team with nothing to lose. The key is Temple’s offense being able to score on Cincinnati. The Bearcats will score their points, but can the Owls keep up?
Cincinnati 45 – Temple 20
Stanford at Arizona State
This week’s episode of “Pac – 12 After Dark” is an intriguing matchup. Both teams are coming off wins as underdogs. Stanford took down conference favorite Oregon, and Arizona State dominated UCLA in the second half to take down what some people believe to be the surprise team of the year. The Cardinal are much improved on both sides of the ball since their opening week loss to Kansas State. Arizona State had a slip up against BYU (now ranked 13th), but their defense has looked good all year.
Verdict: (Arizona State -11.5) This line keeps going up (now at 13.5) so get this spread now for the Sun Devils. Both teams have a common opponent against UCLA. Of course, the transitive property isn’t always right, but Arizona State scored more and held the Bruins to less than Stanford. I would chase this line and take the Sun Devils by two touchdowns.
Arizona State 35 – Stanford 21