NCAA and NFL Betting Recap
By Ryan Stetson
Each week, we’ll recap all the betting information you need to know from the college and pro football action that went down over the weekend.
Welcome back after another ho-hum display of ridiculous offense in the NFL, while front office jibber-jabber threatened to steal the spotlight from the NCAA’s on-field product.
Here’s to hoping this weekend’s conference play will overshadow all the talk of NCAA conference realignment floating around and the touchdowns keep on coming in the NFL.
Come along with me as we quick look back at some of the action you might have missed.
NCAA betting recap
Favorites had a slight edge over underdogs for the second weekend in a row, going 34-28-1, while overs and unders were split right down the middle at 31 apiece.
A dozen underdogs won outright (19 percent) and most of the nation’s top teams took care of business. Oklahoma had the big win of the weekend by downing Florida State 23-13 as a 3.5-point favorite, while LSU (-3.5), Boise State (-20), Oklahoma State (-12.5), and Stanford (-9.5) all cashed in for their supporters.
Alabama looked dominant again in a 41-0 destruction of North Texas, but missed out on a payday as a 47-point favorite. Meanwhile, Wisconsin continues to impress with a blowout win over Northern Illinois, easily covering as a 15-point favorite.
King of Covers
The top of the leaderboard on our King of Covers handicapping contest is getting pretty crowded.
Heading into this week’s action, lusvagasluva is the overall leader with a 59.06 winning percentage, even though dudex2’s percentage is a touch better at 59.18 percent. Right now, lusvagasluva has a slight lead in units won, so he’ll hold the No. 1 overall spot for now.
However, dudex2 is coming hard after leading last week’s contestants. His 68.42 winning percentage was a little lower than webber56’s 71.67 percent, but again, dudex2 had a bit of an edge in units won.
Get in on all the action with Covers.com’s contests here.
NFL betting recap
You may see oddsmakers bumping up their totals sooner rather than later after 11 of the 16 games on the board played over the total in Week 2. Through the first two weeks of the season, over bettors are hitting at a 74 percent clip (23-8).
Favorites were 9-7-1 in Week 2 and are now 16-15-1 on the year.
The New England Patriots looked like the toast of the league again on Sunday by putting out a nearly flawless effort in drilling the potent San Diego Chargers 35-21 as 6.5-point favorites.
The biggest shocker of the weekend was Tennessee’s 26-13 upset of the Baltimore Ravens as a 5.5-point underdog, while Dallas and San Francisco played to a dramatic push.
A beat up Tony Romo appeared to have Cowboys bettors in the money with a deep pass in overtime, but rookie wideout Jesse Holley was stopped at the 1-yard line to set up the game-winning field goal, leaving Dallas as a 27-24 winner as a 3-point favorite.
Fantasy performers of the week
Tom Brady had another huge day with 423 yards passing and three touchdowns and Carolina's rookie QB Cam Newton fired for another 432 yards, but he also chucked three interceptions to go along with one touchdown.
Wideout Miles Austin caught three touchdowns for Dallas with 143 receiving yards. Philadelphia’s Jeremy Maclin and San Diego’s Vincent Jackson both topped 172 receiving yards with a pair of touchdowns apiece.