The Cincinnati Bearcats (8-2, 5-1 AAC) visit Lincoln Financial Field to take on the Temple Owls (3-7, 1-5) Saturday. Kickoff is set for 4 p.m. ET (ESPNU). Below, we analyze Tipico Sportsbook‘s lines around the Cincinnati vs. Temple odds, and make our expert college football picks and predictions.
Cincinnati is coming off a 27-25 home victory over East Carolina, failing to cover as a 5-point favorite. The Bearcats are 0-5 against the spread (ATS) in their last 5 games and just 2-7-1 ATS on the season. Cincinnati is just 2-2 straight up on the road as well.
The Owls, on the other hand, are 7-3 ATS and are 3-2 straight up at home. Temple has covered 4 straight games and were double-digit underdogs in 3 of those. Temple recently lost 43-35 at Houston last Saturday but covered as 20-point dogs.
Cincinnati is No. 21 in the AFCA Coaches Poll powered by USA TODAY Sports, and No. 25 in the College Football Playoff Rankings.
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Cincinnati at Temple odds
Provided by Tipico Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated at 3:37 a.m. ET.
- Moneyline (ML): Cincinnati -900 (bet $900 to win $100) | Temple +600 (bet $100 to win $600)
- Against the spread (ATS): Cincinnati -16.5 (-113) | Temple +16.5 (-107)
- Over/Under (O/U): 50.5 (O: -110 | U: -110)
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Cincinnati at Temple picks and predictions
Prediction
Cincinnati 31, Temple 17
Moneyline
PASS.
Backing a -900 favorite makes no sense. The bold may look at Temple (+600) and see some value, but I’d rather take the points.
Against the spread
BET TEMPLE +16.5 (-113).
I already pointed out that Temple has covered 4 straight games. The Owls have covered their last 4 at home as well.
The Bearcats have a solid defense, but their offense has been lacking consistency. They average 32.6 points per game and allow 21.4 PPG, which doesn’t justify a 16.5-point spread. QB Ben Bryant has 7 interceptions, and the Bearcats do not consistently win the turnover margin.
As mentioned, Cincinnati is 2-7-1 ATS and Temple is 7-3 ATS. Given the Owls’ strength at home, I would back them to cover a more than 2-TD spread here.
Over/Under
LEAN UNDER 50.5 (-110).
The Bearcats are 4-5-1 O/U and Temple is 5-5 O/U.
Temple has gone Over in 3 straight games. The Owls have a solid pass defense as well, ranking 13th in the nation, allowing just 181.2 yards per game. The weakness is in the rush defense which is where the Bearcats struggle.
The strength-on-weakness point coupled with the Owls’ own poor attack, averaging just 21.4 PPG, makes UNDER 50.5 (-110) the better play here.
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