Villanova vs. Temple - Football Betting Opportunities

The Villanova vs. Temple game this Friday night, September 3rd, is one for sports gamblers to watch in hopes of strategizing for future NCAAF football betting opportunities.

As of today, Sept. 2nd, the Vegas odds makers haven’t created a betting line for the ‘Nova vs. Temple game. Why? Because the game is going to be played on a football field and not on a basketball court. Simply put, neither one of these teams is known as having a dynamite football program, but Temple does play in the Mid-American Conference along with Bowling Green, Ball State, Central Michigan and Toledo. It means that betting lines will be set for games during this season when the Owls hit the gridiron.

Temple will be a part of some football handicappers NCAAF football betting predictions in the future, in both a good and bad way, so at least taking a look at Friday night’s game might be beneficial to handicappers.

Villanova Wildcats at Temple Owls

Where: Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia, PA
When: September 3rd, 2010 at 5:00 pm EST
TV: ESPN3.com

The college football betting lines most likely won’t be set for this game. You can wait as long as you want, but odds makers aren’t going to set a line for a game between Villanova and Temple because one of the teams, ‘Nova, plays in the FCS, that’s Division I-AA.

Temple, on the other hand, does play in Division-IA and does play against a number of quality teams this season.

After Villanova, Temple plays the well-regarded Central Michigan Chippewas, the very good and underrated Connecticut Huskies from the Big East and the #19 Penn State Nittany Lions. Temple is going to be a big NCAAF football betting expert picks underdog in each one of those games.

So, it makes sense for sports handicappers to pay attention to how the Owls play on Friday night. Potential future bets against Temple ATS or for Temple ATS can be gleaned by studying the Owls against a supposedly inferior opponent.

Temple is coming into 2010 off of a decent 2009 in the MAC. They went 7 and 1 in 2009 in the MAC and 8 and 4 overall. They were actually ranked 22nd in the nation in rushing yards in 2009. But, and this is funny, lost their first two games, one of those games to ‘Nova, before running off 9 straight victories.

Temple returns 16 starters from a team that went to the Eaglebank Bowl. The Owls have been picked by most experts to win the MAC this season. There are high hopes and expectations for Temple this year but Villanova is the #1 ranked team in Division 1-AA.

That makes this game very important from a sports handicapping point-of-view. If the Owls, led by Heisman Trophy Candidate RB Bernard Pierce, can blow the Wildcats off of the field on Friday night then they could, conceivably, be a nice football betting pick to not just cover the spread against Connecticut and Penn State, but maybe to even upset both Connecticut and Penn State.

That could put a lot of dollars into the pockets of sports gamblers once Temple’s games with those two schools roll around.