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By Dan Behringer, LVSportsBiz.com Sports Betting Writer
You will be able to find many sports to bet on this weekend at your favorite sports book — from college hoops to the NBA, the NHL and UFC 283. Look hard enough, and there will even be action in the American Express golf tournament.
But the crowds will be there for the Divisional Round of the NFL playoffs. The oohs and aahs and the deafening crescendos of sound that drown out normal conversation will be for professional football’s game-busting plays, close calls and official reviews that are upheld or overturned. That you can definitely bet on.
If you need a quick refresher on the latest odds, here are the latest numbers from Covers.com.
The Jacksonville Jaguars are +8.5 vs. the Kansas City Chiefs. The total has been bet up to 53. Game time is 1:30 pm. Saturday. Covers has 51 percent of the betting interest on the Chiefs.
The New York Giants are +7.5 vs. the Philadelphia Eagles. The total has inched up to 53. Game time is 5:15 p.m. Saturday. Some two-thirds of the betting interests favors the Giants, according to Covers.
On Sunday, the Cincinnati Bengals are +5.5 vs. the Buffalo Bills. The total has come down from 50 to 48.5. The Bengals are drawing 65 percent of the betting interest. There’s a slight chance of snow during the game that kicks off at noon.
The weekend will conclude with the Dallas Cowboys +4 vs. the San Francisco 49ers. The total has edged up to 46. Covers says 62 percent of the betting interest is on the Niners.
“So we’re the underdog?” Mike McCarthy, who is 0-3 vs. San Francisco as head coach of the Cowboys and Packers, asked in an interview on Friday. “By four? Wow. OK.”
Game time will be at 3:30 p.m., and we’ll go out on a limb and say the books will littered with empty Bud Light bottles and discarded tickets by then, but the crowds will still be there.
Elsewhere:
— Skidding Knights: The Vegas Golden Knights close out the weekend with a game on Saturday hosting the Washington Capitals at T-Mobile Arena.
The Knights (25-17-4-2) are coming off a 3-2 loss to the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday. The Capitals own 28-16-1-1 record.
Coach Bruce Cassidy after Foley’s Finest lost three straight games for the first time this season: “I wouldn’t put it on one thing. Our effort needs to be better. … Guys we rely on, they need to be better.”
No line yet for Saturday’s game. But with two evenly matched teams, it’s likely both teams could go off around -110 with a total of around 6. The puck drop is at 7 p.m.
Despite a 4-5-1 mark over the last 10 games, the Golden Knights are still around +850 to +900 to win the Stanley Cup, trailing only the Boston Bruins, Colorado Avalanche and the Carolina Hurricanes.
— Slogging, not runnin’: The UNLV Runnin’ Rebels, mired at the bottom of the Mountain West Conference, will be at Fresno State on Saturday. After impressive nonconference play to start the season, the Rebels find themselves at 1-5 in the conference and looking up — a long way up — at conference leaders.
UNLV did cover +7 in their 75-71 loss to Utah State and fought back gamely from a 46-37 halftime deficit.
“There are no moral victories,” coach Kevin Kruger told reporters after the game. “We made that clear. At UNLV, there are no moral victories.”
Tipoff for Saturday’s game is at 3 p.m. No line yet on the game.
— UFC 283 line: Odds haven’t budged much for the featured light heavyweight bout between Glover Teixeira and Jamahal Hill at UFC 283. Hill is generally -120 and Teixeira is even money for Saturday’s fight from the Jeunesse Arena in Rio de Janeiro. Over/under 1.5 rounds is -120 on both sides.
Fight time is 7 p.m.
— Play of the Week (9-9): After 18 predictions and a hot start at the start of football season, we find ourselves at exactly .500. Not very impressive, huh? But then match that with your buddy who’s always whispering in your ear and telling you who he likes. This week, we’re on the Cowboys-49ers total over 46.