BETTING: Odds and ends
ROAD WARRIOR
Brigham Young coach Bronco Mendenhall's team has covered five straight games in the road underdog role. BYU is a 13½-point 'dog at undefeated Notre Dame on Saturday.
ROAD KILL
UNLV is 0-16 straight up and 1-14-1 against the spread since coach Bobby Hauck's arrival in 2010. The Rebels' next task is to cover a 28-point line at Boise State.
DID YOU KNOW?
Western Kentucky has been the best bet on the board for more than a year by covering 15 consecutive games, including all six this season.
This week, the Hilltoppers are 3½-point home favorites over Louisiana-Monroe. The teams' past three meetings were decided by five points or fewer.
Western Kentucky's coach is Willie Taggart, and its quarterback is Kawaun Jakes. Bet you didn't know that.
BY THE NUMBERS
■ 40½ - The biggest point spread on the board this week is on Southern California as a home favorite over Colorado.
■ 36.2 - Average margin of Hawaii's five losses under first-year coach Norm Chow. The Warriors get a needed bye this week.
■ 16 - Combined point-spread covers for the NFL's five rookie starting quarterbacks - Seattle's Russell Wilson (five), Cleveland's Brandon Weeden, Miami's Ryan Tannehill and Washington's Robert Griffin III (three each), and Indianapolis' Andrew Luck (two).
TRENDING
Notes from handicapper Bruce Marshall of GoldSheet.com:
■ Purdue at Ohio State - The Boilermakers are 6-2 against the spread in the past eight meetings, including a 26-23 upset win last year. But that was before Urban Meyer took over as Buckeyes coach.
■ Michigan State at Michigan - The Spartans own four straight wins and covers in the rivalry. Michigan State is 1-6 ATS this season, however, and Michigan coach Brady Hoke is 7-3 ATS at home in his two seasons.
■ Kansas State at West Virginia - Wildcats coach Bill Snyder is 9-1 ATS in his past 10 games as a road 'dog.
■ Wyoming at Fresno State - The Cowboys are 3-0 ATS as road 'dogs this season, and coach Dave Christensen 16-4 ATS in that role since 2009.
■ Dallas at Carolina - The underdog team is 5-0 in Carolina games this season. The Panthers are 0-3 as favorites but 2-0 as underdogs. The Cowboys are 7-16-1 ATS in their past 24 games.
■ Pittsburgh at Cincinnati - The Steelers' road woes continue, as they are 0-3 straight up and ATS away this season and 2-11 ATS in their past 13 on the road.
TWITTER CHATTER
Betting tweets from the past week:
@Covers
■ After NFL dogs went 12-2 ATS last week, they're 57-32-2 this year. Best mark through first six weeks going back at least 15 years.
■ The previous best six-week record for NFL underdogs over last 15 years was a 49-25-7 ATS mark - 60.49 percent - in 1999.
■ But the universe tends to balance itself. In '99, teams getting the points eventually finished 119-102-11 ATS (51 percent).
@WagerMinds
■ NFL: In all four late afternoon games Sunday, the underdog won outright. If you parlayed all four on the money line, you turned $100 into $6,580.
@RJinVegas
■ In pro bettor @FezzikSports private power rankings, Patriots (3-3) are alone in 1st, while Falcons (6-0) are tied for 9th.
COMPILED BY MATT YOUMANS
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
