This Thursday night marks the start of the Canadian Football
League’s 2011 regular season with the two-time defending Grey Cup Champion
Montreal Alouettes from the East Division playing host to the West Division
British Columbia Lions.
The Alouettes will actually open the Canadian football season as the second
favorite in the betting odds to win a third straight title at +275. The
preseason favorites to end their two-year reign are the Calgary Stampeders at
+250. The Saskatchewan Roughriders, two-time Grey Cup runners-up, are the
third-favorite at +550.
The following is brief football betting guide for all four
opening day games along with the current point spread and ‘over/under’ line as
provided by TheGreek.
Thursday, June 30
BC Lions at Montreal
Alouettes (-6.5)
Over/Under: 55
Montreal beat BC 16-12 as a five-point road favorite in Week
3 last season and the Lions evened the score in Week 10 as a 10.5 point road
underdog with a 38-17 victory. The total stayed way ‘under’ the 55-point line in
the first game, but went ‘over’ the 50.5 line the second time around.
The Alouettes are just 2-9 against the spread versus BC in
the last 11 meetings at home. The trends also favor the ‘over’ as the final
score has exceeded the total in six of the last meetings at Percival- Molson
Memorial Stadium in Montreal. Alouettes’ All-Star quarterback Anthony Calvillo
begins his quest to become the CFL’s all-time leader in passing yards against a
Lion’s defense that was ranked fourth in the league last season against the
pass.
Friday, July 1
Winnipeg Blue Bombers
at Hamilton Tiger-Cats (-9)
Over/Under: 51.5
These two East Division rivals are very familiar with one
another given they normally play four times a year. Last season, the Blue
Bombers drew first blood with a 49-29 romp as a three-point home underdog on
opening day, but the Tiger-Cats got the last laugh with three consecutive victories
both straight-up and ATS including a 29-22 win as a three-point home favorite
the last time they met at Ivor Wynne Stadium. The total was evenly split 2-2 in
the four games, but the pair of games in Hamilton stayed ‘under’ the total.
Winnipeg is 1-3-1 ATS in its last five games on the road
against the Tiger-Cats and the total has stayed ‘under’ in five of the last six
meetings there. The Blue Bombers will have QB Buck Pierce as their starter
after missing a good portion of the 2010 season with a variety of injuries. The
Tiger-Cats will start the season with 11-year veteran Kevin Glenn under center.
He was second in the CFL in passing last season with 5,102 yards.
Toronto Argonauts at
Calgary Stampeders (-7.5)
Over/Under: 51
Toronto only managed to win a combined seven games in 2008
and 2009, but staged a dramatic turnaround in 2010 by making the playoffs with
a 9-9 record. One of those nine wins was a 27-24 victory over Calgary as a 5.5
home underdog in Week 3. It also helped erase the memory of a 30-16 loss to the
Stampeders as a 13.5 point road underdog on opening day. The total stayed
‘under’ the 47.5-point line the first time they met and went ‘over’ the 48-point
line in Game 2.
The Argonauts are 0-5 ATS against Calgary in their last five
road games and 2-5 ATS in the last seven games overall. The total has stayed
‘under’ in the last four games played at McMahon Stadium and in five of the
last seven meetings overall. Toronto will have to go with QB Cleo Lemon, who is
filling in for the injured Steven Jyles. He was the Argos’ starter last season
and threw four more interceptions (19) than touchdowns (15).
Sunday, July 3
Edmonton Eskimos at
Saskatchewan Roughriders (-6.5)
Over/Under: 52.5
This West Division rivalry has bared witness to some classic
battles over the past few seasons with Edmonton winning four of seven games SU
and holding a 5-2 series edge ATS. Last season, the Eskimos won both games at
home, but fell 24-20 as a seven-point road underdog in Week 3 and closed the
regular season with a 31-23 loss as a one-point road favorite. The total was
evenly split 2-2 overall and 1-1 at Mosaic Stadium.
The Roughriders have won 11 of the last 14 games SU against
Edmonton at home, but they are just 3-3 ATS in the last six there. The total
has gone ‘over’ in nine of the last 11 meetings in Saskatchewan and in five of
the last eight overall. Edmonton was horrible on the road overall last season;
managing just two wins and getting outscored 311-164. The Roughriders’ high
octane offense features QB Darian Durant, who led the CFL last season with
5,542 passing yards and added another 618 yards on the ground.