No. 21 Cincinnati vs. SMU October 22 Betting Preview

The SMU Mustangs will host the No. 21 Cincinnati Bearcats in Dallas on Saturday afternoon at noon. The Bearcats come into this game a perfect 2-0 in conference play and winners of five straight games. The Mustangs are 1-1 in the conference and are on a one-game winning streak.

The last game for Cincinnati was a scare at home as they barely cruised past the South Florida Bulls by a score of 28-24. Cincinnati's success on the ground was the key factor in their win, as Charles McClelland led the way with 179 yards and two touchdowns. The Bearcats are coming off a bye week this past weekend.

SMU got their first conference win of the season against Navy in a high-scoring affair where they ended up outshooting Navy by a score of 40-34.

The Midshipmen almost pulled off the upset with a 20-point fourth quarter, but it was SMU quarterback Tanner Mordecai and the Mustangs who were able to come away with the win.

Let's look ahead at this American Athletic Conference matchup between the Cincinnati Bearcats and the SMU Mustangs.

Odds

The away Cincinnati Bearcats are favored in this matchup by four points and hold odds of (-110) at that spread. The Mustangs have the same odds of (-110) to cover the three-point spread.

The over/under for the game is set at 58.5, with odds of (-110) to bet the over or under. For the moneyline, the Bearcats and Mustangs have odds of (-164) and (+133) to win the game outright.

Keys To The Game

The key for Cincinnati is to run up the score on offense to give the Bearcats' defense some relief. If the Bearcats' offense can put the game out of reach, it will demoralize their opponents' hopes to win the game. In the last game versus South Florida, the Bulls were in the game the whole way through, which made it hard to shake off a tough away team looking for an upset victory.

For SMU, it is the opposite. SMU needs to get pressure on Ben Bryant and the Bearcats' offense. If the Mustangs can force Cincinnati to convert on third downs, they will have a much better chance to win this game.

SMU can score but need their defense to step up in order to give the offense enough chances to get some points on the board.

Expected Outcome

I am very surprised that this spread is as close as it is, even though Cincinnati is the away team.

This team has rattled off five in a row and is facing a team with their best win against Navy. Unless Vegas knows something that I don't, I really like the Bearcats to win on Saturday and cover the spread.

It would not be surprising to me if the Bearcats came away with a double-digit victory on the road at SMU on Saturday.