Imagine if the AFC East and the NFC West were the only two divisions in the NFL. That would certainly change the way you bet on football. You’d grow very familiar with those eight teams after seeing them beat each other up all season long. You’d also have to be very careful when looking at the standings throughout the year. The New England Patriots may have a great record, but how many times did they play the St. Louis Rams?

You see where we’re driving. The CFL has all the betting advantages and disadvantages you’d expect from an eight-team league, and with the season more than halfway over, casual bettors who rely on the standings for guidance are ripe for the picking. Let’s harvest.

Friday: Calgary Stampeders at Saskatchewan Roughriders (9:00 p.m. ET)

Things look great for the Stampeders (9-1 SU, 8-2 ATS) and their supporters. They’ve got the best record in the CFL, scoring the most points (35.9 per game) and giving up the fewest (20.2). But take a closer look: Each of Calgary’s last five games (5-0 SU and ATS) was against either the Edmonton Eskimos or B.C. Lions, the bottom two teams in the West Division.

Calgary’s only faced one winning team this year: the Roughriders (6-4 SU, 5-5 ATS). And the way the Riders are playing, they won’t be a winning team much longer. They lost 40-20 to the Stamps in Week 4 as 2-point road dogs against the CFL odds; since then, Saskatchewan is 3-3 SU and ATS, alternating home wins and road losses. QB Darian Durant has three touchdown throws and 10 interceptions over that span. The UNDER is 5-1.

Saturday: Hamilton Tiger-Cats at British Columbia Lions (10:00 p.m. ET)

Hamilton is 5-5 SU and ATS. British Columbia is 3-7 SU and 4-6 ATS. But check out those point differentials. The Ti-Cats have been outscored 255-235 on the season, compared to 260-245 for the Lions. Not much difference there. All five of Hamilton’s wins SU and ATS are against either the Winnipeg Blue Bombers or Toronto Argonauts, hardly the class of the CFL.

Meanwhile, the Lions absorbed a seven-game losing streak (1-6 ATS) with just one of those defeats coming at the hands of a losing team (Edmonton). British Columbia was also operating mostly without starting QB Casey Printers (seven TDs, three INTs), who has guided the Leos to a pair of wins SU and ATS over the past two weeks. They’ll be favored in this contest.

Sunday: Winnipeg Blue Bombers at Toronto Argonauts (1:00 p.m. ET)

Watch out for regression to the mean. The Blue Bombers (3-7 SU, 5-5 ATS) have a positive point differential thus far at 278-273. They’ve also played a pretty tough road schedule, going 0-5 SU and 1-4 ATS with no losing teams to fatten up their record. But in their return to Canad Inns last week, the Bombers crushed Saskatchewan 31-2 as 3.5-point home dogs.

As for the Argos (5-5 SU and ATS), they’ve been outscored 280-220 on the season. Remember all those close wins we talked about earlier this year? Now the Boatmen have lost three in a row (twice to Hamilton, once to B.C.), and they’re in danger of getting the underdog tag in this matchup. At least Toronto managed to sign DE Ricky Foley, who led the league last year with 12 sacks.

Sunday: Edmonton Eskimos at Montreal Alouettes (4:00 p.m. ET)

There’s really no dancing around the Eskimos’ record (2-8 SU, 3-7 ATS). Yes, three of their last four games were against Calgary, but their defense has been ventilated by everyone in the league now. The OVER is 6-1 in Edmonton’s last seven games. While it’s a positive sign from a football standpoint that Eric Tillman has been hired as the new GM, Tillman is also a pariah from a community standpoint, and nothing on or off the field is going to magically change overnight.

The situation in Montreal is a bit more fluid. The Alouettes (7-3 SU, 5-5 ATS) had yet to declare at press time whether Anthony Calvillo (bruised sternum, ribs) will start against Edmonton. Second-stringer Adrian McPherson proved capable in last week’s 27-6 win at Hamilton (-3.5), going 21-of-37 for 238 yards, a TD, and a pick through the air and adding 121 yards rushing on 16 carries. Edmonton’s in trouble facing either of these gentlemen.

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