avatar Written by Graeme & Scott on Tuesday, November 5th, 2013

The Eastern Semi-Final promises to be a good game, but all eyes will be on the later game with the BC Lions squaring off against the Saskatchewan Roughriders. What a game this is going to be.

The BC Lions were the favourites to do it all this year – and they failed big time. The Roughriders meanwhile ended up having a fantastic start to the season but then blew it, and have racked up 7 losses. They’re coming into this one tied with the Lions on points, and this promises to be a fascinating game.

The first time these two teams faced off was Week 13. In Saskatchewan the BC Lions ran out 24-22 winners. They played again at Week 15, and Roughriders destroyed them 31-17 in BC. The rubber game was the end of the home team curse, as in Week 17 the Roughriders won 35-14.

With the 2013 Grey Cup being in Saskatchewan this year, that obviously pushes the Roughriders on and that was a key to the start of their season. It got the momentum going big time. Unfortunately it didn’t help them get out of the rut that caused them to fall out of favour in the West, and lose the lead to the Stampeders.

Are they able to find that rush again and beat the BC Lions? Let’s see what the bookies think:

CFL 2013 Western Betting Odds:

Point Spread: BC Lions +4.5, Saskatchewan Roughriders -4.5.
Over/Under: 52.5 points.

The bookies have the Roughriders favourites, although barely. Odds and a sick CFL Grey Cup special bonus available at Bovada.

We’ve talked long and hard about this, and we’re going with the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Let’s explain why:

CFL 2013 Western Betting Tips:

In all 3 games, the Roughriders matched up well against the Lions. Other than that one blip their defense has been solid and held the Lions down. It’s just not a good matchup for the BC Lions.

Saskatchewan are playing at home here, with the crowd behind them. The fans know they are a couple of games away from the Grey Cup and we love them to spur the Roughriders on.

Matchup wise, the Roughriders are just better. With the crowd, we like the Roughriders to run riot and win by at least a touchdown.

There’s a ton of other bets you can do in this game. Let’s see:

CFL 2013 Western Semi-Final Props:

You can bet on the first team to score in this game, as well as the first scoring play. So you can bet the Lions to score first at 1.97 or bet the Lions to score first with a touchdown at 4.40 odds for example. These are usually risky plays and not ones we’d really recommend.

You can bet Race to 10 points and the odds on Roughriders are 1.68 – not worth it. Much better to bet the Roughriders point spread.

Winning Margin is a good bet. You can bet the Roughriders to win by 13-18 points. 7.50 odds and we can see them doing it.

Lots more props and bets – head to Bovada.