The Pittsburgh Maulers and the Birmingham Stallions have won their respective divisions and have advanced to the 2023 USFL Championship Game. For the Stallions, it’ll be a chance to win their second USFL Championship in a row.
Last weekend, the Maulers were able to hold off the Michigan Panthers and win in an overtime thriller, while Birmingham blew out the New Orleans Breakers by a final score of 47-22.
Now that the USFL Playoffs have concluded, online sportsbooks have produced betting lines for the championship game that unanimously favor Birmingham to win.
USFL Championship Game Betting Line
Pittsburgh Maulers vs. Birmingham Stallions*
- Point Spread: Stallions -6.0, Maulers +6.0
- Moneyline: Stallions -250, Maulers +220
- Over/Under: 46.0
- *odds currently offline
The game is being played at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton, Ohio, a location that is certainly much closer to Pittsburgh than Birmingham. Most championship games in football are played at a neutral location, but what’s unique about the USFL is that most franchises have yet to host a home game.
For instance, Pittsburgh hasn’t played a game anywhere near the golden triangle since the franchise began.
Most regular season games in 2022 were played in Birmingham, and the Stallions ended up winning the championship. This season, the league used four locations, but some markets were still left out in the cold.
The location of the championship game could be why online USFL sportsbooks are only favoring the Stallions by 6 points. On paper, Birmingham would seem to be an overwhelming favorite entering the game off of their huge win over New Orleans.
Something else to consider is that when the Maulers and Stallions played each other in Week 4, Birmingham only won by 4 points. –
Should The USFL Revise Their Playoff Format
With yet another spring pro football league featuring a team with a losing record in their championship game, both the USFL and XFL should probably consider changing how they operate their playoffs.
Currently, for both the XFL and USFL, the top two teams in each division make the playoffs. What each league should consider is a best-of-the-rest format instead of simply allowing the second-place team in each division to advance.
This would entail each division winner hosting a playoff game and the next two best teams, regardless of division, qualifying for the two remaining wild card spots. The lowest-ranked wild card would face the division winner with the best record, and the other two teams would make up the other playoff game.
If you’re considering betting on the USFL Championship Game, we advise doing so with a site listed among our legal online football sportsbook reviews. They each feature betting lines and several prop bets that cover all angles of gambling on the big game and, between them, cover the entire United States.