Is it acceptable to splice a circuit in two opposite directions for outdoor recepts/lighting?
We can't post what is not there. There is nothing prohibiting this and as Tester states, quite a bit of chapters 1 thru 3 apply in general, with spots in 4. 
The NEC is NOT written in a way that you can simply look up a specific job you are doing. It can be very general and very broad, yet also specific on certain things.

I realize this question is 3 months old and the project likely done by now, but what is being proposed in the original post is fine.