Last night was a good start. A good jumping off point for the Best Bets and Winning Picks. We went 2-1 last night and 1-1 on the props with Pitt and Southern Illinois covering and Lamar Jackson going Over his rushing total.
In the Southern Illinois game, we were aided by a technical foul call late on Chicago State’s coach for saying some naughty words to the refs. The two made technical free throws pushed us over the -14.5. And if Joe Burrow doesn’t get hurt vs the Ravens, we may have been 5-0 across the board. But I digress.
Big Week for AFC North
Before I get to my picks for the night, the injury to Joe Burrow and loss to the Ravens has caused the AFC North Division odds to fluctuate a little bit. The Bengals are now +2500(!) to win the AFC North and the Ravens are -190, according to ESPN BET, meaning you would have to bet $190 to win $100 on the Ravens. However, I am more interested in the Steelers and Browns odds right now.
The Steelers are +375 and the Browns are +450 to win the division, which would be a nice payout either way. The winner of their matchup on Sunday in Cleveland will have 3 divisional wins so far this year. The Ravens currently have 2 divisional losses, as do the Browns, while the Steelers entered undefeated in the AFC North. The winner of this game Sunday will have the inside track on possibly catching the Ravens, who will be missing Mark Andrews for the rest of the season.
Both the Browns and Steelers have easier schedules moving forward than the Ravens do, who still has to play the 49ers, Dolphins and Jaguars. I would take a chance and sprinkle a little bit on both of these teams to win the division before Sunday.
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Now onto the picks…
Jacksonville at Pitt (-14.5) 7pm
The Pitt Panthers basketball program has picked up where they left off last season and have come flying out of the gate, covering in each of their first three games. Despite the loss of much of the core from last year’s team, freshmen Bub Carrington has stepped up in a major way in his first three college starts, including hitting a three from the Pitt logo on Monday. This helped the Panthers cover the -9.5. I was on Florida Gulf Coast +9.5, but alas.
I will not be going against the Panthers and making that same mistake again. While Jacksonville isn’t a bottom feeder, they were blown out by 23 points and failed to cover against Xavier in their only real competition of the season. I think the Panthers continue to roll Friday night and beat Jacksonville by 20+ points.
Pitt covers -14.5 and wins 80-59
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Colorado at Washington State (-4) 10pm on FSI
In a season that started with some much magic and excitement, it has turned into a complete nightmare for Deion Sanders and the Colorado Buffaloes. After starting out 4-2, the Buffs have dropped their last 4 games. They have a one dimensional offense that cannot run or block a soul, which has led to Coach Prime shuffling his offensive staff.
Washington State has also been a mess. After starting off 4-0, the Cougars have dropped their last 6 games. Quarterback Cam Ward has been good at times but he has been up and down like the rest of the team. Something has to give in this matchup of two teams trying to find light at the end of the tunnel.
With the bowl selection committees potentially looking for 5-7 teams for bowl games since there aren’t enough 6 win teams, a win here for either of these programs will make them one of the prime 5-7. Colorado has actually played well the past two games and had the lead on Arizona going into the fourth quarter before squandering it. I believe Colorado can keep this game within 4 points and could win outright at Washington State.
Colorado covers +4, Washington State 31 Colorado 28
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Sacramento Kings (-8.5) at San Antonio Spurs 7:30pm on ESPN
This game is an in-season tournament game, which ironically still counts for the regular season record. I’m not sure if I like this new in-tournament yet, but the one thing I definitely don’t like is the new court designs that look like giant eye sores.
The Spurs are 0-2 in the tournament standings and have lost their last 6 games overall. Victor Wembanyama is going to be a superstar, but he has zero help around him. He will have even less help Friday as San Antonio will be without their second leading scorer Devin Vassell.
The Kings have won 4 straight and I believe they make it 5 in a row with a big road win, thanks to Domantas Sabonis and De’Aaron Fox.
Sacramento cover -8.5, Kings 118 Spurs 96
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