Sports Betting
Wednesday’s Best ESPN BET Bets: Duke’s Mayo Bowl, Penguins-Islanders, Texas Bowl
Another 3-0 day for the Winning Picks, The fourth in the last week. These are getting pretty routine. Texas St was able to pull away from Rice in the second half and cover in a whacky, penalty filled First Responders Bowl. Detroit lost for the 27th time in a row but were able to cover with the hook against the Nets. You can thank Cade Cunningham for that cover. Despite late line movement lowering the total, the Over cashed early in the 4th quarter with ease. We are now 68-52-2 on the year.
Yesterday we had 3 bowl games on the schedule and I gave out official picks on two of the games. The lean on Minnesota covering won as well. Today, we get 4 games and again we are giving out 2 official winning picks as well as some leans.
In the afternoon tilt, Virginia Tech is a huge favorite over AAC runner up Tulane. This is mainly due to the mass exodus of the Green Wave players and coaches. Willie Fritz was hired by Houston and took most of his staff with him. Among the players sitting out today include starting QB Michael Pratt, who is leaving for the NFL. Weather will impact this game so I am going to lean with Tulane covering the spread. That is just too many points for this average Virginia Tech team.
Tonight we get another conference runner up and a team full of opt-outs, but this time they will be facing each other as Louisville faces a depleted USC team. To note, Lincoln Riley stinks in bowl games. Granted, 3 of his 4 losses have come in playoff matchups. I do like Louisville to cover in this game but I also like the Over. The Trojans can’t play defense and they will be even worse given the opt-outs and guys in the portal.
Now time for the winning picks!
LA, TN, CO, AZ, IA, IL, IN, MI, OH
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North Carolina vs West Virginia (-6) O/U 58 Duke’s Mayo Bowl 5:30 PM on ESPN
Two teams enter. One team leaves with their coach covered in mayonnaise. For West Virginia’s head coach Neal Brown, that sounds a lot better than being on the hot seat. After the rumors were swirling about Brown coaching for his job, his team responded with an 8 win season.
Even with impact players missing for the Mountaineers including starting RB CJ Donaldson, they are not in the same boat as North Carolina. The Tar Heels will be without most of their best players including first round projected pick Drake Maye and their #1 receiver Tez Walker. It will be an uphill fight for Mack Brown’s squad in this matchup.
I believe West Virginia wants to be here more than the Tar Heels, who had bigger aspirations this year than winning a bowl game that gets your senior citizen head coach covered in mayo. The Mountaineers finish the season off with a win and cover in Charlotte. I can see Neal Brown covered in mayonnaise already.
West Virginia Covers -6, North Carolina Tar Heels 17 West Virginia Mountaineers 27
LA, TN, CO, AZ, IA, IL, IN, MI, OH
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Pittsburgh Penguins at New York Islanders (-120) O/U 6 7:30 PM on SportsNet Pittsburgh
The Penguins return to action after the brief Christmas break to take on the rival New York Islanders in their first matchup on the season. I don’t remember a time when the Pens had to wait so long to play a divisional opponent, but here we are. This will be the first of two matchups in three days for these clubs, as the Islanders come to Pittsburgh on Sunday.
As it has been the last few years with Mike Sullivan, the season has been another roller coaster ride. You can never get a true sense, especially this year, if the Pens are a good team or not. And this Islander team is not the team the Penguins want to face if they are trying to get right.
New York has won their last four games against the Penguins, with the Pens last win coming in April 2022. In these last five games between these teams, the Over is 4-0-1 and that is the winning pick for tonight. I don’t see the Penguins winning in the end, but I expect a lot of goals to be scored.
Over 6 Covers, Pittsburgh Penguins 3 New York Islanders 4
LA, TN, CO, AZ, IA, IL, IN, MI, OH
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Texas A&M Aggies vs Oklahoma St Cowboys (-3) O/U 54.5 Texas Bowl 9:00 PM on ESPN
Our second conference champion runner up vs backup roster bowl of the day. Well for Texas A&M, it’s not only backup players they will field, it’s an interim coaching staff that probably won’t be around much after this Texas Bowl.
The Aggies interim head coach has already agreed to become the next defensive coordinator for Syracuse. Most of the starters for A&M have either put their names in the portal or opted out for the NFL. This will be a skeleton crew for the Aggies.
Mike Gundy has always been a good bet in bowl games. His Cowboys team did lose to Texas A&M in this same bowl game in 2019 and Gundy definitely didn’t forget that. Ollie Gordon, if he plays, should be able to run a will against the depleted Aggies. Take Okie St to cover, I can see the Over hitting as well.
Oklahoma St Covers -3, Texas A&M Aggies 24 Oklahoma St Cowboys 34
LA, TN, CO, AZ, IA, IL, IN, MI, OH
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