Sports Betting
Thursday’s Best ESPN BET Bets: Pinstripe Bowl, Jets-Browns, Alamo Bowl
We go back-to-back with another perfect 3-0 day. After struggling a bit early, West Virginia was able to pull away from the shorthanded Tar Heels and cover the spread. The Penguins covered the Over 6 on their own against the Islanders, you don’t see that too often in hockey. To wrap up the night, Oklahoma St held off a late rally by Texas A&M to cover the spread. We are now 71-52-2, over a 56% win percentage on the Winning Picks.
Today we already have one bowl game that started, so we won’t have a pick there. Again, we will pick 2 of the bowl games today, mainly since there is an NFL game tonight as well. The game that I will not have an official winning pick for is the Pop Tarts Bowl, which is getting a lot of fanfare for its trophy.
This bowl was the Cheez-It Bowl for a couple years, but Cheez-It bought the rights to the Citrus Bowl, which takes place on New Year’s Day in the same stadium. The Pop Tarts Bowl should be a defensive minded game with two strong defenses in North Carolina St and Kansas St. For this game, I would lean taking the Under along with Kansas St on the spread. Points will be at a premium and I expect the Wildcats to just have enough offense to win and cover.
Now time for the Winning Picks!
LA, TN, CO, AZ, IA, IL, IN, MI, OH
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Rutgers Scarlet Knights (-2.5) vs Miami Hurricanes O/U 41.5 Pinstripe Bowl 2:15 PM on ESPN
This could be my favorite game of the day. I liked this game so much, I made a moneyline bet a few days ago before the line moved. And no, it was not a bet on Miami.
This will be Mario Cristobal’s first bowl game as head coach of the Hurricanes. The question is, can he turn around the Hurricanes trouble in bowl games? It will be hard to do with a depleted lineup. Miami has not won a bowl game since 2016 when they defeated West Virginia in the Russell Athletic Bowl in Orlando. It has been even longer since the Hurricanes won a bowl game outside the state of Florida.
Miami’s last bowl win outside of Florida came in the 2006 MPC Computers Bowl against Nevada in Boise, Idaho. This was the processor to the Idaho Potato Bowl. MPC Computers no longer exists by the way. This game will be raining and chilly as well, will the Hurricanes even want to be there?
My guess is not. And for Rutgers, this can be a program defying win, something Greg Schiano really needs to keep up with the Jones of the Big Ten. Schiano is 5-2 in bowl games at Rutgers, though he hasn’t won one yet since he returned for his 2nd stint. I believe Rutgers wins and covers vs Miami, the Hurricanes will struggle in the rain ironically.
Rutgers -2.5 Covers, Rutgers Scarlet Knights 20 Miami Hurricanes 10
LA, TN, CO, AZ, IA, IL, IN, MI, OH
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New York Jets at Cleveland Browns (-7.5) O/U 34 8:15 PM on Amazon Prime
Joe Flacco revenge game? The former Jet quarterback, who actually beat the Browns in a miraculous comeback last season with New York, gets to face his former team in the last Thursday Night Amazon Prime game of the year. I really do hate that these games are on streaming but that is in the direction the sports world is going in.
Trevor Siemian will again get another start for the Jets tonight. While he has played better than Tim Boyle did, his play has not been that different than Zach Wilson. It should be a struggle for New York tonight to do anything with the football.
Look for Flacco to light it up again in the passing game. Injuries along the offensive line have led the Browns to be more pass happy, and it’s working. David Njoku is having a career season now with Flacco at the helm, so expect the big tight end to go over his receiving yards and find the end zone again. Elijah Moor could find the end zone as well against his former team.
In the end, I see the Browns covering in a very low scoring game.
Browns Cover -7.5, New York Jets 10 Cleveland Browns 20
LA, TN, CO, AZ, IA, IL, IN, MI, OH
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Arizona Wildcats (-2.5) vs Oklahoma Sooners O/U 59.5 Alamo Bowl 9:15 PM on ESPN
They always say “Remember the Alamo.” I think it should be changed to “Remember the Alamo Bowl” because this is always one of the better non-New Years 6 bowl games. Lots of points, crazy comebacks, this game has brought us everything over the last handful of years. Don’t expect anything else tonight.
Arizona has been one of the biggest surprises this year in college football. Along the way, they have helped bettors win a lot of money, including me. They will face an Oklahoma Sooners team that will be without their starting QB Dillon Gabriel, who is transferring to Oregon to replace Bo Nix. But don’t expect a dropoff in production like with most backups.
Highly touted true freshman Jackson Arnold will get the start at quarterback for the Sooners. Draft pundits have already labeled him a first round pick without starting a game. We will see what all the hype is tonight.
Though I really wanted to make Arizona spread the winning pick here, I just can’t do it, though that will be my lean for this game. The official winning pick is the Over 59.5. I easily expect both of these teams to reach 30+ points with their high powered offenses. Their defenses have also surrendered a lot of points this year. Over is the play.
Over 59.5 Covers, Arizona Wildcats 42 Oklahoma Sooners 38
LA, TN, CO, AZ, IA, IL, IN, MI, OH
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