Sports Betting
Monday’s Best ESPN BET Bets: Wake Forest-North Carolina, Spurs-76ers, Penguins-Coyotes
It was not a banner day for the Winning Picks yesterday, going 0-3. We dropped our two NFL games with the under not covering in Bucs/Lions and the Bills failing to win and cover against the Chiefs. Buffalo is the biggest “Coulda Been” team in professional sports. The Kraken also fell to the Maple Leafs, continuing our bad streak yesterday. We move to 114-83-3 this year.
We are down to 4 teams still alive for a berth in the Super Bowl. Three of these franchises have been in this situation before in the conference title game and have won it before. The other is making their conference championship debut in the modern NFL despite being around longer than all three other franchises.
Detroit is a heck of a story. Dan Campbell said back on Hard Knocks in 2022 that he would change the culture with the Lions and get them to this position. No one believed him and he did exactly what he said he would do. If you like this Detroit story and think it could head to Vegas for the Super Bowl, which would be their first NFL championship appearance since former Steeler QB Bobby Layne played for the Lions, they are +255 on the moneyline. A $100 bet wins you $255.
As for the Super Bowl futures, the 49ers are +140. Ravens +200, Chiefs +325 while the Lions are +750. If you are looking to make any of these bets before the games are played Sunday, I would lean towards the Ravens. The Chiefs won the battle in Buffalo, but they may lose the war this weekend in Baltimore with how physical the Bills played them. The Ravens are just as physical if not more, and they have a much healthier defense especially at linebacker, where the Bills were down to players off the street.
Now onto the Winning Picks!
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Wake Forest Demon Deacons at North Carolina Tar Heels (-8.5) O/U 155.5 7:00 PM on ESPN
North Carolina returns home tonight after fighting off Boston College Saturday afternoon in Chestnut Hill. The Eagles played a pretty tight game with the Tar Heels for much of the game, but the experience and depth of UNC was too much and they won by double digits. Now they face a Tobacco Road rival that has had some success against them.
Wake Forest has been a bit up and down this year. They have been great at home but struggle away from Winston Salem. They are 1-3 on the road this year, the same record as they are against the spread on the road.
The Tar Heels have a winnable next 3 games including today before they face rival Duke at the beginning of February. They could be #1 in the nation when that game is played. But it starts tonight, I believe they win and cover against their other rival Wake Forest.
North Carolina Covers -8.5, Wake Forest Demon Deacons 65 North Carolina Tar Heels 75
LA, TN, CO, AZ, IA, IL, IN, MI, OH
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San Antonio Spurs at Philadelphia 76ers (-13.5) O/U 236.5 7:00 PM on NBA TV
We get a matchup between one of the two best big men in the league against the next great big men in the NBA as Joel Embiid and the 76ers host Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs. Wembanyama has shown that he is going to be a great NBA player for years to come despite only scratching the surface of his potential. As for the rest of the Spurs roster, that is the problem.
Despite the efforts of Wembanyama, the Spurs have only won 8 games this year. On the flip side, the 76ers have won 28 games this season. They are even better at home, going 16-6 straight up and against the spread this year.
Though it will be interesting to see Wembanyama and Embiid face off for the first time, the 76ers will be too much to handle for the Spurs. Though this spread is rather large, I like Philadelphia to cover the double digit spread.
76ers Cover -13.5, San Antonio Spurs 98 Philadelphia 76ers 120
LA, TN, CO, AZ, IA, IL, IN, MI, OH
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Pittsburgh Penguins (-150) at Arizona Coyotes O/U 6.5 9:00 PM on SportsNet Pittsburgh
After blowing a 2-0 lead and losing to Vegas Saturday night, the Penguins head to the campus of Arizona St University to face the Coyotes at the college’s on campus arena. You would think Arizona would struggle playing in such a small arena, by far the smallest attendance in the NHL. In actuality, the Coyotes have thrived in this situation.
They are 14-9 at home this season after going 21-15-5 the previous year in their small confines. This is pretty incredible considering how bad the Coyotes were previously at home in a much bigger arena, that was half filled if I may add. The Penguins were actually able to win here last year.
Do I think that will happen again tonight? I do, but the Winning Pick for this game will be the under. I expect a slow paced game by both teams tonight.
Under 6.5 Covers, Pittsburgh Penguins 3 Arizona Coyotes 2
LA, TN, CO, AZ, IA, IL, IN, MI, OH
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