I wasn’t in love with anything on Friday night in baseball, so I passed on the slate following a 2-0 Thursday. After posting an 0-3 record last Saturday, however, I’m eager to make amends today. Here are four plays I love in Week 3…
153 LSU Tigers at 154 Auburn Tigers, 2:30 p.m. CT
LSU is receiving the majority of backing from public bettors, most-likely do to the Tigers’ upset win over Miami in Week 1. That said, the Hurricanes actually out-gained the Tigers in that game and LSU had some offensive issues a week ago in its 31-0 win over Southeastern Louisiana. I see this game being a mismatch and I’m more than willing to lay the points with Auburn. The way to beat Auburn is to throw the ball but LSU still lacks explosiveness in the passing game. While the game could be close early, I expect LSU to eventually tire out on defense with Joe Burrow and Co. failing to move the ball offensively.
Prediction: Auburn -10 (buy the hook down to 10)
181 Alabama Crimson Tide at 182 Ole Miss Rebels, 6:00 p.m. CT
This is the most talent that Nick Saban has had on offense since arriving in Tuscaloosa. Tua Tagovailoa has been outstanding and has a deep crop of talented playmakers at the wide receiver position. Southern Illinois (you read that right) moved the ball at will versus this Ole Miss defense a week ago so the Tide may score 70 on its own tonight. While the Rebels will certainly be tested by that ‘Bama defense, Ole Miss is also explosive offensively. Senior quarterback Jordan Ta’amu established career highs of 448 yards and five touchdowns last week versus Southern Illinois and Junior-college transfer Scottie Phillips is averaging 10 yards per carry. This stands to be the most entertaining game of the day.
Prediction: Alabama/Ole Miss over 71
205 Washington Huskies at 206 Utah Utes, 9:00 p.m. CT
Casual bettors will look at sloppy weather conditions and bet the under believing teams won’t be able to move the ball effectively. But rain and snow can also produce turnovers, which may lead to easy scoring chances. If you really want to make a play on the total based on weather conditions, look at wind, which greatly impacts passing games. They expect to have wind gusts of between 15-20 mph tonight in Utah, which should limit scoring. Plus, this Huskies team has had issues finishing drives under new offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan. With two stout defenses and plenty of wind in this matchup, I love the under.
Prediction: Washington/Utah under 46.5
209 Arizona State Sun Devils at 210 San Diego State, 9:30 p.m. CT
Public bettors are loading up on Herm Edwards’ Sun Devils after they upset Michigan State last week but let’s not get ahead of ourselves. The Spartans had to travel cross-country, play in a different time zone and deal with the Arizona heat. MSU was primed to be upset and credit ASU because that’s exactly what it did. That said, we’re now working with an inflated point spread because of that victory. Public bettors have pushed the line from 3 up to 5 in this matchup, which is a gift for San Diego State backers. The Aztecs shut down Bryce Love at Stanford Week 1 and is familiar with ASU defensive coordinator Danny Gonzales’ scheme because he came from San Diego State. While I’ll gladly take the five points, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Aztecs pull off the outright upset either.
Prediction: San Diego State +5
Season Records
MLB: 50-26-1 (66%)
College Football: 7-5 (58%)
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