Outside of my own living room, the place I feel most at home is a Las Vegas sportsbook.
This past Saturday I spent a bit of time in a few and noticed that most sports bettors are wagering both, in person and through apps. I love the fact that so many of us around the country can now make our bets on our phones, tablets, and laptops. It’s about time!
What I want all of you to understand is that when we are in the book, we must physically take our money out of our pockets, wait online, and make our bets. When betting via apps, much like chips used on the casino tables, money has no value. I saw bettors typing away like courtroom stenographers betting first halves, totals, second halves, parlays, teasers, etc.
Check Out More NCAA Content Here
The moral to the story? Bet wisely.
Saturday
SMU -7.5 at South Florida: I have no problem laying a TD and a hook with an SMU team that has won and covered all four of their outings this season, including last week’s start-to-finish 41-38 road victory over rival TCU.
South Florida has notched just one win since last October and that was a week ago against South Carolina State. The lackluster Bulls offense (21.7 PPG) can not keep pace with the well-balanced, “O” of the Mustangs (43.5 PPG).
Southern Methodist’s quarterback Shane Buechele (1159 YP, 66.7 percent completion rate, 7 TDs, 4 INTs) and running back Xavier Jones (370 yards rushing, 8 TD’s) are going to light up the scoreboard so much, they are going to need to replace the bulbs. SMU
Clemson -27 at North Carolina: Clemson has won and covered the last three meetings in this series and enters this contest just a FG away from a 4-0 ATS mark this season.
The Tigers have annihilated their opposition to earn their No. 1 ranking. We all know how talented they are offensively, but it will be their defense that will shine here and completely shut down the Tar Heels. Defensive Coordinator Brent Venables will have his fourth-ranked unit (10.0 PPG allowed) primed and ready to confound UNC freshman quarterback Sam Howell.
The Tigers are 7-0 ATS the last seven games played on the road, 8-1 ATS the last nine games played vs. conference foes, and 6-1 ATS the last seven games played overall. Yes, 27 points is a lot to lay in a conference game, but this is such a lopsided matchup, I’m OK giving all those points. CLEMSON
UAB -3 at Western Kentucky: The oddsmakers are a bit off on this line. I have the number closer to double digits as last year’s Conference USA champions, UAB, is the only team unblemished team in the league (3-0).
Western Kentucky is very beatable, as they proved in losing 35-28 to Central Arkansas, and getting routed 38-21 by Louisville. The Hilltoppers don’t have much of a running game and their quarterback, Steven Duncan, is out with a foot injury.
The Blazers have a very fast and talented stop-unit (18th, 14.0 PPG allowed). And sophomore quarterback Tyler Johnston is a stud, throwing for 746 yards, a 64.3 percent completion rate, 8 TDs in the air and another 114 rushing yards and one score on the ground.
UAB is 6-2 ATS the last eight games played on the road, 5-0 ATS the last vs. teams with a losing record, and 4-1 ATS the last five games played overall. Western Kentucky is 1-4 ATS the last five games played at home, and 3-7 ATS the last 10 games played overall. UAB
Ohio State -17 at Nebraska: I don’t think there’s another team in the nation with a record like Nebraska’s (3-1) that has a bigger false sense of worth. This is a team that is 1-3 ATS in 2019 with their only good performance coming against NIU.
Ohio State is a FG away from being 4-0 ATS. They have covered numbers of 14.5 against Cincinnati, 17 at Indiana, and 38.5 vs. Miami-Ohio.
The Buckeyes third ranked offense (53.5 PPG) will steamroll a Cornhuskers defense (25.2 PPG allowed) that hasn’t faced a squad anywhere near this level. Look for OSU to gain some style points from the pollsters here and make a statement to the rest of the Big Ten.
They are 6-0 ATS the last six games played following a SU win and 6-1 ATS the last seven games played overall. Nebraska is 1-6 ATS the last seven games played in the month of September and 4-12 ATS the last 16 games played at home. OHIO STATE
Last week: No selections
Season: 5-8-1