The beauty of our Thursday parlays: all we have to do is hit one of them to be successful, and that’s exactly what we did, as the football parlay cashed for +600 to make up for a lousy soccer parlay. The Rams made it a little interesting when they nearly allowed Geno Smith to lead the Seahawks to a backdoor cover, but everyone on the gridiron came through in the end, giving us some nice momentum for Friday. Here are my best picks for October 8’s slate of games.
TEMPLE-CINCINNATI O54.5, -110
The under is tempting given how well Temple has defended the pass, but the Owls are perfectly capable of giving up a lot of points without giving up a lot of yards. Temple held Rutgers to a mere 365 yards in their meeting, but the Scarlet Knights smashed the Owls for 61 points because Temple turned the ball over five times. Cincinnati has a better offense than Rutgers and a better defense, so either the Bearcats will crush Temple from the word go or sleepwalk through a high-scoring contest. Either way, I like the over.
DODGERS-GIANTS U7.5, -120
I don’t expect runs to come here, even thought Walker Buehler got torched the last time he faced San Francisco. Buehler usually likes pitching in northern California, and there’s a good chance that he’s going to be back on form against a Giants squad that has played a lot of lower-scoring games against the Dodgers this season. I expect a bounce-back performance here.
CZECH REPUBLIC WIN TO NIL, +150
The Lokomotiva got a big boost when they found out that they’d be facing Wales without Gareth Bale in this window, and I think that makes the difference here. The Czechs are looking to get to the playoff route to the World Cup, as there’s little chance of them catching Belgium, and this will likely be a lower-scoring game that ends with the Czechs on top.
STANFORD +14, -130
Sometimes, the public pushes a line beyond the breaking point, and that appears to be exactly what’s happened here, as the public has pushed Arizona State’s spread a full three points from where it opened. I don’t think the gap is that wide between the Sun Devils and the Cardinal. Arizona State should win, but this seems to be too many points.
CHARLOTTE-FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL O60, -110
This matchup has been all about points, as four out of five meetings between the two have easily exceeded this number. Charlotte appears to be the stronger of the teams, but the reality is that neither team can play defense all that well. I don’t think there’s going to be much of a problem with scoring here.
