The problem with Thursday’s parlays is that sometimes, I make a few brilliant picks and pair them improperly. For instance, if you’d followed my advice on North Carolina +7.5, Northern Arizona and Washington under and Vermont and Northern Iowa under, you’d have cashed a cool +500. But unfortunately, I made the mistake of pairing the Heels with the Ravens over (whoops) and added Maryland-GW over in hoops (that should have worked, but Maryland shot 3-for-20 from deep), so the parlays as written disintegrated.
Luckily, I only do parlays once a week. We’re back to regular action on Friday, and there’s plenty of it. Here are my best plays for November 12.
WYOMING-BOISE STATE CFB U49.5, -120
This is one you’ll want to get to a football number just to be safe. Wyoming can’t pass well at all, but the Cowboys do defend the pass quite well. The Broncos haven’t been great at home, but they really shouldn’t need to be great in this matchup, as the Cowboys’ offense will either move the ball on the ground or not at all. This shouldn’t be a high-scoring affair.
CAL-DAVIS MBB -7, -110
I don’t care if Utah State is in transition; winning at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum is hard. Cal-Davis was a little fortunate that Utah State missed several free throws, but it should be able to handle Eastern Washington in this situation. The Eagles played a decent game against Nevada, but they weren’t ever close enough to really threaten the Wolf Pack. Eastern remains suspect on defense, and that should lead Cal-Davis to the cover.
PENNSYLVANIA MBB +8, -110
Penn got hammered on the glass in its opener, but there’s a rather large difference between Florida State and George Mason. This game should be played at a pace much more to the Quakers’ liking, and they should be able to stay in the game a lot longer than they did against the Seminoles. As long as Penn doesn’t get nearly doubled up on the glass again, the Quakers should cover.
MAPLE LEAFS 3-WAY ML, +105
This is worth giving up the overtime win: Toronto shouldn’t have too many issues with Calgary when the Flames are starting a backup netminder and on the second game of an eastern Canada back-to-back. This looks like one where the Flames know they’re likely beaten before they start, and they want to save their energy and top goaltender Jacob Markstrom to make sure they get two points in Ottawa on Sunday, rather than chase two they’re not likely to get in Toronto.
UNITED STATES-MEXICO, AT LEAST ONE CLEAN SHEET, -140
Four of the past five meetings between these rivals have seen at least one team fire a blank. Mexico knows a point is perfectly fine for its World Cup aspirations, so look for El Tri to play disciplined and wait for the moment to present itself. If this finishes 0-0, nobody in green will be disappointed, which means the Americans are the ones who have to press the issue. That usually means someone’s getting shut out.
