Brad Wilton
Thursday comp play winner is Tulane plus the points at Wake Forest.
Former Georgia Southern head coach Willie Fritz takes his act to New Orleans as he takes over at Tulane.
His first test comes on the road against a Wake Forest team that only won 3 games straight up last season, and now they are being asked to cover a rather sizable impost here on Thursday night. Since Wake has not been a home favorite since the 2013 season, I will give Fritz and his charges a chance to play it close tonight in Winston Salem.
Keep in mind that Fritz' Georgia Southern team did lead the nation in rushing last season. While there will be no miracles this early in the season, if Fritz stays true to his game plan, that means a running clock, and it means less of chance for Wake Forest to get on top of this big number this early in the season.
Demon Deacs start the year with the "W", but the Green Wave does enough to keep things interesting with the points.
Take Tulane.
1* TULANE
Scott Delaney
On the heels of last night's free winner, I'll once again side with the New York Mets against the Miami Marlins.
Yoenis Cespedes stroked a 10th inning home run with two outs in the bottom of the 10th inning to give the defending National League champs a 2-1 win over the slumping Marlins three nights back. Two nights ago the Mets won, 7-4. Last night the defending National League champs won 5-2.
Wrong time for Miami to be losing, as this is crucial series between N.L. playoff contenders. The Fish have now lost five straight, and the momentum has clearly swung in New York's favor at this point.
The Mets have won nine of 11 dating back to Aug. 20. New York has scored 65 runs in those 11 games. This sudden surge has coupled with the Marlins' demise, and has sent New York past Miami and brought the Mets within 1 1/2 games of the St. Louis Cardinals in the race for the second NL wild card spot.
Take the Mets here.
2* METS -1.5
Anthony Redd
Let's take a look at the Chicago Cubs on the run line for tonight's free pick. They host the San Francisco Giants, and I don't think these boys from the Bay got anything left in them. The Dodgers have humiliated them, they've been mediocre at best and now they have to play the best team in baseball?
I watched Aroldis Chapman fire 11 pitches to the last batter he faced last night, nine were strikes or foul balls, and all nine of those pitches topped 100 miles per hour.
Between this kid's arm, and the bats of Bryant and Rizzo, the Giants don't stand a chance. Take the Cubs on the run line.
4* CUBS -1.5
Chris Jordan
My free play winner for Thursday is on the struggling Minnesota Twins against the Chicago White Sox, as the boys from the Twin Cities will finally snap this elongated, MLB-record, season-long losing streak.
The Twins come into this series mired in a 13-game losing streak, one shy of the franchise mark set in 1982, and finished August with a disappointing 9-19 mark.
And while manager Paul Molitor might want to update his resume at this point, I think the Twins will turn the tables on the South Siders after posting a 5-10 mark in this series this season.
Let's take a shot here, as the Pale Hose fall to the Twins.
5* TWINS
JOE DUFFY
South Carolina vs. Vanderbilt
Play: South Carolina +4
South Carolina coach Wil Muschamp notorious for great defenses and inept offenses at Florida and sharps jumped on that by unloading on the under. However very low totals go over at a slim rate. While insignificant and not to the point where betting the over would be profitable, but it should help prevent squares from the kneejerk reaction that a game that has all the appearances of being low scoring automatically means an under. Plus of course, you can’t retroactively bet the 46, though I know some scamming handicappers who will.
Vanderbilt OC Andy Ludwig likes to mix up pace and vary from wide open to pounding football. Truthfully, if the game is low scoring early, especially if Vanderbilt is struggling on offense, take a long look at betting the live line over, because Ludwig will likely pick up the pace.
We believe the Commodores are a great fade live line overreaction. Would-be sharps have Vanderbilt as a surprise team because of what is expected to be a better defense. Vandy is replacing both safeties despite being a chic defense. Vanderbilt is one of those teams that has done more on paper than on field. QB Kyle Shurmur had big HS credentials and some baptism by fire as freshman. But his expected improvement seems to be more assumed than tangibly justified. I am a show me guy and the ‘Dores are not even the better team, much less good enough to be favorites by more than the normal home field advantage.
The Real Animal
South Carolina +5
What the heck? Vanderbilt has been ranked #127 and #123 in NCAA scoring the last two years and is favored by more than a field goal? South Carolina has won outright the last seven meetings in this series. Sure Spurrier gone but the week he hung it up last year unexpectedly the Gamecocks still beat the Dores 19-10, albeit in Columbia. Debut for Coach Muschamp. I’ll be shocked if South Carolina doesn’t improve dramatically defensively. In 2012 and 2013 Vanderbilt averaged 30 points per game. But under Coach Mason it’s been a disaster at 17.2 and 15.2. They are 6-8 SU in Nashville the last two years going 2-4 ATS as a home chalk. South Carolina in their final game last season lost to #1 Clemson 37-32. Now they are a 4 ½-point underdog to Vanderbilt? I’m not buying it especially with Commodores mistake-prone (led SEC w/ 25 turnovers last season). Remember, Vandy has two straight-up wins in the SEC the last two years!
GoodFella
Minnesota -7 1st Half
I really think this Minnesota offense will have great success vs this incosistent Beavers defense. The Beavers really struggled vs the run last season (ranking 115th in run D). This Minnesota club does have a solid run game & they should have great success on the ground vs the Beavers. That will open things up for the Gophers passing game as well. I do lean to Minnesota for the full game as well. I will lay the -7 here for the 1st half and look for a 2 score lead by the Gophers at half time.
Greg Shaker
South Carolina/Vanderbilt Under 42
A lot of people will tell you that this game opened and I guess they would be right. However that was just at a couple books. The Big Boys at Pinny came with 42.5 which was much more fairer after being beaten down by some bettors at the other outs. I was able to grab a better # myself but according to what we have this one is still a bit too high. These two SEC East Teams are not that good. Gamecocks return just 9 starters, Vandy 14. Actually this will be Mason's best team IMO. What we do have is two D Minded Teams with Mason and Muschamp at the helms. These two have played UNDER at 6-2-1 the last 9 times they have met and in those games they've averaged right near 38 PPG. Defense is most always ahead of Offense in the early going, especially when you have 2 offenses that are as challenged as these are. This is a Small number but there is a reason for that. Of course turnovers and special team plays could hurt our chances but otherwise the UNDER looks pretty good from here.
Bob Balfe
White Sox -115
When is the last time the Twins won a baseball game? It’s been two weeks. Santana is having a great season for Chicago and I just don’t see this team getting back on track tonight. At this price there is no reason not to go against Minnesota until they prove they can win.