Photographers and videographers waited in a tunnel due to heavy rain, which started in the fourth quarter. The Spartans beat the Hurricanes 38-17 at Hard Rock Stadium on Sept. 18, 2021.
Welcome to The State News’ new sports gambling guide.
Each week, The State News’ degenerates who are 21 and older will be helping you try to earn some money with three picks of their own each Friday morning. Each week, we will update our records from the last week, so you can see who is really helping you cash in each week.
We’ve also included in this week’s edition a quick intro about ourselves, so you can know where our strengths and weaknesses are.
With that being said, let's get into this weeks’ picks that we think will help you cash in.
Eli McKown, Sports Editor (0-0)
Like many of you, I also suffer from being a Detroit sports fan. However, because I care about my health, I am not a Detroit Pistons fan and I am a longtime Oklahoma City Thunder fan … which is also detrimental to my well-being.
My expertise lies within college football and basketball, the NBA and the NFL. I love shooting my shot with parlays too, so get ready for chaos.
Betting with the Jayhawks in football can really only bring pain, but this line is insane. Kansas is hitting the road to take Iowa State, a team that has been one of, if not the most disappointing team of the college football season.
While Kansas is one of the worst Power Five teams in the country, Iowa State, even when they’re playing at their peak, isn’t a team that blows out their opponent (see Northern Iowa), so I fell good locking this one in.
Michigan (Moneyline) at Wisconsin
Okay, hear me out. I know you don’t want to bet with your rival, but did you watch Wisconsin quarterback Graham Mertz last week against Notre Dame? Michigan is the underdog heading into Madison, a tough place to play, but this Michigan team has been very solid this season, especially on the ground, and has made significant strides on defense, albeit against lesser opponents.
You might have to sweat this one out, but I love this play.
Don’t get me wrong, I love a good revenge chance here for Rutgers Head Coach Greg Schiano. Let’s be real though, the talent gap is just way too far. At a minimum, I expect Ohio State to win by 17 despite the Buckeyes’ poor start to the season.
Jared Ramsey, Football Reporter (0-0)
If you are riding with my picks in this column, good luck.
I like to make bets based on emotion and gut feeling. This doesn’t lead to good results but it leads to a rollercoaster of emotions while watching games. I bet for what I want to root for and bet for what I think would be fun to see. This can lead to exciting wins, but usually just leads to excruciating losses which have plagued my gambling career.
Minnesota (+2.5) at Purdue
As I stated in my intro, I like to make bets that will cause me pain and this is one of those bets. Minnesota is coming off the most embarrassing loss in college football this year after losing to Bowling Green, who hadn’t won a game in two years, at home last Saturday. A smart man would stay away from the Gophers, but I am not smart whatsoever.
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I think Minnesota Head Coach P.J. Fleck will get the boat rowing again and maybe even win outright against Purdue.
Baylor (+3.5) at Oklahoma State
As a disclaimer, I should say I have not watched a single down of either of these teams. This choice is not being made because of the talent of the two rosters, but because of who is announcing the game. Robert Griffin III, the greatest Baylor Bear of all time, will be the color commentator for the game on ESPN and I think his presence will have a profound effect on the Bears and lead them to cover.
USC (-7) vs Colorado
Despite hyping up Minnesota just two picks ago, I will be making my third pick based on the Gophers and their incompetence too. Minnesota shut out Colorado 31-0 two weeks ago, and Minnesota is simply not good, as they showed last week.
My perception of Colorado is significantly warped by that embarrassing loss two weeks ago to the Gophers, so I think Colorado is horrible at the moment. Even though USC is without their starting quarterback, Kedon Slovis, they should be able to roll the Buffs with ease.
Sean Reider, Sports GA (0-0)
So here we are today, always chasing the action and looking for the edge. I’m a bit of a head-case when it comes to this whole gambling thing: I’ll pour over stats, ATS (against the spread) records, do a considerable amount of research, pat myself on the back for all the hard work and promptly lose. Then I’ll make a gut pick, somewhere between confusing to downright reckless and win.
Or lose. Hey, nobody ever said this stuff was easy.
Maryland (+3.5) at Iowa
With junior quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa (nine touchdowns, one interception) under center, Maryland’s 13th in the nation in total offense while Iowa, spearheaded by dominant junior linebacker Jack Campbell, is 13th in total defense.
Not quite unstoppable-force-meets-immovable-object level. But it’s about as even a matchup between a fifth-ranked team and an unranked opponent as you’ll ever see. Question is, where will the difference be made on Friday night?
Iowa’s offensive line is more of a project than I can ever remember while the Terps defensive front boasts the most sacks in the Big Ten (16) through one-quarter of the season. Iowa junior Spencer Petras is a fine quarterback but he really needs time in the pocket to be successful. Unless the Hawkeyes trot out a miraculously revamped line on Friday, I just don’t think he’s going to get it and I doubt junior running back Tyler Goodson provides him much relief in a game that should go down to the wire.
Give me the Terps and the points at home. Maybe a little sprinkle on the moneyline, too.
Northwestern at Nebraska (Under 50.5 points)
Let’s be clear on this one. I really do believe Nebraska will get the win this weekend: while it’s become a nationwide hobby to poke fun at Scott Frost’s failing (failed?) rebuild, this is a team that has clearly gotten better week-by-week since their disastrous opener against Illinois (did you know that game was supposed to be played in Dublin? Can you imagine that game being your introduction to American football?). I’m not sure how far junior quarterback Adrian Martinez is going to take this team but I’ve seen enough from this defense to know they’re worthy of the famed Blackshirt moniker and primed to create some serious havoc down the stretch.
With that in mind, this game is destined to be nothing more than a classic Big Ten West rock fight. And there is no team you want to be in a rock fight with less than a Northwestern squad with nothing to really lose. Expect a highly defensive, physical and sometimes ugly game that I think will just barely cash the under as the Huskers clamber back to .500.
UConn (+14.5) at Vanderbilt
Yes, I know—UConn is horrible from top to bottom and the program is in shambles after former head coach Randy Edsall scheduled and then rapidly accelerated his retirement. That being said, they did take some steps in the right direction with a narrow 24-22 loss against an undefeated Wyoming squad last weekend. It’s clear that nobody in Storrs is ready to abandon this season and while that doesn’t exactly make them dangerous, it certainly makes for an intriguing matchup against similarly flawed teams.
Let’s just be honest here: in no world should this Vandy team be favored by two touchdowns over anybody. Take the Huskies and do your best to embrace the perverse thrill of this bottom five matchup.
