Taking Bets | An October Surprise | Week Eight

2024 ATS Record
Blaine Duncan: 14-13 (Week Seven: 2-2) 
TD Wood: 10-16-1 (Week Seven: 3-1)
Mallory McCormack: 12-15 (Week Seven: 2-2)
Greg Bosworth: 12-15 (Week Seven: 3-1)

Each Friday evening, the writers at the site readies all for the football weekend ahead with “Taking Bets”! It’s host of The Staredown Mallory McCormack, host of Takin’ On Sports TD Wood, editor-in-chief Blaine Duncan, and co-host of Takin’ On Sports Greg Bosworth! Find the bets, which includes one NFL game per week, on the site each Friday evening at 6:30!

Blaine Duncan
For the first time since 1960, Army and Navy are both ranked. Oddly, both also have the same line at home this weekend (-16.5). That is a clear sign to put your 401(k) on the line on at least one of those games! The over in the Navy game does look appealing.

Michigan at Illinois (+3.5) - My plea to Bret Bielema and the Fighting Illini is to hang in there one more week before you fall apart. This is not last year's Wolverines team, and I just hate it's not Jim Harbaugh there to take this loss. Also, this is not the year I learn to spell Illinois without looking it up first.

Notre Dame at Georgia Tech (+12.5) - No line this week moved like this one, which started as the Irish picked at -8 on some sites. There are no safe bets, but home dogs are hard to overlook. Let's go, Yellowjackets! Don't y'all want back in the SEC when the ACC collapses next year!?

UCF (+13.5) at Iowa State - It's no surprise that Iowa State is doing well. Matt Campbell always gets the best out of the Cyclones. But that sweeet undefeated record will be tested this weekend. It's just that time of year. No one should bet on a team unless they expect them to win, but I believe Gus and the Knights give Iowa State a helluva game here.

NFL Game of the Week: Eagles (-3) at Giants - The Eagles and their woes may continue this season. They've squeaked out the three wins that they have. But they won't have issues with a weak Giants team. Go, Jalen! Get another win!

TD Wood
OK, I feel good about last week – I mean, obviously, I went 3-1, but I mean I feel good about how I got there. I nailed three games, and the one loss was by 1.5 points. Oh, no… I’m being too confident, the gambling gods will smite me. HUGE schedule this weekend, with the two headliners in the SEC. I am going nowhere near those games.

Auburn at Missouri (-4.5) – Missouri certainly hasn’t shown us much to prove that preseason hype was justified, but they’re still miles better than Auburn. The Tigers from Columbia did blowout UMass last week, and while that doesn’t tell us much, maybe their ass kicking at the hands of Texas A&M woke them up. Regardless, I like the home Tigers to put away the visiting Tigers without much problem.

East Carolina at Army (-16.5) – Gotta love the fact that both Army and Navy are still unbeaten this far into the season. The Pirates haven’t been overly impressive, I expect the Black Knights of the Hudson to roll easily.

Michigan at Illinois (+3.5) – Give me the home dogs in this Big Ten showdown. It isn’t often the Illini beat the Wolverines – it last happened in ‘09, and has only happened twice this century – but these aren’t last year’s Wolverines, and Bret Bielema has his boys playing hard. QB Luke Altmyer is playing at an All-Big Ten level, and I think Illinois wins behind a strong game from their signal caller.

NFL Game of the Week: Eagles (-3) at Giants – Philly certainly has their problems, but New York is bad, and the Eagles are talented enough to win by a couple of scores.

Mallory McCormack 
Thankfully bail money was not needed last week in Baton Rouge, which is great because my picks were not so hot. I obviously should’ve stuck with the "No More SEC" philosophy I had. But I didn’t, and I’m not going to make any absurd claims like that this week. So let’s see if we can go above .500.

Auburn at Missouri (-4.5) - Our group had two lovely Missouri fans join us and cheer for the Rebels during their first trip to Baton Rouge last week, so in honor of Art & Beth, I’m going with their Alma mater over Auburn for the homecoming game.

Kentucky (-1.5) at Florida - Things I never thought I would say, thank goodness my Rebels don’t play Vandy this year. I think Vandy is hitting their stride and beating Kentucky who has a really good defense is impressive. And because of that defense, I’m going with Kentucky beating Florida by more than 1.5. 

Michigan at Illinois (+3.5) - I like what Luke Altmeyer and the Fighting Illini are doing. I think they’ll give Michigan a run for their money.

NFL Game of the Week: Titans at Bills (-9.5) - I think the Bills at home are always dangerous and the Titans just don’t have a whole lot of defense to stop their offense, and they don’t have a lot of offense to challenge their defense. 

Greg Bosworth 
What a weekend of football we have ahead of us. Every week seems to top the previous one, so based on this trend it should be a wild Saturday and Sunday. Time to finally go 4-0 in a week. 

Georgia at Texas (-5) – Only in mid-October and this will be the third Top 5 matchup of the season. Texas has looked impressive through the first month and a half but this will be the first time they face a team that isn’t offensively challenged. Expect a late Texas touchdown to break the tie and cover the spread. I bet not too many had Georgia with two losses before Halloween on their bingo cards. 

LSU at Arkansas (ML +115)  - There have been some classics over the years when the Hogs and Tigers meet up. We should get another one Saturday night in Fayetteville. I just get the  feeling Sam Pittman’s magic isn’t done and coming off a bye week is huge for this Arkansas team. Expect something similar to the 2007 classic with a similar outcome. 

UNLV at Oregon State (+6.5) - UNLV needs this win desperately to stay in the non-Power Four playoff race, but going to Corvallis is tricky, especially late at night. This is as close as you can get to Pac12 after dark meaning this one will  be a doozy. I wouldn’t be shocked if the Rebels find a way to win the game but the line seems just a little too big here.

NFL Game of the Week: Patriots versus Jaguars at Wembley Stadium (Under 42) – Imagine that another Jags game in London. This game has all the signs of being terrible and points will be hard to come by. I wonder if England ever wonders why the NFL always sends their worst for these games? Perfect time for a mid morning nap before the Sunday schedule picks up. 

Note: All games are against the spread. Odds are taken from MGM Grand Sportsbook.