Taking Bets | Plenty To Pick | Week Seven

Every Friday evening, Taking Bets gets you ready for the weekend's football with some ideas on the bets to make. It's Mallory McCormack, host of The Staredown podcast, Blaine Duncan, editor-in-chief and host of the TV podcast Taking It Down, and TD Wood, host of Takin' On Sports.

2023 ATS Record
Blaine Duncan: 9-12-2 (Week Six: 2-1-1)
TD Wood: 14-9 (Week Six: 3-1)
Mallory McCormack: 14-7-2 (Week Six: 4-0)

Blaine Duncan 
As the resident bettor who picks right on the line, see if your bookie will just let you bet the push and call my weekly bets in. This week, I eschewed picking Navy-3, Washington-3, and USC+2.5 in case you wanted to know where the real money is.

Miami (+3) at North Carolina -- It would be just like college football for Mario Cristobal to make one of the biggest coaching blunders we've seen in a while one week only to turn around and win a conference game against a 5-0 the Tar Heels. This will be Mack Brown and North Carolina's toughest game yet, and none of their previous wins point to any particular reason for them to win this one, other than it's at home. I'll go Hurricanes.

Missouri at Kentucky (-2.5) -- Both teams are coming off their first set of losses for the season, so one of these groups will have to bounce back. The fire in Mark Stoops this week lends me to think that the Wildcats can get a three-point win -- or more -- at home this weekend under the lights in Lexington: it's not that they were bad, it's just that Georgia may be that good.

UCLA at Oregon State (OVER: 54) -- I think the Beavers continue to win, and this time, against a quality conference foe, but I like the over bet here better. This score could get into the sixties or more!

NFL Game of the Week:
Colts at Jaguars (-4) -- I wanted to go Patriots again because I think Belichick has to win sooner than later, but with the Colts without their starting QB for a while and an injured RT, I think that may be enough for the Jags to win at home by a touchdown. We'll see.

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TD Wood
We're really in a great part of the football schedule, it seems like there's a heavyweight tilt every weekend. I liked a lot of lines this week, it was hard to narrow them down. I don't know yet whether or not that's a good sign.

Kansas at Oklahoma State (+3.5) -- This is more of a hunch than anything, but I like the Cowboys to pull the upset at home. They played well in their upset win over Kansas State, and the Jayhawks will be without QB Jalon Daniels.

Illinois at Maryland (-13.5) -- The Terps trip to Columbus didn't end well, but it rarely does for anyone. They've played well this year, and even had a 10-0 lead over the Buckeyes before Ohio State's depth won out. The Illini on the other hand... I expect the Maryland offense to have a big day en route to an easy win.

Auburn at LSU (-11) -- This rivalry is full of weird moments and crazy games, but I see no way in hell Auburn hangs with Jayden Daniels and the LSU offense. The Bayou Bengals certainly have their problems on defense, but Auburn isn't the team to take advantage.

NFL Game of the Week:
49ers (-9.5) at Browns -- San Francisco looks like the best team in the league, and it isn't really close. The Browns have talent on defense, for sure, but an already struggling offense will be without Deshaun Watson once again. In their game against the Ravens, also played without their signal caller, they managed three points and under 200 total yards. Doesn't bode well for keeping up with the potent 49ers offense.

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Mallory McCormack
Ole Miss has a bye week and I am so thankful for it. I'm tired y'all and I need a break to just sit back, relax, have a drink or two and watch some other games! So I decided to go a little different with my picks this week and choose the games I'm most looking forward to. 4-0 last week was probably another fluke, so if my trend continues, this is guaranteed to be a bust...that you can probably put money on ;)

Oregon at Washington (OVER: 67) -- I think this ends up being a shootout. Oregon is averaging 51.6 points per game and Washington is averaging 46. Oregon's defense statistically looks a little better than Washington's but I think they are both going to score. A lot.

Miami at North Carolina (-3) -- Victory formation. I hope Miami practiced it this week. But I don't think they'll need it. UNC has the home crowd and will be the ones to use it.

Missouri at Kentucky (-2.5) -- I was correct on my LSU pick last weekend thanks to a late 4th quarter pick-6. I know Brian Kelly wasn't happy but who care about him and his fakeness. I think that took the wind out of Missouri's sails. Kentucky got blown out by Georgia but I wasn't surprised. Georgia knew they needed to show up and they did. Kentucky bounces back better than Missouri.

NFL Game of the Week:
Patriots at Raiders (-3) -- I don't love any of the games. And I was tempted to take the Bills at -15 over the Giants and the 49ers at 10 over the Browns. But those teams always get the love. Let's give some attention to the Raiders. That defense will make Mac Jones uncomfortable.

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Note: All games are Against the Spread. Odds are taken from the Caesar's Sportsbook.