The Daily Sweat: It's time for some Friday night #Pac12AfterDark
College football takes the betting spotlight on Friday night with the Astros and Phillies off as they switch cities.
Game 6 of the World Series was originally scheduled for Friday night but with Monday night’s rainout, Game 6 got shifted to Saturday. With no baseball on the calendar, the biggest sporting event of the evening takes place out in Pac-12 country as No. 23 Oregon State travels to Washington (10:30 p.m. ET, ESPN2).
The Huskies are 4.5-point favorites Friday night and the total is 54.5. Both teams are 6-2 overall and 3-2 in the Pac-12 and it’s a fascinating matchup of strengths. Oregon State allows just 425 yards per game and 231 yards through the air. Washington, meanwhile, throws for nearly 380 yards per game as Michael Penix Jr. has thrown for 2,934 yards and 22 TDs over the first eight games of the season.
We’re inclined to bet Washington on the moneyline but Oregon State is an enticing road underdog getting more than four points.
The other two games start at 7 p.m. ET. Duke travels to Boston College (ESPN2) in an ACC game that sees the Blue Devils favored by 10. It’s a spread that would have seemed unfathomable before the season began, but Boston College is 2-6 in 2022 while Duke is 5-3. Boston College is scoring just 17 points per game while Duke is scoring over 34 points a contest. Boston College hasn’t won since a 34-33 victory over Louisville on Oct. 1, though we’re leaning to them getting 10 points at home. We wouldn’t bet on a Boston College win, but BC has too much talent to be this bad, right?
The other game features a team that surprisingly beat Boston College a week ago. UConn hosts UMass (CBSSN) as it attempts to get to 5-5 on the season. The Huskies are 15.5-point favorites at home as they’ve won three of their last four games. UMass is 1-7 and its only win is a 20-3 victory over Stony Brook in September.
The UMass offense is pitiful. The Minutemen throw for fewer than 80 yards per game and only average a half yard more per pass attempt (4.1) than they do per rush (3.6). UConn’s passing offense isn’t much better, but QB Zion Turner has been better in recent weeks. We’ll take the Huskies minus the points as they get to .500 in November for the first time since 2015.
A dozen NBA games on tap
After there were just two NBA games on Thursday night, 24 teams take to the floor on Friday night. The two ESPN games are Chicago at Boston and Milwaukee at Minnesota. The Celtics are favored by 7.5 points over the bulls while the Bucks are three-point favorites at Minnesota as they look to go to 8-0 on the season.
The turmoiled Brooklyn Nets are 2.5-point underdogs at the Washington Wizards as they play their first game since Kyrie Irving was suspended for his antisemitism. The Philadelphia 76ers are favorites by that same margin at home against the New York Knicks as they take the court without the injured James Harden.
NASCAR Truck Series title race
If you want to bet on some trucks, the NASCAR Truck Series winner-take-all title race (10 p.m. ET, FS1) could provide you some late-night entertainment.
Ty Majeski is the favorite to win the title at +175 while Chandler Smith is at +185. Zane Smith is at +250 and Ben Rhodes is the underdog at +700. We’d be intrigued on taking a flier on Rhodes. He’s the defending Truck Series champion and has finished no lower than seventh in his last three Phoenix starts.
Scottie Scheffler still favored in Mexico
World No. 2 Scottie Scheffler is +600 to win the World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba after the first round while No. 11 Viktor Hovland is at +700. Scheffler and Hovland are in a tie for seventh after they each shot a 6-under 65 on Thursday. Will Gordon (+1400) is the first-round leader at 9-under.
Who cashed tickets Thursday night?
Texans bettors got a nice cover in the Eagles’ 29-17 win on Thursday night. While Philadelphia moved to 8-0 with the win, the Texans covered a 13.5-point spread with a field goal in the third quarter. The Astros took a 3-2 lead in the World Series with a 3-2 win in Game 5 over the Phillies and the Magic were a surprising straight up underdog winner over the Warriors thanks to two late threes by Jalen Suggs.
