Thursday’s BetOnline odds boosts are an eclectic mix. We’ve got some politics. We’ve got some college football. We’ve got some pro football. We’ve even got some UEFA Europa League, if you’re into that sort of thing.
Which odds boost is worth your attention?
NCAAF: Ohio State to Win NCAA Championship (+275)
The Big 10 was back in action last weekend, and it took very little time for the league to have its first postponement. This weekend’s game between Wisconsin and Nebraska was postponed after the Badgers suffered an outbreak, so we’ll see what that means for the league’s rest-of-season schedule.
While Wisconsin is expected to be a factor, the Big Ten is Ohio State’s to lose. The Buckeyes trounced Nebraska 52-17 in their opener, and this week they’ll face a stiff test on the road against No. 18 Penn State. The only other ranked teams on Ohio State’s schedule after that are No. 17 Indiana and No. 13 Michigan in the season finale.
BetOnline.ag gives the Buckeyes the second-best odds to win the NCAA title this season at +225, behind only Clemson (+185). Ohio State looked the part in their season opener, but the +275 odds you’re getting here aren’t a huge shift from the standard price.
Politics: Republican to Win Ohio Electoral College Vote (-180)
Donald Trump took Ohio back in 2016, when he seemingly won every battleground state he had to win in order to pull his upset of Hillary Clinton. Trump is a sizable betting underdog to win a second term at this point, but he does have a good shot at retaining the Buckeye state. On a side note, I’m sensing a theme with today’s odds boosters.
🚨 NEW Fox News Polls 🚨
Michigan
Biden: 52%
Trump: 40%Ohio
Trump: 48%
Biden: 45%Pennsylvania
Biden: 50%
Trump: 45%Wisconsin
Biden: 49%
Trump: 44%— Pat Ward (@WardDPatrick) October 21, 2020
Trump beat Clinton in Ohio in 2016 by about 500,000 votes. The margins are expected to be slim again in 2020, but Democratic challenger Joe Biden doesn’t need to win Ohio if he hopes to knock Trump out of the White House. Biden has his eye on other nearby states, including Wisconsin and Michigan.
BetOnline has the Republican at -270 to win Ohio as of this writing, with Biden and the Democrats coming in at +210.
Europa League: Arsenal, Napoli, and Rangers ALL to Win (+400)
Arsenal got their Europa League campaign kicked off with a 2-1 triumph over Rapid Vienna last week, and today they’ll look to stay atop the table in Group B at home against Dundalk. The Gunners are 2.5-goal favorites here and massive -1560 moneyline favorites, so oddsmakers clearly aren’t too bullish on the Irish side on the road in London.
Napoli, meanwhile, face a tough test in Spain today. The Italian side will head to San Sebastian to face Real Sociedad. This game is basically a pick’em. Sociedad are listed at +141 to take all three points at home, with Napoli checking in at +167.
Rangers will be at home against Lech Poznan. This is a Polish side that hasn’t advanced past the group stages in this competition, and they were beaten 4-2 last week by Benfica at home. Rangers currently sit atop the Scottish Premiership table without a loss through 12 matches. Steven Gerrard’s side are -292 home favorites, per BetOnline.
NCAAF: Colorado State and Georgia Southern BOTH to Win (+210)
We’ve got a big weekend of college football ahead, and it gets started tonight with a couple of games. Georgia Southern will be at home to take on South Alabama. The Eagles are four-point home favorites in this one, and this will already be their sixth game of the year. Georgia Southern is off to a 3-2 start, though they did lose to a solid Coastal Carolina team last week by a couple of touchdowns.
South Alabama is also 3-2, and they’ll enter on a two-game winning streak.
Colorado State will head to Fresno State in the other game on the schedule. The Rams are favored by a field goal here on the road in a game with a high over/under of 57.5 points. This will be the first game of the season for Colorado State, while Fresno State is coming off a 34-19 loss last week to Hawaii.
NFL: Panthers (-2.5) to Cover AND Over 50.5 Points (+325)
Thursday Night Football brings us an NFC South tilt between the Carolina Panthers and Atlanta Falcons. Christian McCaffrey is set to miss another game for Carolina, which means we should see another heavy dosage of Mike Davis coming out of the backfield.
Atlanta is just 1-6 on the year, but their point differential of minus-23 isn’t quite as awful as you may expect. The Falcons have lost a number of close games in heartbreaking fashion, while the Panthers enter this one at 3-4 under first-year head coach Matt Rhule.
#Panthers RB Christian McCaffrey (ankle) isn’t expected to be activated from injured reserve for tonight’s game against the #Falcons, per sources. He returned to practice Tuesday and Carolina hasn’t formally ruled him out. But it was a long shot all week and remains that way.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) October 29, 2020
The Carolina Panthers have gone 4-3 against the spread so far this season, while Atlanta is 2-5 ATS. Three of the Panthers’ seven games thus far have hit the over, while the Falcons have hit the over four times in seven games.
What’s The Best Bet?
The safest bet here is Trump to reclaim Ohio at -180 during the 2020 US Presidential election. While that number is quite a bit better than the -270 odds you’ll find on Trump to win Ohio at the BetOnline sportsbook, it’s still a relatively middling value compared to the other boosters we have. If you want safety, this is the way to go. If you’re looking for more profit potential, go in another direction.
There’s quite a bit of uncertainty with Colorado State playing its first game of the new season. Fresno State appears to be nothing special, but the relative unknown factor with the Rams has me shying away from the Georgia Southern/Colorado State two-way bet here at +210.
Arsenal and Rangers should be able to take care of business in Europa, but Napoli’s trip to face Real Sociedad complicates things. Napoli just hasn’t really played up to par over the past year or so, and Sociedad isn’t exactly a doormat in one of the best leagues in Europe. There’s upside here at +400, but we have better options tonight.
Ohio State is a strong bet to win the NCAA title…
If QB Justin Fields can stay healthy for the duration of the season. The Big Ten doesn’t look like the toughest conference on paper, and other than Clemson, there really doesn’t seem to be an obvious choice to win the national championship in 2020. Getting past the Tigers is no easy task, of course, but the +275 odds on Ohio State are pretty interesting. Those odds may only get shorter from here.
I do like tonight’s TNF game to hit the over, especially considering we have a couple of weak defensive teams doing battle in a dome. Indoor games tend to be better for scoring, so we should see some fireworks tonight. I also think the Panthers are pretty clearly the better team on paper, even without McCaffrey. Carolina to cover the small spread plus the over on 50.5 points looks like a pretty strong play tonight, especially at the +325 odds.
There’s a lot to like about today’s boosters, but my favorite is the Panthers to cover plus the game against the Falcons going over 50.5.
Boosted Odds Prop Bet:
Panthers to Cover AND Over 50.5 Points (+325)
Taylor Smith
Taylor Smith has been a staff writer with GamblingSites.org since early 2017. Taylor is primarily a sports writer, though he will occasionally dabble in other things like politics and entertainment betting. His primary specialties are writing about the NBA, Major League Baseball, NFL and domestic and international soccer. Fringe sports like golf and horse racing aren’t exactly his cup of tea, bu …
