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Friday’s Best NFL, College Football & MLB Bets (10/20)

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No matter your sport of choice, there's always sports betting action to be had. We'll have you covered each and every day with our daily best bets. Here are all of our best bets across each major sport in action today.

Today's Best Bets

Here are today's best bets.

NFL Best Bets

(Odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook)

NFL Week 7 Moneyline Parlay

  • Leg 1: Las Vegas Raiders (-164)
  • Leg 2: Tampa Bay Buccaneers (-138)
  • Leg 3: Green Bay Packers (-118)

The Raiders might start Aiden O'Connell against the Bears on Sunday. But that's OK. The Chicago Bears will ride out their game with Tyson Bagent. Neither quarterback is appalling. However, the Raiders could get back over .500 with a win on the road. The Bears have also been much worse in the secondary.

The Falcons have shown off more of a passing game recently, but I still don't think that'll be sustainable. The Buccaneers have a great pass rush and a secondary that has played above average this season. In the end, Tampa Bay's offense has a line protecting better and more overall playmakers.

If there's ever a time for Jordan Love to get his feel again, it's this game against the Broncos. Denver's secondary has been atrocious all season long. The run defense isn't any better. Look for the Packers to escape Denver with a massive win.

Parlay Odds: +412

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College Football Best Bets

(Odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook)

#8 Texas Longhorns @ Houston Cougars

  • Leg 1: Over 60.5 (-115)
  • Leg 2: Jonathon Brooks Over 108.5 Rushing Yards (-114)
  • Leg 3: Quinn Ewers Over 9.5 Rushing Yards (-122)

Texas hopes to rebound after a tough loss against Oklahoma. Besides that game, they have convincingly beaten their opponents, and each win has been by multiple possessions. Houston's inaugural year in the Big 12 isn't going too well, as they're 1-2 and picked up their first conference win on a last-second hail Mary against West Virginia. The Cougars are last in the conference in overall points allowed this season and are giving up 41.3 points to conference opponents while scoring under 30. Texas should win, but the confidence isn't in the spread. Taking the over is the best bet.

Like a light switch, Jonathon Brooks has turned it on, and he's on an incredible run. After totaling just 109 rushing yards in his first two games, he's averaging 154.2 yards with five touchdowns in his last four. Houston has struggled against the run and is 95th in rushing yards allowed per game. 109 is a large number, but it's feasible for the red-hot Brooks.

Quinn Ewer's intention isn't to run, but he will do it on occasion. The line of 9.5 is a small number against this run defense, and he's hit this mark three times this season.

Parlay Total: +539

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MLB Best Bets

(Odds courtesy of Caesars Sportsbook)

Houston Astros vs. Texas Rangers

Pithing matchup: Justin Verlander vs. Jordan Montgomery

Jordan Montgomery will earn himself a big paycheck this offseason, parlaying a really solid 2023 regular season campaign into a fantastic postseason. Montgomery's season-long ERA of 3.20 and WHIP of 1.19 are both great, which he achieved by being a solid all-around pitcher.

His hard-hit metrics all graded out above league average, with his average exit velo coming in at the 65th percentile. His ground ball rate was nearly 44%, good for the 57th percentile, and his chase rate of 30% also ranked in the 65th percentile. His walk rate is squarely in the 80th percentile at 6.2%, so he avoids the free pass and has great control of the strike zone.

As good as his regular season was, he's turned it up a notch in the playoffs, allowing only a 4.0 ER through 17.1 IP. In his lone start against the Astros this season in late June, Monty went 6.2 IP and only allowed a single run, striking out six and walking just one batter. I love his matchup against the lefties at the top of the Astros batting order, and I expect him to continue his postseason dominance with another great start on Friday evening.

Justin Verlander will toe the rubber for the Astros in yet another postseason start in what will surely be a Hall of Fame career. Verlander's advanced numbers did take a slight dip this season, but that didn't stop him from posting a 3.22 ERA with a 1.13 WHIP. His xERA of 3.69 and xBA of 0.229 are both firmly in the top third of the league, so even though his numbers dropped slightly, his expected numbers were still really good.

Like Montgomery, he has great control of the strike zone, walking only 6.7% of the batters he faces (76th percentile), and he's still been able to get batters to expand the strike zone with a chase rate in the 73rd percentile. JV has been given the reputation of struggling in the playoffs, which is pretty puzzling considering his career postseason ERA of 3.51 with a WHIP of 1.12, which includes two 5.0+ ERA postseasons at the very beginning of his career with Detroit.

He's been as sharp as ever this postseason, allowing just two earned in the two games that he has started, including a 6.2 IP performance against these very same Rangers. He had one additional start against Texas in the regular season, where he was brilliant, going seven IP and allowing only one earned run. He'll have the splits advantage in this matchup as well, as the Rangers hit lefties much harder than they hit righties this season. I trust JV's track record and dominance against the Rangers this season and am fading the narrative that he chokes in the playoffs.

Bet: NRFI (-110)

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