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Wednesday’s Best Bets: College Basketball, NHL, NFL & MLB Futures

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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

College Basketball Best Bets

Iowa vs. Wisconsin

Wisconsin is enduring one of its worst seasons in recent memory (15-11, 7-9 Big Ten). It is in danger of missing the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2017-18, mainly because it has four league losses by a combined ten points and because it has struggled to score all season. The Badgers rank 13th out of 14 Big Ten teams with 64.7 points per game, and Wisconsin has not topped 65 points in its last ten non-overtime games. In their previous game, the Badgers faced a Rutgers team that was missing its two best on-ball defenders, Mawot Mag and Caleb McConnell, but still mustered just 57 points and shot 33.3% from the floor.

Iowa entered its last game against Northwestern with a 4-7 road record and was averaging 69.9 points per game away from home with a 41% road shooting percentage. Unfortunately, things did not get much better for the Hawkeyes, scoring just 60 points against the Wildcats and shooting a putrid 3-for-24 from 3-point range.

The Under has cashed in eight of Wisconsin’s 13 home games and is 5-4 in Iowa’s nine games following a loss. As a result, we expect another defensive struggle between these teams tonight.

Bet: Iowa-Wisconsin Under 139.5 (-110 at DraftKings)

  • Mike Spector

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NHL Best Bets

NHL Game Picks

Chicago Blackhawks vs. Dallas Stars

Two teams trending in opposite directions face off tonight in Dallas. Pick any other block of this season, and it'd typically be the Hawks who were trending downward and the Stars up; however, Dallas has dropped four straight games while Chicago notched its third straight win last night. These Central Division foes get going at 9:30 p.m. ET tonight in the Lone Star State.

Despite the recent woes, this game presents an excellent opportunity for the Stars to get back in the win column. They boast the third-ranked overall defense (2.42 GAA) and are tasked with taking on the league's second-worst offense (2.5 GPG). Furthermore, as I mentioned, the Hawks played last night, taking out the Golden Knights in a shootout.

Meanwhile, the Stars are fresh, not having played since a 4-1 loss to the Blue Jackets on Saturday. With the possibility that they drop out of first place in the division tonight, I expect the Stars to bring their best game against arguably the worst team in the league. Look for Jake Oettinger (23-7-9, 2.20 GAA, .926 SV%) to shut down this lowly Chicago offense while the Dallas offense does enough to stretch out the lead by 2+ goals. Let's take the Stars on the puck line.

Bet: Dallas Stars -1.5 (-145 via PointsBet)

  • Trenton Pruitt

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NHL Same Game Parlay

Winnipeg Jets vs. New York Islanders

    • Leg 1: Jets ML (+105)
    • Leg 2: UNDER 6.5 Total Goals (-160)
    • Leg 3: UNDER 1.5 Total First Goals (-105)

The Islanders cannot get both sides of the puck working simultaneously.

In January, the offense was terrible, and they couldn’t support great performances from Ilya Sorokin and Semyon Varlamov. The trade for Bo Harvat seemed to invigorate the offense because they've played better recently.

Now it's the defense that has struggled. They're 2-2-2 in their six games, and while they’re scoring a modest 3.33 goals, they're allowing 4.16 in that span.

The Jets have to love their situation. The offense has steadily improved throughout the season, and the great defense has always backed them up, with Connor Hellebuyck in the crease.

This team will compete for that top spot in the Western Conference, and they possess the most wins in the conference.

We will get Hellebuyck vs. Sorokin, and those two will be the critical factors in this game.

Parlay Odds: +550

  • John Supowitz

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NFL Best Bets

NFC Conference Winner Best Bets

Detroit Lions (11/1) 

As I mentioned above, the NFC is wide open, with two clear front runners in San Francisco (+350) and the defending champs, Philadelphia (+400). None of those teams offer much value right now. And frankly, I suspect the NFC will most likely be represented by one of these two loaded teams.

But my overarching point is that there is plenty of room for a team to emerge. And that team could very well be Detroit. The Lions were nearly a playoff team this year and have an exciting offense led by an outstanding offensive line and some exciting playmakers in D’Andre Swift and Amon-Ra St. Brown.

Perhaps what’s most exciting is Detroit has eight draft picks, including the sixth and 18th-overall selections. They also have roughly $13 million in cap space to make some improvements via free agency.

Detroit has to decide whether it will continue to roll with Jared Goff under center. And the decision at QB will likely dictate the entire offseason. Detroit could opt to take one of the rookie passers in this year’s talented draft class. Or they could elect to address their 28th-ranked defense with their first two picks.

For the first time in decades, Detroit has options, and it has hope.

  • Matt Barbato

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MLB Best Bets

Stolen Base Leader Picks

Esteury Ruiz, who was traded twice since August 2022, could be a starting outfielder for the Oakland Athletics this season. Esteury only has 35 MLB plate appearances in his young career but stole 85 bases in the minor leagues in 2022. Amazingly, Ruiz has attempted 302 stolen bases over 2,236 plate appearances during his minor league career. To make things more impressive, the 24-year-old Ruiz had a .447 OBP between Double-A and Triple-A in 2022.

Esteury Ruiz (OF- OAK) | +700

  • Matthew Buss

Check out our other MLB Futures Betting Odds, Picks & Predictions >>

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