Betting Picks

The Baltimore Ravens are the kings of nothing - in more ways than one. The Ravens have posted thee of the seven shutouts recorded in the NFL this season. But with a mediocre 5-5 record, the Ravens hover on the cusp of playoff contention. They'll get another shot at a zero sum game on Monday night when they are home to face the mediocre offense of the Houston Texans.

Just a couple weeks after the Breeders' Cup World Championships, the racing world returns to Del Mar race track for the running of the $300,000 (G1) Hollywood Derby. The historic race has drawn a well-matched field of nine three-year-old colts set to go 1 1/8 miles on the turf course.

It's getting colder outside, but the chase for a spot in the starting gate for the 2018 Kentucky Derby is starting to heat up. The battle for points to earn one of the 20 starting spots is at Churchill Downs this weekend, with 14 runners entered in the (G2) Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes.

Like the rest of us, I think oddsmakers can get caught up in rivalry week and abandon their usually sound logic - or maybe they are just eager to stuff themselves full of turkey this Thanksgiving and didn't do the research. Either way, Boston College at Syracuse is a weak line.

It's rivalry week in NCAA football and that means wherever you look, there are big-time games available for wagering. Some will impact the national championship race, while others will simply offer regional bragging rights for another year. But one thing you should remember when betting on rivalry games - you should throw the records and the odds out the window, because emotion often carries the day in these games.

The winless Cleveland Browns. The team-less Colin Kaepernick. This week's list of NFL special bets on offer from Bovada reads like a who's who of prop bet regulars. Will the Browns go 0-16 seems like an annual member of the NFL prop bet festivities. And wagers on when and where much-maligned former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Kaepernick will play next are also in abundance.

After a short break following the Breeders' Cup World Championships, Grade 1 racing returns this weekend, starting with Friday's Clark Handicap at Churchill Downs. The race has drawn a field of nine, and they'll be going 1 1/8 miles on the dirt for a purse of $500,000.

Detroit Lions coach Jim Caldwell didn't enjoy being reminded of his Thanksgiving Day success, insisting his team can still be better in their traditional holiday showing. But how can you improve on perfection? The Lions are 3-0 on Thanksgiving Day under Caldwell's tutelage and have won four straight Thanksgiving Day games. Considering they were 1-11 the previous 12 Thanksgivings, you'd have to say that's impressive.

Like a giant boulder steamrolling down the side of a hill, the New Orleans Saints just keep picking up steam, and steamrolling everyone and everything in their path. Up next, a road test against NFC-West leading L.A. Rams. This will be another measure of the Saints' ability to overcome a challenge, but no one's stopped them yet, so betting against them would be a unwise choice to make.