Redneck High

West Virginia's Friday upset loss and Saturday's near-disaster of a day gave me my first losing weekend of the season. It almost feels good to get that out of the way, because you always know some are coming. The University of Cincinnati's big win over San Diego State late Saturday, and the Giants bumping off the Eagles last night helped pull me out of the gutter and kept me still in positive money territory, even after that rough stretch.

Fittingly, there were some odd breaks that hurt me over that bad weekend, which is how it always seems to happen. Bad breaks come in bunches. Here's a few things I ran into:

SUNDAY

• Shopping around for the best line on the Browns/Ravens total, I decided to go with the Under 40 at even money, instead of choosing Under 40.5 at -115 juice. Predictably, the game ended with a total of exactly 40, giving me a Push instead of what could have been a Win.

SATURDAY

• Ohio State missed the easiest of plays — an extra point — against Minnesota, turning my first-half win into a Push.
• After staying quiet all day, the UCLA offense suddenly turned into the Indianapolis Colts in fourth quarter against Oregon State, scoring 4 touchdowns to blow my Under.

I'm looking foward to beginning a hot streak. Maybe tonight's the start of that. I'm playing the Under 54 in the Bengals/Patriots game. The Patriots have been almost unbelievably sharp this season and are due to slack off, if only slightly. And I don't like the Bengals' offense's chances against the New England defense. I think the total will get close to that 54 mark, but I expect to squeak out a win.

ACTION: 10/01

Bengals at Patriots (Under 54)

9:10pm
I've got a decent chance for a middle on Monday Night Football. I've already bet the Patriots/Bengals at Under 54 for the game, and 24 points were scored in the first half. I've added an Over 27 for the second half. Worst case situation, I win one bet, lose the other. But if 28 points are scored — 4 touchdowns, which seems about right — I'll win both. I'm hoping for that.

10/01 Added Play

Bengals at Patriots (Over 27 2H)

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