Your Pencil Storm prognosticators are back for another season of Friday* Bet$ For Realz. These are actual bets placed by actual people. However, it is important to remember that we are not encouraging you to follow our lead and gamble your hard-earned money away on our behalf.

But it is also important to remember that “winners play and players win, baby!” Ok, let’s do this.

Big $ (Pencil Storm Browns Beat Writer With North Coast Posse)

Ok, I’ll start with some NFL futures:

Bo is a winner and works in Sean P's offense - Broncos over 5.5 wins.

Eventually the soap opera catches up with you - 49ers under 11.5 wins.

Okay, this week's CFB picks:

I’m thinking outside of the box in TTUN v UT. Chasing the big + sign = Im taking +750 for it to be tied at half.

It could be a trap line but Im sticking with Iowa -3 against Iowa St.

Ride the Lane Train overs until SEC season - Ole Miss v MTSU over 63.5.

and in a pick I feel slightly icky about , Louisville -30 over Jacksonville St.

Good Luck, fade or tail.

Brent Baver (Buckeye Beat Writer Pencilstorm.com)

I spent a good deal of time looking at the CFB Nat'l Title futures last night, and should have jumped on a couple of them that had good value. BetMGM & Caesars both had the Hurricanes at 50-1 on Wednesday. The odds as of Thursday night? BetMGM: 25-1, and Caesars: 18-1. Ouch....I'll pass. 

BetMGM had the best number for Bama that I saw yesterday: 15-1. Those odds dropped as well, but only to 12-1. Still, the value is no longer there. You snooze, you lose.

I ended up using a bonus bet that I got from FanDuel on a bit of a flyer.....Coastal Carolina to win the Sun Belt, at 20-1 odds. While I am not too much of a fan of their head coach Tim Beck, who coached at Ohio State under Urban for a few seasons...they look like they will be better than expected this season. They were a 3.5 pt dog on the road last week, but ended up rolling Rich Rod's Jacksonville State team 55-27. They don't have Grayson McCall anymore, but that's why the odds are longer. The next best odds at books that I use have Coastal at 14-1.

As for Wk 2 games, there isn't a lot that I like this week. Seems like big bettors like Michigan catching more than a TD at home against the Longhorns, thinking that Wk 1 was an overreaction that has pushed that line too high. I get it, but Michigan may have problems scoring double-digit points in this one. No bet here.

I did play Kansas -5 at Illinois (-107) at Prime Sports early in the week. Thought the line would go up, and it did. But it has since made its way back down to 5. I think Illinois has maxed out on the early returns they got with Bielema. He no longer has Ryan Turner running his defense, and no longer has the good fortune of having the defensive studs that somehow ended up in Champaign. I sided with Lance Leipold in this one.

Colin Gawel (Colin’s Coffee, Pencilstorm, Musician at Watershed)

If there is one thing I have learned since sports wagering became legal in Ohio it is don’t bet against the Michigan Wolverines. It must be karma paying me back for being friends with The Dead Schembechlers but I cannot figure that squad out. So obviously I started the 2024 season by taking Fresno State +19 at Michigan for the home opener in the Big House. 

It’s nothing against UM, but they lost a lot from last year’s championship run including the QB and the head coach who are both now  in the NFL. A slow start against a frisky Fresno State squad seems possible.  So what happens? Things were looking great until UM returned an interception 84 yards for a TD with just 3 minutes remaining to win by….wait for it…. 20. 

Having said that, if Texas is as good as their fans think they are, they should have no trouble covering 6.5 this Saturday at noon in Ann Arbor. That gap in quarterback experience alone justifies that cover. But history shows, proceed with caution. 

As for futures, I have put in some CFP longshots that seem reasonable and pay out nicely.

Six-leg parlay to make CFP: OSU, Georgia, Notre Dame, Penn State, Miami, Utah pays +1468.

Jeremy Porter (Musician, fast-food Mexican connoisseur, terrible gambler, Pencil Storm Co-Editor in Chief)

From that state to the north, I won't bet against my own teams, but if I did I'd consider Maryland -9.5 over Michigan State. Michigan with +7.5 against Texas? Yes, please. In fact, I'll take the money line. I also bet for Michigan to win the Big 10 this year, +750, even with the uncertainties around all the changes and the less-than-convincing win last week. OSU will beat up on Western Michigan, but that's a lot of points. I took Akron last week and squeaked by with the points and the over, but that was 48, not 38. It'll be close with the spread.

Super excited to see if our LIONS can continue their great run from last year and contend again! The Rams are tough, and this town has a weird relationship with Stafford, but I gotta take the cats against the spread parlayed with the under. And I'd love to see the Eagles wallup the Packers, so let's do that too.  

Michigan money line vs Texas.

Michigan to win the Big 10.

Lions -2.5 / under 50.5.

Eagles -3.5 / under 48.5.

* We will not be gambling every weekend.