Thanksgiving is a huge football weekend so we are handing out our winners a couple days early.

Your Pencil Storm prognosticators are back for another season of Friday bets for real. 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)

A simple turkey day trifecta- bears +10 cowboys -4 Green bay -3.5

Ben Galli (Pencil Storm NBA Beat Writer)

Detroit Lions -10.5 vs. Chicago Bears The Lions blow out bad teams. Look at their schedule. Every close game has been against a legit playoff contender. Every game that wasn't one? Lions - 47, Cowboys - 9. Lions - 52, Jaguars - 6. Lions - 24, Colts - 6. You get the idea.  The point is, this season's Lions are on a mission and they consistently take care of business against lesser foes. Enter the hapless Bears on Thanksgiving, likely led by a coach on his way out, and it could be a Detroit feast for the ages. NBA Cup Black Friday Parlay  If you're lucky enough to not have to be out and about on one of the busiest days of the year, perhaps the NBA's attempt to take over Black Friday may entice you. The league plans five televised NBA Cup games on the day after Thanksgiving, a quintuple-header if you will. As a way of saying thanks for supporting the excellent Pencilstorm, here's a 5-game parlay pick for those very games. Knicks (vs. Hornets) Cavs (vs. Hawks) Grizzlies (vs. Pelicans) TWolves (vs. Clippers) Thunder (vs. Lakers)

Brian Phillips (Morning Show Host 103.5 FM)

Friday South Alabama ML over Texas State. Georgia Tech +19 1/2 vs Georgia. Saturday Fresno St +8 1/2 vs UCLA. Small on Fresno ML. Oregon -19 1/2 over Washington. New Mexico +2 1/2 vs Hawaii.

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

As much as I would love to take the Buckeyes -20.5, I remember all too clearly what it’s like to be on the wrong side of this rivalry and turning the momentum doesn’t come easy. Hard pass.

However, if we have learned one thing this college football season is that teams that look dominant are susceptible to laying an egg for no apparent reason. So, while I would not recommend this logic to bet your child’s college fund, I am going to take USC +7.5 and I am tempted to take the money line. If ND can lose at home to Northern Illinois, they can lose to the Trojans in the coliseum. Lincoln Riley REALLY needs a good showing to end this disastrous season.

And what the hell, I will take Florida -15 at FSU and Maryland +24.5 vs Penn State.

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

Last weekend was very good to me. First, the losses: Cleveland surprised the Steelers on Thursday, which caught me off guard, and the Bears actually made a game of it against the North’s #2 team the Vikings, so Minnesota didn’t cover either, so those were duds, but Seattle upset Arizona on the money line, Baltimore easily handled the Chargers on Monday, and the Eagles easily covered against the Rams.

I also split NCAAF with Michigan State failing to cover against the struggling Boilermakers, but OSU did fine against Indiana.

THANKSGIVING GAMES

AMERICA’S TEAM the Detroit Lions are -10 against the Bears and this one has me a bit worried. The Bears always arrive in Detroit prepared, and Detroit hasn’t won on Thanksgiving in 7 years, including last year when they shit the bed against the Pack after this writer traded 3 Les Pauls and a mid-70s Marshall full stack for a pair of tickets.  

When I was a kid the first NFL game I ever attended was Bears Lions on Thanksgiving in 1980 at the Silverdome and it went to overtime and the Bears returned the OT kickoff for a touchdown in the shortest overtime game in NFL history (`til the Broncos beat it in `96). That was also the first time I ever smelled weed, but that’s another story.

 WATCH THIS VIDEO ABOUT THAT GAME!

Anyhow, yeah I gotta take the Lions. The Cowboys have been PURE GOLD losing against the spread this year, though they broke the spell last weekend and I do like them -4 over the lowly Giants on Turkey Day. Packers -3 against the Dolphins at Lambeau seems safe. So take all the home teams and thank me later.

Ok, so the big game. This year lacks the excitement and competitiveness of recent years, eh? UM has won 3 straight, of course, but this team ain’t that team, and the Bucks are looking almost as strong as ever, but not invincible. Only a fool would predict an upset, as sweet as that would be, but I do think there’s a decent chance the Wolverines cover. -21 for this game seems like a lot, even under current circumstances. I’ve got Michigan covering.