The college football regular season comes to a close this weekend, while other sports continue to dish out major showdowns in the online sports betting market.
College Football
Ohio State at Michigan
Saturday, Nov. 25 | 12 p.m. ET | FOX
Thanksgiving traditionally marks Rivalry Week in college football, which is the last week of regular-season games before conference championships and bowl season. And in recent years, no rivalry game has had a bigger impact on the college football national championship odds than Michigan vs. Ohio State.
The Wolverines and Buckeyes are a combined 22-0 this year, and the stakes don’t get much higher for this year’s competition. Both Michigan and Ohio State are currently ranked in the top four.
The winner will advance to the Big Ten championship game, then likely on to the College Football Playoff; the loser will likely be relegated to the Rose Bowl.
Last year, Michigan beat Ohio State in Columbus 45-23, but both schools received playoff invites because top-level competition was so lax in other conferences. That’s unlikely to happen again this year, with all five power conferences fielding at least one playoff-worthy team.
As of Wednesday morning, Michigan was a 3.5-point home favorite in BetMGM’s college football odds.
NBA
76ers at Thunder
Saturday, Nov. 25 | 5 p.m. ET
Saturday afternoon’s game between the Philadelphia 76ers and Oklahoma City Thunder should prove to be a duel between two of the NBA’s best teams – even if most wouldn’t have thought that just a few weeks ago.
At the close of the offseason, Oklahoma City’s projected win total in BetMGM’s NBA odds market was 44.5. The Thunder have amassed young talent better than virtually any other NBA franchise over the last few years, but the West is deep with contending teams. It was never obvious that Oklahoma City would be able to break through.
So far, though, the Thunder have done just that. As of Wednesday, OKC was tied for second with the Denver Nuggets, trailing first-place Minnesota by just half a game.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is third in the Association in points this month, pouring in 31.2 per contest. His 2.4 steals per game leads the NBA.
As for the two players scoring more than SGA? One of them is MVP Joel Embiid, who’s posting 32.2 points and 11.5 rebounds per contest for the Sixers since James Harden was dealt to the Clippers. The 76ers are similarly in contention as well, tied with Milwaukee for second and just a game behind first-place Boston.
NFL
Jaguars at Texans
Sunday, Nov. 26 | 1 p.m. ET | CBS
Are the Jaguars truly the team to beat in the AFC South? That question will yield some key head-to-head results on Sunday, as Jacksonville travels to Houston for a key divisional game that could have major playoff implications down the road.
Jacksonville was one of the biggest divisional favorites available during the offseason NFL futures market. But C.J. Stroud’s ascendency as an effective NFL quarterback for the Texans has put the Texans in play for the AFC South’s automatic playoff berth.
PFF grades Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence as the No. 8 player under center this year, with an 84.0 grade. Stroud ranks ninth, with an 83.7 grade.
Key in all of this is the Week 3 game already played between these two teams, when the Texans beat the Jaguars 37-17 in Jacksonville. It was the Stroud’s first career win as an NFL quarterback.
If the Texans can sweep the season series, it’ll put Houston in the driver’s seat for the AFC South’s automatic playoff berth.
For now, the Jaguars remain a -250 favorite to win the division. They’re -120 moneyline favorites to win in Houston this weekend.