Friday MLB and College Football Betting Picks for August 25 - Ride the Line Ep. #48

A new episode of Ride the Line with Grant Mitchell and Tanner Kern is now live on all WSN platforms!

Friday MLB Betting Picks

Grant took care of the MLB betting picks on Friday’s show, while Tanner took the college football load.

The show started with the under of 8.5 runs in the Toronto Blue Jays-Cleveland Guardians matchup. Tanner Bibee has a 2.63 ERA this month and had a 1.78 ERA in July and just dealt a seven-inning shutout to the Blue Jays two weeks ago. Chris Bassitt, meanwhile, has a 3.32 ERA this month and a 2.83 ERA for the season when playing on his home field.

Both teams are top 10 in bullpen ERA and bottom 10 in scoring over the last month. They’re also averaging a combined 7.5 runs during that same stretch, which is why Grant is all over the under for their Friday encounter.

His second pick is the New York Mets -1.5 against the Los Angeles Angels. Kodai Senga has been a model of consistency and will take his 3.19 ERA into a matchup with Patrick Sandoval, who has a 4.08 ERA for the year and a 4.74 ERA in August. The Angels may be without Shohei Ohtani, but even if he plays, Grant expects him to be ineffective because of the torn UCL he recently suffered.

The Angels have scored fewer runs than every team in the league over the last two weeks, while the Mets have found a hot hand and are seventh. The Mets have also covered in eight of their last 11 games, while the Angels have done so in just six of their last 21. The moneyline is safer and still represents fair value, but Grant expects a big win for the Mets.

The final MLB pick for Friday’s show is the Tampa Bay Rays moneyline against the New York Yankees. The Rays recently rediscovered their offense and are first in scoring over the last two weeks and fifth over the last month, whereas the Yankees are close to the bottom in both. The Yankees have also lost 10 of their last 11 outings and are 25-33 on the road, which pales in comparison to the Rays’ 43-22 home record.

Gerrit Cole has been awesome this season (as he usually is) but has a 5.25 ERA this month. His counterpart, Zach Eflin, has a 3.27 ERA this month and a 1,03 WHIP for the year and threw six shutout innings against the Yankees on August 1.

College Football Week 0 Betting Picks

Tanner took over for the college football picks. He started off his card with the Navy Midshipmen over 13.5 points in their matchup in Ireland against the No. 13 Notre Dame Fighting Irish. 

Navy hung 32 points on Notre Dame when they played last season, and their strong running game should translate not only into a new season, but into foreign territory (since, again, this game is happening in Ireland). Tanner likes the team total more than the spread since they can get cheap points in garbage time if needed.

The next college football betting pick is USC over 48.5 points in their matchup with San Jose State University. The Trojans scored 66 points against Rice in their 2022 season opener, and Tanner isn’t worried about Caleb Williams and other starters sitting and thereby lowering their points total since they scored a majority of those 66 without the help of Williams.

USC’s defense was far and away the biggest question of the team last year. They hit the portal hard to address those concerns and prepare for a real College Football Playoff challenge, but because the defense is still unknown, Tanner likes the team total more than the spread.

Tanner’s final pick is Vanderbilt -17.5 against Hawaii. Although Vandy might not have a fully renovated stadium, they do have a great defensive line that both co-hosts expect to terrorize their opponent. They also play in the SEC and, frankly, are used to playing teams much better than Hawaii.

Tanner thinks the 17.5-point spread is also a sign that oddsmakers are trying to bait bettors into taking the underdog. He’s holding firm and expects a commanding opener from the Commodores.

Check back on Monday for a new episode of Ride the Line with more betting picks from the sports world!