PiRate Picks for November 17-19, 2022

What a unique season it has been for this weekly feature. A blistering hot start followed by a long slump and then a rebound last week basically brought the imaginary bank account almost back to where it was before the season began.

Last week, we went heavy into teasers, playing 10 of them plus a Money Line Parlay. Our 10 teaser selections went 7-3, while the lost the big odds parlay. For the year, we are now back on the positive side with two full weeks remaining in the regular season. Can we hold onto this profit to make it our 17th imaginary winning season in 22 years? We’ll have to have another successful week with 7 and 10-point teasers with one big odds Money Line Parlay. Once again, it is more important what numbers we tease to and through than it is the teams involved.

Selection #1: 10-point Teaser at -120

Duke + 17 1/2 vs. Pittsburgh

Michigan St. -1/2 vs. Indiana

TCU +7 1/2 vs. Baylor

Selection #2: 10-point Teaser at -120

Georgia -12 1/2 vs. Kentucky

Stanford + 14 1/2 vs. California

Oklahoma St. +17 1/2 vs. Oklahoma

Selection #3: 7-point Teaser at -130

Connecticut +17 1/2 vs. Army

James Madison -1 1/2 vs. Georgia St.

Selection #4: 7-point Teaser at -130

Buffalo -6 1/2 vs. Akron

Texas -2 1/2 vs. Kansas

Selection #5: Money Line Parlay at +248.51

Florida Atlantic over Middle Tennessee State

Auburn over Western Kentucky

USC over UCLA

PiRate Picks–November 10, 2022

With apologies to Steve Sabol at NFL Films, the Autumn Wind is a PiRate Pick, blustering in from a sea of football spreads.

After a successful 3-1 week, our annual fake bank account for the season is just three bucks short of break-even, so a successful week of any kind this week will put us back in the black with a positive fake bank account.

There is a reason this weekly feature is late this week by three or four hours; we saw too many playable games, and we could not eliminate one over the other. Thus, we are issuing a whopping 11 selections this week. They are all exotic selections, as we have been doing much better with them than straight picks this year.

Included this week are six, 7-point teaser parlays, four, 10-point teaser parlays, and one money line parlay. Without further adieu, take a look but only wager imaginary money on these games or plan to be looking for a second job in order to pay the bills on your Christmas shopping.

Selection #1: 2 Team, 7-point Teaser @ -130

Georgia Southern +10 1/2 vs. Louisiana

Fresno St. – 2 1/2 vs. UNLV

Selection #2: 2 Team, 7-point Teaser @ -130

Arkansas +10 1/2 vs. LSU

Tennessee -13 1/2 vs. Missouri

Selection #3: 2 Team, 7-point Teaser @ -130

West Virginia +14 1/2 vs. Oklahoma

Pittsburgh +3 1/2 vs. Virginia

Selection #4: 2 Team, 7-point Teaser @ -130

Michigan St. -2 1/2 vs. Rutgers

James Madison – 1/2 vs. Old Dominion

Selection #5: 2 Team, 7-point Teaser @ -130

Clemson Pk. vs. Louisville

North Texas +12 1/2 vs. UAB

Selection #6: 2 Team, 7-point Teaser @ -130

Washington State -1 1/2 vs. Arizona State

Florida -1 1/2 vs. South Carolina

Selection #7: 3 Team, 10-point Teaser @ -120

Notre Dame -5 1/2 vs. Navy

Connecticut +24 1/2 vs. Liberty

Alabama -1 1/2 vs. Ole Miss

Selection #8: 3 Team, 10-point Teaser @ -120

Houston -9 1/2 vs. Temple

Penn St. – 1/2 vs. Maryland

Iowa + 11 1/2 vs. Wisconsin

Selection #9: 3 Team, 10-point Teaser @ -120

Central Florida +11 1/2 vs. Tulane

Iowa State +8 1/2 vs. Oklahoma State

Marshall +11 1/2 vs. Appalachian State

Selection #10: 3 Team, 10-point Teaser @ -120

South Alabama -6 1/2 vs. Texas State

Georgia -6 1/2 vs. Mississippi State

Southern Mississippi +14 1/2 vs. Coastal Carolina

Selection #11: Money Line Parlay @ +180.91

Memphis over Tulsa

Cincinnati over East Carolina

Texas over TCU

PiRate Picks–November 3, 2022

This has been an upside down season for these picks in this weekly feature. In most years, we start out below .500 and then climb upward as the season continues. October and early November are usually our best weeks in most years. This year, we began as hot as can be with a 16-5 start against the spread. Since then, a steady decline has led us to try exotic options that we have not relied on in years. Last week, we incorporated a teaser parlay in our picks. It was a winner. 10 years ago, we had a successful season by relying on teasers. So, without further adieu, we try one 7-point teaser parlay and three 10-point teaser parlays. As always, please use these choices for entertainment purposes only. So, you should get a good laugh from these selections and thank your lucky stars (and intelligence) that you do like us and do not wager real money on the selections.

Selection #1: 2 team, 7-point Teaser (-130)

North Carolina – 1/2 vs. Virginia

Tulane – 1/2 vs. Tulsa

Here you can see us playing the numbers more than the teams. Lowering a spread from 7 1/2 to 1/2 gives us a free point, as the game cannot end in a tie, so 1/2 is merely a pick for an outright win.

Selection #2: 3 team, 10-point teaser (-120)

Duke + 1/2 vs. Boston College

TCU + 1/2 vs. Texas Tech

Kentucky + 8 1/2 vs. Missouri

Again, the point numbers are more important than the games. We’d prefer to move down to – 1/2 instead of + 1/2, but we expect both Duke and TCU to win, but using a Money Line would not give us good odds. As for Kentucky, moving them from a small favorite to an underdog of more than a touchdown looks promising, even though Missouri looked much better beating South Carolina while Kentucky was being demolished against Tennessee.

Selection #3: 3 team, 10-point teaser (-120)

Virginia Tech + 7 1/2 vs. Georgia Tech

Middle Tennessee + 7 1/2 vs. Louisiana Tech

Mississippi State – 2 1/2 vs. Auburn

The first two games in this parlay are obvious numbers’ plays allowing us to move two short favorites to underdogs of more than a touchdown. The third leg of this parlay goes against the 2022 tide. All the teams playing under an interim head coach the week after the head coach was fired have played their best game of the year the next game. However, none of these teams were in the SEC. Carnell Williams will have a rude awakening going up against Mike Leach. Our guess is the Bulldogs will win this game by 10-14 points, so moving the number to less than a field goal looks good to us.

Selection #4: 3 team, 10-point teaser (-120)

South Carolina + 3 1/2 vs. Vanderbilt

UCLA – 1/2 vs. Arizona St.

Tennessee + 18 1/2 vs. Georgia

This is the more variable parlay. South Carolina failed miserably against Missouri last week after Missouri barely held on to beat Vanderbilt. The Commodores also got an extra week to prepare for this game, so the spread is only 6 1/2 points. USC must win this game to have a good shot at bowl eligibility, while Vanderbilt has not won an SEC game since before Covid. We’ll go with the Gamecocks getting more than a field goal. UCLA moving to 1/2 point is our favorite teaser number. As for the last game in this parlay, Georgia figures to have about a 55-60% chance on winning this game, but if this game becomes a blowout of more than two touchdowns, we would tend to believe the winning team would be the team that earned the top-ranking in the first College Football Playoff Poll.

PiRate Picks — October 27, 2022

Due to overwhelming new scheduling issues, this feature is truncated this week.

Selection #1: 3, team 10-point Teaser (-130)

Miami (O) + 1 1/2 vs. Akron

Penn St. + 25 1/2 vs. Ohio St.

Virginia + 11 1/2 vs. Miami (Fla)

Selection #2: Money Line Parlay @ +169.53

South Carolina over Missouri

SMU over Tulsa

Selection #3: Money Line Parlay @ +166.75

North Carolina over Pittsburgh

Wake Forest over Louisville

PiRate Picks for October 13-15, 2022

Crash! Like a meteorite falling to Earth, our picks free-fell and left a tail of fire as they fell. In just two lousy weeks, a 16-5 start with an incredible profit has been reduced to a minor loss after failing to pick a single correct selection last week.

Of course, the good news for those of you that read this strictly for enjoyment is that your profit and loss statement has remained the same as ours, nothing wagered and nothing lost or gained, so we can come right back with some selections, knowing we will still have the same amount of money in our real accounts, regardless of what our imaginary accounts indicate.

This week, we add a couple of teaser selections, something we have used in the past, sometimes with very successful results and sometimes stinkers. When we issue teaser selections, it is more important which numbers the teasers pass than the teams involved. We look to change the margin in a way that picks up a large percentage in historical actual spread. Teasing through 3, 6, 7, 10, and 13 points picks up some extra oomph. Additionally, being able to tease a favorite down to just 1 point is another good option. And, if you can tease a favorite into an underdog status of 3 1/2 points or 7 1/2 points, you enjoy some extra advantage.

We haven’t forgotten money line parlays this week, as we have a 3-team parlay going off at better than 2-1 odds, something that won big for us in September.

Without further adieu, here are this week’s selections.

Selection #1: Iowa State +17 vs. Texas

When the margin went from 16 1/2 to 17 late Wednesday afternoon (when this feature is composed), this became a play for us. While we believe this is a single-digit game, we waited for that precious half-point. Iowa State’s defense can slow down the combination of Ewers and Robinson, maybe not enough to win, but enough to lose by 7-13 points.

Selection #2: North Carolina State + 3 1/2 vs. Syracuse

Syracuse being undefeated is a feel good story, but we think the wrong team is favored, and getting that hook onto the 3 makes it quite attractive for our system.

Selection #3: 6-point teaser with 2 games @ -110

Alabama -1 vs. Tennessee

North Carolina -1 vs. Duke

As we mentioned above, teasing a favorite down to 1 point is something we like. We believe the Tide and Tar Heels will both win, and teasing down to 1 is valuable

Selection #4: 9-point teaser with 3 games @ -107

Clemson +5 1/2 vs. Florida St.

Arkansas + 7 1/2 vs. BYU

Illinois + 15 1/2 vs. Minnesota

Taking Clemson from -3 1/2 to +5 1/2 goes through 3 on both sides, and we like the percentage advantage knowing that a 3-point CU loss still wins for this selection. Taking Arkansas from favorite to underdog by more than 7 and knowing that K. J. Jefferson is now likely to play makes the second leg very attractive. Taking a hot home dog and making them more than a 2-touchdown underdog in a game we believe the Illini have a 35-40% chance of winning completes the trio.

Selection #5: Money Line Parlay @ +238.81

Baylor over West Virginia

Miami (O) over Bowling Green

Oregon State over Washington State

West Virginia coach Neal Brown, hoping to not be fired in midseason like five others have been fired so far, has made statements that he knew turning around the Mountaineer program would be a long process. When a coach says this, he is admitting that his team is outmanned. Brown’s job is only a little more secure than Bryan Harsin’s job at the moment, while Baylor is still in the Big 12 race to finish in second place and make the conference championship game.

Miami of Ohio might lose another conference game this year, but we can’t see woeful Bowling Green being that team.

Oregon State and Washington State should be an excellent game to watch as an impartial football fan. The two teams are stronger than many give credit for, and we think the Beavers’ home field advantage is worth just enough to give OSU a slight advantage.

Remember: Don‘t wager real money on these games!

Special Note: We here at the PiRate Ratings do not report on rumors, as we previously were professional sports journalists. In order to report on a story, we wanted two different sources independent of each other to give us nearly identical information. We have such information, and the news is not good for Auburn football coach Bryan Harsin. Rumors of his being dismissed now have two different sources telling us that a substantial loss to Ole Miss this weekend would be the end of his coaching tenure at the Loveliest Village On The Plains. What substantial means was not explained.

Super Bowl Special Parlay

The PiRate Ratings chose not to issue any picks during the college bowl season and playoffs nor with the NFL Playoffs. With just one football game remaining this season, there is but one potential parlay remaining.

Normally, we lay off the Super Bowl entirely. It is like betting the Kentucky Derby; there are much better propositions in horse racing, namely in claiming and allowance races.

The PiRates only issue picks against the spread for fun and entertainment. We never wager any real money on games, and we highly advise you not to ever wager money based on what you read here. A few years ago, we had a professional “sharp” who has turned some mighty steep profits over the years pick games against four other “squares,” including two very wise females. The sharp didn’t win the competition. No, the female flight attendant won with ease. Her method was basically looking online at the public and picking games where the public was heavy on one side of a game. She went the opposite way and won about 60% of the games she wagered.

In all the years we participated in our fun wagers, only twice did we ever finish with a success north of 60%. Buckeye Michelle has retired from wagering on games just for fun, and we don’t have the queen of street smarts helping out these days.

What we have left in the tank this year is one final parlay. We are going with a thought that in recent years, the Super Bowls have been tightly battled with low margins and totals in the average range, not to different from the spread and total line. By playing a 4-team, 13-point teaser at -140 at most books but at -130 if you can find it, you are allowed to move pointspreads and/or totals by 13 points in your favor. In other words if Team A is favored by 9 1/2 points over Team B, a 13-point teaser would allow you to move the line 13 points in either direction. Now, Team A would go from a 9 1/2 point favorite to a 3 1/2 point underdog. Or, Team B would go from a 9 1/2 point underdog to a 22 1/2 point underdog.

There is but one game left, and to play a 13-point teaser, we need four different wagers. By wagering on both sides of the spread and both sides of the total, there are four different wager choices.

As of Saturday night, February 6, the line is Kansas City -3, and the total is 56 points.

Here is the possible 4-game, 13-point teaser.

Kansas City +10

Tampa Bay +16

Over 43

Under 69

Our expectation in this game is that the winner will win by no more than eight points, and the game might be a tad lower scoring than expected, but not lower than 43 points which is a critical total line value. If we had to guess a score in this game it would be 31-27 with a 55% chance that Kansas City will win its second Super Bowl in a row and a 45% chance that Tom Brady will become the Babe Ruth of football.

Enjoy the game. The PiRate Ratings hope you have rent money on Monday, so please don’t wager this game based on what we have published.

PiRate Picks for December 24-28, 2020

All NFL This Week

A minor profit last week led us to a conclusion. In December, our NFL picks have been somewhat more successful than our college picks. The Virus has added an intangible to game outcomes at the college level, while only mildly affecting NFL games. Additionally, once students left schools and finished their semesters virtually at home, the college football players were left isolated on little islands. Rather than desire to play meaningless bowl games for a little compensation of bowl bling, many desired to spend the Holidays at home with family and friends. Other than the Fiesta Bowl, where all players will receive PS5’s, maybe a better prize in their eyes than anything the FBS Playoffs can offer.

The NFL is a totally different story. Week 16 is usually the most crucial week of the regular season. The best teams usually need one more win to secure the playoff spot they will secure or make the playoffs. The eliminated teams begin to experiment with roster changes. The worst teams may sabotage their chances to win meaningless games at the end of the season, especially when there is a generational superstar ready to become the next John Elway.

Before you read this and say, “this will be an easy week!” realize something else. Those clever folks in Nevada with all the positive revenue streams know this bit of information and have adequately padded the spreads to reflect this information.

So, in the end, the spreads are about as accurate in Week 16 as they are in Week 6. And, for our purposes, understanding that the numbers themselves are more important than the names attached to those numbers, we are issuing selections based on trying to “steal” an extra couple of percentage points in our favor. That small gain basically removes the vigorish that the books have. It still boils down to a 50-50 wager, so it is still highly speculative.

Our Christmas gift to you is knowledge. That knowledge is in our case an expert knowledge. Our expertise is knowing that we don’t know enough for you to take these selections and wager real money on the picks. This is an experiment in mathematics to be read for enjoyment and maybe to understand that without real inside information, none of us non-sharps can consistently pick winning selections.

As an FYI, the State of Tennessee legalized sports betting on November 1 of this year. According to Legal Sports Report, in the first 30 days, the citizens of the Volunteer State volunteered a record $131.4 million to the state’s four authorized sports books. Four more sports books, including the giant William Hill, will commence operations in Tennessee in 2021. These companies vacuum up money quickly, as a large majority of their customers get poor slowly. The state is very conservative, and the overwhelming majority disapprove of any tax, yet they willingly agree to pay the state exorbitant taxes in the way of gambling. Try showing this to an average sports bettor, and he or she will laugh at you, telling you that they can win money unlike when they pay taxes. Yet, if you look at their accounts, very few show a profit. We found one person willing to “experiment” for one calendar year. He usually allots himself $2,000 to play during the football season, and in most years, that two grand is gone by Thanksgiving. At the end of 2019, we convinced him to open an account with a broker and deposit the $2,000 and not bet for the 2020-2021 football season. When the Virus outbreak apparently doomed all sports for the year in March, he was able to stick to his convictions, thinking there would be no games to bet that money and lose. Simply reading a few periodicals on value investing, he quickly discovered an equal love for “wagering” on corporations in a sport where the bettor investor has the advantage.

He didn’t lose all his money by Thanksgiving. In fact, by the time he sat down to enjoy his moist and juicy turkey, his investment had already returned close to 18%. As 2020 limps to the finish line, his original $2,000 investment is now pushing $2,400. He doesn’t plan on withdrawing the money or placing the next $2,000 in one of the sports books. If you learn anything from this site, let it be this: If you have a couple decades or more remaining in your pre-retirement lives, or even if you have reached retirement age and figure on sticking around for another score or so, a buy and hold strategy in high-quality value stocks with a long history of positive earnings and dividends is going to make you a lot wealthier than betting on State to beat Tech by 7 1/2 points.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night. Here are our selections for the week.

1. NFL 6 1/2 Point Teaser		+160
Selection	Opponent	Spread
Miami	Las Vegas	+6.5
Buffalo	New England	-0.5
New Orleans	Minnesota	-0.5
2. NFL 7 Point Teaser		-130
Selection	Opponent	Spread
Tampa Bay	Detroit	-2.5
Cleveland	N.Y. Jets	-2.5
3. 7 Point Teaser		-130
Selection	Opponent	Spread
Houston	Cincinnati	-0.5
Chicago	Jacksonville	-0.5
4. 10 Point Teaser		-110
Selection	Opponent	Spread
Kansas City	Atlanta	-0.5
Indianapolis	Pittsburgh	+8
Baltimore	N.Y. Giants	-1
5. 10- Point Teaser		-110
Selection	Opponent	Spread
Carolina	Washington	+12
LA Rams	Seattle	+11
Dallas	Philadelphia	+12.5

PiRate Picks for December 18-21, 2020

A General Malaise

December in the sports wagering world has been about as sickly as the nation and world as a whole, but unfortunately, Pfizer and Moderna are not going to issue sports wagering vaccines to turn losers into winners.

How crazy have things been lately? Look at the most incredible Monday Night Football game in the 51 year history of the event. Baltimore was a 3 1/2 point favorite over Cleveland, and the Ravens led the Browns by three points after a brilliant drive that led to a long field goal. The Browns had one final play to hope for a miracle touchdown or to hope Baltimore committed a defensive 15-yard penalty that would lead to an untimed down and possible field goal to force overtime.

You’ve no doubt seen the dozen lateral play. Unless a large marching band is on the field, the play doesn’t work, because the offense needs a giant tuba player to set an important screen. The 99% of the other times, there are a dozen or so laterals that are fun to watch for 20-30 seconds. The play ends, and the game is over.

Well, this time it was different for the first time in another way. Cleveland ran out of real estate, and the last lateral led to a safety, making the final score a five-point spread. Unlike when a game outcome changes at the end when a team chooses to run the clock play one foot from scoring a touchdown that would change the margin winner or the total, this was totally different. 9,999 times out of 10,000, that part of the wagering public that was already counting their winnings with Cleveland covering, would have actually got those winnings. This was that one other time. Millions and millions of dollars changed on that one crazy play. Local sports talk radio in a state with legalized wagering took time out from coaching search speculation to talk with representatives of MGM and Fan Duel to get the juicy details.

As you know, we at the PiRate Ratings never wager real money on our selections and always recommend that you do the same if you are relying on our selections as real advice. We do this just for the fun of it. In past years, we have enjoyed some spectacular imaginary seasons. We’ve had a couple clinkers as well. This year, we had an imaginary profit entering Thanksgiving, but the last three weeks have seen just enough losses turn the profit to a minor loss for the season. And, unlike the one time Cleveland-Baltimore deal, we have seen our last selection of the week lose after two-thirds of the parlay had won. That last third has done us in. This past week, it was the Giants-Cardinals game. The Giants did us in the week before with the upset win at Seattle. On Thanksgiving, Dallas and Washington couldn’t get their offenses rolling enough.

This week, we joked among ourselves (only crazies like us would laugh at this), wondering if we should change the order of our selections, so that the final NFL game wouldn’t spoil the final third of a parlay. But, then we figured it would only infect the entire card. So, we continue to disbelieve the voodoo that somebody has been doing so well. We’ll call that nemesis, “The Wizard of Laterals.” The talisman that keeps him at bay is “The Gold Tuba.”

Here are this week’s selections. Remember, these are for entertainment purposes only, and we urge you not to wager real money on what you read, even if it’s your Christmas bonus. Save that money to pay for the expensive food on that diet you will begin in two weeks.

Dec 18-21
1. College 6 1/2 point Teaser		-120
Selection	Opponent	Spread
Oklahoma	Iowa St.	+1
Ohio St.	Northwestern	-13 1/2
2. College 10-point Teaser		-110
Selection	Opponent	Spread
Utah	Washington St.	– 1/2
Air Force	Army	+7 1/2
Ole Miss	LSU	+7 1/2
3. College 10-point Teaser		-110
Selection	Opponent	Spread
Missouri	Mississippi St.	+8 1/2
Clemson	Notre Dame	– 1/2
Minnesota	Wisconsin	+22 1/2
4. College 10-point Teaser
Selection	Opponent	Spread
Penn St.	Illinois	-5 1/2
Alabama	Florida	-7
Cincinnati	Tulsa	-4 1/2
5. College Money Line Parlay		+138.40
Must Win	Opponent	Spread
Buffalo	Ball St.
USC	Oregon	+138.40
Texas A&M	Tennessee
6. College Money Line Parlay		+187.04
Must Win	Opponent	Spread
Marshall	UAB
Oklahoma	Iowa St.	+187.04
Clemson	Notre Dame
7. NFL 6-point Teaser		-110
Selection	Opponent	Spread
Green Bay	Carolina	-2
Indianapolis	Houston	-1 1/2
8. NFL 6-point Teaser		-110
Selection	Opponent	Spread
Tennessee	Detroit	-6
New England	Miami	+7 1/2
9. NFL 6 1/2-point Teaser		-120
Selection	Opponent	Spread
Kansas City	New Orleans	+3 1/2
Pittsburgh	Cincinnati	-6 1/2
10. NFL Money Line Parlay		+134.81
Must Win	Opponent	Spread
Green Bay	Carolina
Tennessee	Detroit	+134.81
Kansas City	New Orleans
11. NFL Money Line Parlay		+148.28
Must Win	Opponent	Spread
Indianapolis	Houston
Arizona	Philadelphia	+148.28
Buffalo	Denver

PiRate Picks for December 4-7, 2020

A Day Late — Hopefully Not A Dollar Short

We are publishing our most popular weekly feature at the PiRate Ratings a day later than normal. Four weeks of issuing some interesting parlays that we had a lot of faith in as winners only to see the games cancel the day that we published them forced us to take an extra 24 hours to try to eliminate the chances that we would see five parlays become void just after putting them out on this forum. Additionally, we tried to avoid games that involved teams that have forewarned that even as late as Friday afternoon, they could decide not to play. Also, there is the case of one team that is in danger of not having enough scholarship players remaining. Their choices would be to fold up operations for the year or play under the 53-man (or in this case 53-man and woman) limit.

Last week, we broke even, which is no fun. Our winning week was just a minute from being guaranteed, until the Baltimore Ravens scored at the end to make that game a push. It happens.

This week, we are stressing money line parlays paying off at better than even money odds. November was very kind to us in these plays, as we made a big fat profit on these better than +100 odds games. We are only going with one NFL selection, but in our statistical minds, it is our best parlay of the entire season–kiss of death!

Before looking at our selections for the week, please remember, that we have lost no money this year or any past year when issuing these selections, because we NEVER wager a penny on them. All of our picks are made with imaginary money at an imaginary book. We do know from your feedback that many of you actually use this site for wagering advice, but we don’t understand why. If you want to throw away hard-earned money because of something you read here, why not just donate that amount to a worthy charity. Our favorite charity with the five lasses that help me here on the PiRate ship is “Save A Fox” in Faribault, Minnesota: https://www.saveafox.org/.

Enjoy the selections, and the way to enjoy them is by keeping your money in your wallet.

College Money Line Parlays
1. 2-teams at +107.96
Must Win	Opponent	Odds
Miami (Fla.)	Duke	+107.96
Missouri	Arkansas
2. 3-teams at +145.28
Must Win	Opponent	Odds
Western Mich.	Eastern Mich.
Washington	Stanford	;+145.28
Cincinnati	Tulsa
3. 2-teams at +173.41
Must Win	Opponent	Odds
Texas A&M	Auburn	+173.41
Central Mich.	Ball St.
4. 3-teams at +124.20 CANCELLED!
Must Win	Opponent	Odds
Kentucky	S. Carolina
Buffalo (BU was en route to Ohio)	Ohio	+124.20
Iowa St.	West Va.
5. 3-teams at +153.92
Must Win	Opponent	Odds
Toledo	N. Illinois
San Diego St.	Colorado St.	+153.92
NC St.	Georgia Tech
6. College 10-point Teaser at -110
Selection	Opponent	Spread
TCU	Oklahoma St.	+11
Nebraska	Purdue	+11
Memphis	Tulane	+11.5
7. College 10-point Teaser at -110
Selection	Opponent	Spread
Fla. Atlantic	Ga. Southern	+12.5
San Jose St.	Hawaii	+11
Oklahoma	Baylor	-11.5
8. College 10-point Teaser at -110
Selection	Opponent	Spread
Nevada	Fresno St.	+3.5
Oregon St.	Utah	+21.5
USC	Washington St.	-2.5
9. NFL 10-point Teaser at -110
Selection	Opponent	Spread
Minnesota	Jacksonville	Pk
Miami	Cincinnati	-1.5
Seattle	N.Y. Giants	-0.5

PiRate Picks for November 19-23, 2020

Another Winning Week But Disappointment At The End

The PiRate Rating selections for last week came with a caveat that we were not as confident about them in the bigger picture compared to the week before when we had a bonanza profitable week. And, with just the Monday Night game to go, we had already guaranteed ourselves another profitable weekend. Monday Night Football left one leg of a parlay alive. New Orleans and Cleveland had already won to set up a potential +162.57 win if the Ravens took care of New England. Alas, Baltimore laid a major egg, and the Patriots pulled the upset that looked everything like the wrong team was favored. So, instead of a major cleaning of the books, we had to settle with a 22.1% profit on our imaginary investments for the week.

If this is your first time, or you come here every week and see this message, make note that the PiRates NEVER wager real money on these, or any other, selections. We are math nerds that know how to pinch our pennies. This is just for fun and all wagers are pretend only. If you feel compelled to donate a large sum of money to the very wealthy sportsbooks, please reconsider and instead send a bit to our favorite charity–The Old PiRates on Rickety Ships Taking On Water Fund.

Because that nasty little virus has wiped out a bunch of our picks the last few weeks, we limited using the same teams in multiple strategies this week, even though three or four games appeared in every possible wagering situation that we like.

Enjoy–You will enjoy much more if you don’t wager these selections.

Date:	Nov. 19-23
1. College 6-point Teaser -110
Selection	Opponent	Odds
Tulsa	Tulane	-1/2
Arkansas	LSU	+8 1/2
2. College 6-point Teaser -110
Selection	Opponent	Odds
Appy St.	Coastal Car.	+11 1/2
Arkansas St.	Texas St.	Pk
3. College 6 1/2 -point Teaser -120
Selection	Opponent	Odds
Air Force	New Mexico	-1/2
UTSA	Southern Miss.	-2 1/2
4. College 7-point Teaser -130
Selection	Opponent	Odds
Oregon	UCLA	-6 1/2
NC St.	Liberty	+3 1/2
5. College 10-point Teaser -110
Selection *CANCELLED*	Opponent	Odds
Purdue	Minnesota	+7 1/2
Maryland	Mich. St.	+4 1/2
Nebraska	Illinois	-5
6. College 10-point Teaser -110
Selection	Opponent	Odds
Rice	North Texas	+9
Oregon St.	California	+13 1/2
Alabama	Kentucky	-20
7. College 10-point Teaser -110 CANCELLED
Selection	Opponent	Odds
San Jose St.	Fresno St.	+7 1/2
Auburn	Tennessee	-1
Washington	Arizona	-1 1/2
8. College Money Line Parlay +168.15
Must Win	Opponent	Odds
Oklahoma	Oklahoma St.	+168.15
Rice	North Texas
9. College Money Line Parlay +139.47
Must Win	Opponent	Odds
Missouri	S. Carolina	+139.47
USC	Utah
10. College Money Line +152
Must Win	Opponent	Odds
Oregon St.	California	+152
11. College Money Line +147
Must Win	Opponent	Odds
Pittsburgh	Va. Tech	+147
12. NFL 6 1/2 point Teaser -120
Selection	Opponent	Odds
Kansas City	Las Vegas	-1/2
LA Rams	Tampa Bay	+10 1/2
13. NFL 7-point Teaser -130
Selection	Opponent	Odds
LA Chargers	N.Y. Jets	+8 1/2
Green Bay	Indianapolis	-1/2
14. NFL 10-point Teaser -110
Selection	Opponent	Odds
Atlanta	New Orleans	+15
Pittsburgh	Jacksonville	Pk
Cincinnati	Washington	+11 1/2
15. NFL 10-point Teaser -110
Team	Team	Total
Detroit	Carolina	O 39
Philadelphia	Cleveland	O 37
Baltimore	Tennessee	O 39
16. NFL 10-point Teaser -110
Team	Team	Total
Pittsburgh	Jacksonville	O 36 1/2
Miami	Denver	O 35
LA Rams	Tampa Bay	O 38 1/2