Best Sports Betting Picks Today: College Football, Basketball, NFL Predictions for November twenty eighth

All those Thanksgiving Days where we saw the Detroit Lions send out brutally bad teams have tentatively taken a break. Now you have the type of Detroit team Barry Sanders wished for during his stellar career.

The Lions take on the Chicago Bears, while the stinker game of the day is between the New York Giants and Dallas Cowboys. Nobody anywhere wants to watch a game in which the starting quarterbacks are Drew Lock and Cooper Rush. Repeat, nobody.

We will dissect the nighttime contest between the Miami Dolphins and Green Bay Packers. Miami has won three straight games as it recovers from a brutal start, while the Packers are part of a tough NFC Central topped by the Lions and Minnesota Vikings.

Also on our slate is No. 17 Tulane, a school very much in the College Football Playoff mix. We also will look at college hoops between USC and Saint Mary’s.

MIAMI DOLPHINS AT GREEN BAY PACKERS

One thing we know about the Dolphins is that they continue to fold when the weather gets cold. Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is 0-7 as a starter when the weather is 40 degrees or colder, and guess what? The temperature at kickoff is forecasted to be 27 degrees and will drop during the night.

Tagovailoa is again saying the temperature doesn’t matter. Of course, Tua said that before the playoff game in Kansas City last season, the temperature turned out to be minus-4 (feels like minus-27) at kickoff, and the Dolphins looked frigid throughout the uncompetitive 26-7 setback.

The Packers have won two straight games and six of their past seven, with a showdown against the Lions coming the following week. Green Bay looked great last week while routing the battered San Francisco 49ers 38-10 as Josh Jacobs churned out 106 yards on the ground for his third 100-yard outing of the season.

Jordan Love wasn’t intercepted last week after being picked off at least once in the first eight appearances of the season. If Love can take care of the ball and the Green Bay defense keeps reminding Tua that it is cold (brrrr), the Packers should be fine.

Packers -3.5 spread, -108 (DraftKings)

MEMPHIS TIGERS AT TULANE GREEN WAVE

No. 17 Tulane is in must-win mode as it looks to brighten its playoff resume against a strong Memphis team. The Green Wave would also have to beat Army in next week’s Athletic American Conference title game and get help along the way.

Tulane (9-2) has outscored its last three opponents 121-9 and has allowed 10 or fewer points on six occasions. Standout running back Makhi Hughes has seven 100-yard outings and has churned out 1,291 yards and 15 touchdowns on the ground.

Memphis (9-2) is looking to post a second straight 10-win season, but its defense can be shaky. The Tigers allowed a total of 100 points in their two setbacks (56 to Navy, 44 to UTSA) and it would be no surprise to see Tulane top 40.

How about some love for Memphis quarterback Seth Henigan? He is 10 yards away from his fourth straight 3,000-yard passing season, and he has exactly 100 career passing scores against just 31 interceptions.

Tulane -13.5 spread, -110 (DraftKings)

USC TROJANS AT SAINT MARY’S GAELS

Time to reminisce about how fun it would be to see Bronny James play for the Trojans on Thanksgiving Night. Father LeBron would be in the stands in Palm Desert, Calif., with the NBA off. But instead, that much-needed second college season for Bronny didn’t happen, and we still don’t know whether the kid can play or not.

It would have been interesting to see how Bronny developed under first-year coach Eric Musselman, who helped players improve at Nevada and Arkansas. The Trojans are 5-1 but have played a light schedule. Their setback was to former Pac-12 partner Cal.

Saint Mary’s is off to a 6-0 start with a neutral-court victory over Nebraska serving as its best victory. The Gaels have been more offensive by scoring at least 76 points in every game but have allowed 66 or more in five of six games. 

The Gaels still have big man Mitchell Saxen around from their recent high-achieving clubs. The difference now is that the Saint Mary’s defense isn’t a shut-down unit.

Over 141.5 points, -108 (DraftKings)