Caleb Wilfinger

Deputy Editor

Caleb is a Deputy Editor at Pickswise who resides in Upper Manhattan and has spent time in Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. He has been handicapping various sports since 2018, including NFL, NCAAF, NBA, NCAAB, MLB and tennis. The futures market is his favorite to target and he has a passion for sharing his plays with the Pickswise community.

Live Picks 4

Live Parlays 0

Weekly News Articles 10

Location

New York

Favorite Sports

Favorite Teams

Greatest Betting Win

One of my favorite sports betting memories was certainly in October of 2022, when I successfully cashed a 5-team Round Robin parlay involving games I had already played as straight bets. It involved Penn State catching 16 at home against Ohio State, along with Notre Dame, UCF, Louisville and Baylor all on the money line as underdogs. The Irish and Cardinals took care of business early by crushing their opponents and Penn State hung tough to cover the inflated number against the Buckeyes. Meanwhile UCF pulled out a thriller against Cincinnati, leaving me only a Baylor victory away from a serious 50U profit. Thankfully, the Bears made quick work of Texas Tech in the second half and I was able to watch the 4th quarter with a smile on my face. This was one of three 5-leg Round Robin parlays I cashed during the 2022 college football campaign, as part of what was a terrific season on the gridiron.

Greatest Achievements

Finished with a win rate of 63% in weekly 2022 NCAAF best bets column, highlighted by an 8-0 run to close out championship week and bowl season 25-8 (76%) YRFI/NRFI run from June through August 2023.

Education

Caleb attended Penn State University, where he covered Penn State football and basketball for 3 years (along with many other sports), getting an up close and personal look at the grind of a full collegiate athletics regular season. His two bachelor's degrees were in Journalism & Political Science, with sports journalism as a primary focus. During his senior year, Caleb began moving away from betting casually and turning into a sharper bettor, including creating systems, compiling data for multiple sports, etc.

Experience

5+ years betting experience 3+ years as a sports handicapper 10+ years as a sports journalist Caleb has been betting legally since 2019 but his history with gambling predates that, as he regularly picked NFL games against the spread throughout his college tenure. In 2021, Caleb started handicapping college football games for Pickswise and turned a profit for the season. After moving into a full-time Deputy Editor role in 2022, Caleb has had plenty of success and winners for the site’s users, most notably in college football, NFL and the MLB YRFI/NRFI market.

Favorite betting market / type

Futures and Point Spreads.

Favorite bookmakers

Caleb's Picks

Point Spread Pick

Texas Tech -4.5(-110)

Reasoning

A compelling matchup in the Big 12 takes center stage on Sunday, as Texas Tech travels to Morgantown for a date with West Virginia. From a situational perspective, this is an ideal spot to back the Red Raiders, as they are coming off two consecutive losses and should be getting point guard Christian Anderson back for this contest. Anderson missed the previous game against Kansas on Monday, and his absence was certainly felt in that loss as the Red Raiders were badly missing the straw that stirs the drink within their offense. With the sophomore back in the fold, Texas Tech should find itself in a good position to succeed on Sunday given the matchup at hand and the fact that West Virginia has generally faltered against high-level competition this season.

The Mountaineers’ rather limited offense (130th in adjusted efficiency per KenPom) makes it hard for them to keep up with some of the higher-scoring units in this league, and we saw things get out of hand in blowout losses to Iowa State, Houston and Arizona earlier this season. Even though West Virginia is playing at home in an always dangerous environment, it’s hard to see this team compete with a desperate Texas Tech team that is very dangerous from beyond the arc (12th nationally in 3-point percentage) and does a great job of not turning the ball over. If the Mountaineers are unable to get out and score in transition, it’s going to be extremely difficult for them to generate much offense in a half-court setting. Defensively, the Mountaineers are certainly a solid unit (26th in adjusted efficiency). However, the quality of Anderson, JT Toppin and the rest of the Red Raiders’ offense should ultimately win out over the course of 40 minutes. With that in mind, I’ll lay the relatively short number with Texas Tech in a good bounce-back spot.

Texas Tech vs West Virginia prediction: Texas Tech -4.5 (-110) available at time of publishing. Playable to -5.

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Caleb Wilfinger

Player Receptions Pick

R. Stevenson (NE) - Under 3.5 recs(-165)

Reasoning

This number feels a bit inflated based on recent results, especially since the Seahawks defense is excellent and arguably better equipped to stop the Patriots offense than what the Texans, Broncos and Chargers brought to the table. Stevenson has also not been particularly effective as a receiver for most of the season. In fact, the Patriots running back has recorded just 47 targets out of the backfield over 17 games played to this point, which equates to just under 3 targets per game.

Seattle is not a team that relies on getting pressure by blitzing the opposing quarterback, so it’s not as if Stevenson will often be presented as a safety valve for Drake Maye when the young quarterback is under pressure. Furthermore, if the Patriots end up being in a negative game script, Stevenson doesn’t factor to be on the field as much. With that in mind, I’ll drink the juice and bank on Stevenson’s season-long performance carrying over into this game.

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Caleb Wilfinger

Player Rushing+Receiving Yards Pick

T. Henderson (NE) - Over 24.5 rush+rec yds(-120)

Reasoning

Despite the fact that Mike Vrabel has shown a pretty clear loyalty to Rhamondre Stevenson as the veteran presence in the backfield, there should be opportunities for TreVeyon Henderson to contribute as the secondary running back option. Henderson is more of a threat out of the backfield in the passing game, which should give him plenty of chances to make an impact on pivotal downs against a Seahawks defense that is elite on early downs against the run. If Stevenson is unable to get going, Henderson should see the field a bit more than expected, especially if New England is in a negative game script and is forced to use the more adept pass-catching running back.

Despite registering just 24 carries over 3 games this postseason, the Ohio State product has cleared his rushing + receiving yards prop in 2 of those contests, and he’s cleared this number in 17 of 20 games overall on the season. Given Henderson’s big-play ability on the ground and obvious receiving talent, he should be able to rack up at least 25 combined rushing and receiving yards in Super Bowl 60 on Sunday.

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Caleb Wilfinger

Player Rush Attempts Pick

R. Stevenson (NE) - Under 14.5 rush atts(-120)

Reasoning

Stevenson has clearly established himself as the top running back in this offense, but this is a pretty difficult matchup against a defense that ranks at the top of the NFL in most rushing statistics, including rushing success rate allowed and opponent EPA per rush. Mike Macdonald’s defense is more susceptible to teams using play-action looks, as we saw with the Rams a week ago. The Patriots are not a team that employs 12 and 13 personnel looks, which is what certain offenses (Rams, Buccaneers, Cardinals) have used to generate success against this elite Seattle defense. Furthermore, if New England ends up being in a negative game script in the second half, it’s unlikely that Stevenson will get many carries on early downs. With that in mind, let’s take the under on his rush attempts.

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