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 8

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

Santa Clara -9.0(-110)

Reasoning

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The WCC Tournament keeps on rolling along on Sunday, and this matchup between Pacific and Santa Clara is arguably the most important contest of the quarterfinal round. After all, the Broncos are squarely on the NCAA Tournament bubble and after a Saturday in which not a single bubble team did anything to improve their stock, Santa Clara has a massive opportunity to make a statement on a national stage and take another step toward solidifying its tournament resume. The Broncos have not lost to any team in WCC play outside of Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s, and this matchup shouldn’t be one that gives them much trouble. With that in mind, while Pacific is coming off a solid victory over Seattle and has generally played above expectations this season, I can only look toward backing Santa Clara in a situation where it should win by margin.

A common refrain you’ll hear during conference tournament time is “it’s hard to beat a team 3 times”. However, the historical data has shown that this line of thinking is incorrect more often than not. In this particular instance, we’ve seen Santa Clara dominate Pacific over the first 2 meetings — winning each game by at least 15 points — and that should continue on Sunday. The Broncos offense is among the best at the mid-major level, as Santa Clara ranks 23rd in adjusted efficiency (BartTorvik) while tallying 80 or more points in 8 of its last 10 games played. Herb Sendek’s group is extremely efficient around the rim and also does a great job of attacking the offensive glass (19th in offensive rebounding rate). On the other side of the ball, the Broncos defense is excellent at forcing turnovers, which happens to be a major issue for a Pacific offense that ranks 349th in turnover percentage. The Tigers also really struggle at getting to the free-throw line, so manufacturing points could be a little more difficult to come by for an offense that is 151st in adjusted efficiency on the season. I’ll lay the points with the considerably better side on Sunday.

Pacific vs Santa Clara prediction: Santa Clara -9 available at time of publishing. Playable to Santa Clara -9.5

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Point Spread Pick

BYU -2.0(-110)

Reasoning

We have a battle between teams trending in opposite directions in Big 12 play on Saturday when the Texas Tech Red Raiders head to Provo, Utah for a date with a BYU team that needs a win in the worst way following a very poor stretch of play in recent weeks. It’s clear that the Cougars really miss senior forward Richie Saunders, who certainly provided more balance and scoring depth for their offense. Saunders is out for the year with a torn ACL he suffered against Colorado back on February 14, and Kevin Young’s team is just 1-4 since that point, including losses at West Virginia and at home as a double-digit favorite against UCF. BYU was just embarrassed against Cincinnati earlier this week, a game in which they allowed 90 points to a very mediocre offense. With that said, the Cougars are still 11-3 at home this season and just knocked off Iowa State in a similar type of desperate spot 2 weeks ago. Will we see a repeat of that result on Saturday? It’s almost time to find out.

There’s certainly a path for BYU to see success in this one. For starters, AJ Dybantsa and the Cougars’ efficient offense (12th in adjusted efficiency per KenPom) is going up against a Texas Tech defense that is certainly weaker inside the paint without the services of JT Toppin, who is also out for the season with a torn ACL. To their credit, the Red Raiders have played very well without Toppin to this point, but some of that is due to the level of competition they’ve faced and the fact that they have shot unsustainably well from beyond the 3-point line. Texas Tech still has a major problem with getting to the free-throw line (ranked 344th in free-throw rate), and we saw that 3-point regression start to take hold in a loss to TCU earlier this week. The Cougars should have the ability to drag this very thin Texas Tech team into a fast-paced game, which could have a real impact by the second half from a fatigue perspective. If BYU is able to limit its turnovers and maintain an edge on the glass, it should win the shot volume battle in the long run and generate plenty of good looks from deep. Let’s target BYU to pick up a massive win and cover this short number at the Marriott Center.

Texas Tech vs BYU prediction: BYU -2 available at time of publishing. Playable to BYU -3.

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Caleb Wilfinger

Game Totals Pick

Under 125.5(-110)

Reasoning

The Missouri Valley Conference is one of the best mid-major tournaments on the Championship Week calendar every year, and this season’s installment has been no exception. Top-seeded Belmont was upset in the quarterfinal round, which has led to a couple of the lower seeds playing for an NCAA Tournament berth on Sunday. On one side, UIC has dispatched of both opponents its played thus far, winning both of its games in this tournament by double digits. On the other end, Northern Iowa has rattled off 3 wins in as many days to advance to this game, including wins over Illinois State and Bradley. The Panthers have been no stranger to success in “Arch Madness”, and while I do lean toward backing Northern Iowa as the side in this one, I have more conviction with targeting the total on Sunday.

Historically, this tournament has been one that features plenty of low-scoring contests, particularly in the title game. In fact, we just saw Drake knock off Bradley in a championship game that featured just 111 total points a season ago. While I don’t expect this game to be as low-scoring as last year’s installment, we should still see a game dictated by both defenses on Sunday. Northern Iowa is a top 25 defense in the nation per KenPom and BartTorvik, and the Panthers are especially elite at cleaning the glass (ranked 20th in defensive rebounding percentage) and defending the arc (3rd in 3-point percentage allowed). On the other side, UIC boasts a strong defense of its own, as the Flames are excellent on the glass and adept at forcing turnovers. Lastly, both teams play at an extremely slow pace, with Northern Iowa sitting at 364th in adjusted tempo and UIC checking in at 235th in that same metric. We should see a slow, grind-it-out affair in St. Louis on Sunday.

UIC vs Northern Iowa prediction: Under 125.5 available at time of publishing. Playable to Under 124.5

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Point Spread Pick

Kentucky +7.5(-115)

Reasoning

A clash between a couple of the biggest brands in the SEC is one of the headline matchups on Saturday’s college basketball slate, and for good reason. Florida enters this game as one of the hottest teams in the country, as the Gators have rolled through the SEC over the last couple of months. On the other side, Kentucky has been pretty inconsistent all season long, and Mark Pope’s team can’t be counted on to show up and deliver for a full 40 minutes every time out. However, the Wildcats have been excellent at home, to the tune of a 14-3 record on the season. Florida was able to knock off the Wildcats in the first meeting between these teams back on February 14, but the Gators didn’t cover the spread as double-digit favorites at home. I backed Kentucky in that game, and I’m going to go back to the well with the Wildcats to keep this one within a couple of possessions on Saturday.

On paper, Florida doesn’t have much to play for in this game. After all, the Gators have already clinched the regular season SEC title and will be the top seed in the conference tournament next week. Furthermore, while Florida certainly has an outside shot at a #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, the Gators will need some help from UConn in order to reach the top seed line. As long as the Huskies at least make the Big East tournament final, there probably isn’t much that Florida can do to pass UConn given that they have a head-to-head loss back in the nonconference portion of the schedule. With that in mind, it wouldn’t shock me if the Gators didn’t play their sharpest game

The Wildcats can take things from that first meeting and carry over that success into Saturday’s matchup, including an inspired performance on the glass against Florida’s excellent frontcourt. Furthermore, while Florida’s guards have been excellent in recent weeks, this is still a Gators offense that is well outside the top 300 in 3-point percentage and 3-point rate. Kentucky’s defense has been a bit better than perception suggests, and as long as the Wildcats are somewhat competitive on the glass and can keep the shot volume battle close, there is a path for success for the hosts in this one. Throw in the fact that this is one of the toughest environments that Florida will face in SEC play, and this sets up to be a good spot to back Kentucky at Rupp Arena. I’ll take the Wildcats to keep this game within the number.

Florida vs Kentucky prediction: Kentucky +7.5 available at time of publishing. Playable to 6.5

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