Good morning, Pickswise Nation, and welcome to another magical Monday of sports. Although we are without Monday Night Football, we have something even better — the CFB National Championship game! The TCU Horned Frogs will battle the Georgia Bulldogs in what should be a very exciting matchup. But we also have action in the NBA, NHL and college basketball, so let’s get into it to make your next bet better!
About Last Night
The NFL playoffs are set
Week 18 of the season has come and gone, ending the NFL regular season. However, that means one thing – playoffs! The playoff picture is now set, so in the wild-card round on Saturday, the Seattle Seahawks take on the San Francisco 49ers and the Los Angeles Chargers are set to face the Jacksonville Jaguars. On Sunday, the Miami Dolphins battle the Buffalo Bills, the New York Giants take on the Minnesota Vikings and the Baltimore Ravens play the Cincinnati Bengals. Wild-card week concludes with the Dallas Cowboys taking on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers next Monday night. Lovie Smith of the Texans became the first head coach to be fired after the end of the regular season after his team won their final game to hand the first pick in the draft to the Bears.
NBA picks shine on Sunday
Although a lot of attention was set on Week 18 of the NFL season, there was plenty of action in the NBA, and our NBA handicapping team was on fire. They finished 12-6 on picks, 1-0 on best bets, 2-1 on player prop bets and nailed a +597 parlay.
NHL best bet wins
It was also a super Sunday in the NHL as our only 3-star hockey play of the Penguins 3-way ML cashed easily as they beat the Coyotes 4-1.
Today’s Slate
Georgia meets TCU in CFB National Championship game
It all comes down to Monday night. The Georgia Bulldogs are looking to win back-to-back national championships as only the TCU Horned Frogs stand in their way. Read our TCU vs Georgia predictions.
Super 6 games in the NBA
We have only 6 games in the association on Monday, but there are several intriguing matchups such as the Chicago Bulls vs Boston Celtics, Milwaukee Bucks vs New York Knicks and Los Angeles Lakers vs Denver Nuggets. Read today’s NBA picks.
Fantastic 4 games on the ice
Only 8 teams are taking the ice tonight, but we do have a marquee matchup in Southern California as the Edmonton Oilers face off against the Los Angeles Kings. Check out today’s NHL picks.
College basketball action
It’s not the most attractive slate in college basketball on Monday with only one top-25 team in action, but you can still check out our NCAAB predictions.
Best Bet of the Day
NCAAF: TCU Horned Frogs +13.5 over Georgia Bulldogs
7:30 pm ET, ESPN
The National Championship features a team we would all thought would be there in beginning of the season in the Georgia Bulldogs and a team no one thought would be there at the beginning of the season in the TCU Horned Frogs. TCU was a 200/1 long shot to win the National Championship before the season started, but they are here with a chance to shock the world after they upset Michigan as +7.5 underdogs in the Fiesta Bowl. The Horned Frogs have been cover darlings all season and their only ATS losses were 3 games decided by a total 7 points. Check out our full TCU vs Georgia predictions.
Must-read
The time has finally come… the CFB Championship Game! With such a big game, we have a ton of content just for you. That includes our TCU vs Georgia Same Game Parlay along with our CFB Championship player prop picks. But above all, make sure you check out our TCU vs Georgia best bets!
It’s a small slate in the NBA on Monday, but that didn’t stop us from creating a +1357 NBA mega parlay for the action! And although we’re a little ways away from NFL action, check out Jared Smith’s Wild Card Weekend Early Birds for insight and analysis on the upcoming games. Our NHL mega parlay and hockey player props are also available, along with Ricky Dimon’s tennis picks for this week’s tournaments.
Read all our great sports analysis as it arrives throughout the day on the Analysis tab.
Must-watch
Don’t forget to check out our daily show Let’s Bet It! on our YouTube channel at youtube.com/c/Pickswise at 10:00 am ET.
Jared Smith and Mark Zinno are your hosts today and they will be joined by Pickswise NFL props expert Bobby “Prop Holliday” Stanley, so there will be talk of the NFL winners and losers from Week 18, CFB Championship game props with Prop Holliday and a look at the NFL Playoffs before you find out their Plays of the Day!
You can also access the shows at any time through Spotify and Apple Podcasts (search for Let’s Bet It Presented By Pickswise).
Stat of the Day
Four of the Georgia Bulldogs’ last 5 games have gone over the total.
Pickswise is the home of free sports picks, news and best bets. Check out our expert NFL Picks, NBA Picks, Soccer Picks and NHL Picks pages for our latest game picks.
