Ricky Dimon
Show Bio
The NFL playoffs got underway on Saturday with one entertaining affair (Bengals over Raiders) and one blowout (Bills over Chiefs). What will Sunday do for an encore? We also have plenty of basketball, hockey, soccer, and tennis action to discuss.
As such, let’s not waste any time and get right to making your next bet better with our latest installment of Wise n’ Shine!
About Last Night
Pickswise begins playoffs with a same game parlay winner
To say that our NFL experts got off to a hot start in the playoffs would be a gross understatement. Bengals -4.5 was one of Saturday’s best bets, and Andrew Wilsher cashed a +1336 same game parlay in Cincinnati’s 26-19 defeat of Las Vegas.
Nuggets extend Lakers’ woes
The Lakers lost their third game in a row to fall back below .500 after getting clobbered by the Nuggets 133-96. Pickswise Nation isn’t complaining about that result, because Over 224.5 was our best NBA bet of the day.
‘Canes back on track
We also went 1-for-1 with NHL best bets, as Carolina ML over Vancouver was an easy winner. The Hurricanes picked up their first victory in more than a week and extended their impressive record to 25-8-2 by beating Vancouver 4-1.
Today’s Slate
NFL Wild Card Weekend continues
Half of the six NFL Wild Card games are taking place on Sunday: Eagles-Buccaneers, 49ers-Cowboys and Steelers-Chiefs. Be sure to read all of our NFL previews and picks.
Four-game slate in the NBA
A small four-game slate in the NBA features the Suns, Warriors, Jazz and Nuggets in action. Utah vs Denver at 8pm is an especially intriguing contest. Head over to our NBA picks page to see all of our previews and predictions.
Two top 25 teams in action
There isn’t a whole lot left to the college basketball week following an absolutely mammoth slate on Saturday, but a pair of top 25 teams are taking the court. No. 14 Villanova is hosting Butler before Ohio State welcomes Penn State to Columbus. Check out all of our CBB picks.
Also some hockey, soccer and tennis
Sunday offers 2 games in the English Premier League and just one in the NHL (Canucks vs Capitals). Meanwhile, the Australian Open gets underway on Monday morning Australia time – Sunday evening in the United States. You can read our previews and best bets for the men’s and women’s events.
Best Bet of the Day
NFL: San Francisco 49ers +3.5 over Dallas Cowboys
4:30pm ET, CBS
You can make a case for San Francisco as the best team in the NFL over the back half of the season. Since Week 9, the 49ers led the league in net yards per play and have a potent passing offense — with 13 percent of drop-backs resulting in an explosive play. Meanwhile, the Cowboys’ offense is trending in the wrong direction. Over the first 9 weeks of the season they were 5th in EPA/play, but that has dipped to 9th since Week 10. More specifically, the rushing offense has really taken a dip — dropping from 7th to 26th in rush success rate. The 49ers defense, which is 1st in EPA/play against the run since Week 9, should be able to control the tempo of this game. Read our full game preview for San Francisco 49ers vs Dallas Cowboys.
Must-watch
On such a busy Saturday, you definitely don’t want to miss the latest edition of our daily sports betting show, Let’s Bet It! You can find it on our YouTube channel at https://youtube.com/c/Pickswise. In this episode Lauren Jbara, Alex Glaze, and Andrew Ortenberg make their picks for all three wild-card games while also discussing the college basketball slate.
You can also check out our first postseason episode of Pickwise Playbook with Ross Tucker, Chris Rose and Jared Smith as they break down every angle of Wild Card Weekend.
Must-read
With so much NFL content available, we created a hub with our Wild Card Weekend betting guide — where you can access all of our picks, parlays, same game parlays, TD scorer prop picks, other prop bets, and much more! Don’t forget to check out Jared Smith’s best bets, our NFL mega parlay, and PropBetGuy’s top prop plays.
Visit the Analysis tab for even more great sports betting content.
Stat of the Day
Steelers rookie running back Najee Harris had 93 yards on 19 carries in the regular-season meeting with the Chiefs and then went for 188 in Week 17 against the Browns. That is one reason to take the over, which is 5-0 in Kansas City’s last five overall and 19-6-1 in Pittsburgh’s last 26 playoff games.
Boost of the Day
Rob Gronkowski to score a touchdown in the first half
Boosted to +320 with DraftKings Sportsbook
DraftKings is kicking off Saturday’s three-game lineup by boosting Rob Gronkowski’s odds to score a first-half touchdown in the Bucs-Eagles showdown from +275 to +320. Gronkowski is one of our best TD scorer prop bets, so this could be an odds boost worth snatching.
Pickswise is the home of free sports picks, news, and best bets. Check out our expert NFL picks, NBA picks, NHL picks, and Soccer picks for the latest game picks.
