Wise n' Shine: What you need to know to bet better on Wednesday, January 5

Week 18 in the NFL is still three days away and pre-National Championship bowl season is over, but there is still plenty of action in the sports world on Wednesday. Plus it’s never too early to start looking ahead to the football games, so it’s a busy day on the betting front.

As such, let’s not waste any time and get right to making your next bet better. Welcome to 2022’s fifth installment of Wise n’ Shine!

About Last Night

Another mega parlay winner for Pickswise!
We cashed bowl game mega parlays left and right, and now that college football season is coming to a close we are transferring success to the basketball court. LSU’s victory over Kentucky on Tuesday combined with double-digit wits by Illinois and Kansas cashed our +1046 parlay.

NBA experts go 5-for-5 against the spread
It was an all-around huge night on the hardwood for our experts, who also correctly picked all five NBA games ATS/ML (four ATS plus Memphis on a +135 money line against Cleveland).

Add then there was one….
Kansas State beat LSU 42-20 on Tuesday, and with the conclusion of the Texas Bowl only one game remains in the 2021-22 college football season. It’s the all-SEC National Championship between Alabama and Georgia next Monday. Our full game preview and picks have already been posted.

Today’s Slate

Warriors headline NBA doubleheader on ESPN
We have an 11-game NBA slate set for Wednesday and it is headlined by a doubleheader on ESPN. The Warriors pay a visit to the Mavericks before the Nuggets hosts the Jazz. Philadelphia, Boston, Brooklyn, and Milwaukee are also in action. Head over to our NBA picks page to see who we’re rolling with.

NHL low on quantity, high on quality
There are only two NHL games on Wednesday’s schedule, but they pack a big punch. Toronto (21-8-2) is hosting Edmonton (18-13-2) on ESPN+ and then TNT will show the Penguins (18-8-5) against the Blues (19-9-5) in Pittsburgh. Don’t miss our predictions for both of those NHL matchups.

Seven NCAAB Top 25 teams suiting up
A sizable college basketball lineup features seven Top 25 teams taking the court on Wednesday. Two of them are going head-to-head: No. 11 Iowa State and No. 25 Texas Tech. Michigan State, Houston, Alabama, Tennessee, and Villanova are also lacing up their sneakers. Check out all of our CBB picks.

Best Bet of the Day

North Carolina -2.5 over Notre Dame
9:00 pm ET, ESPN2

This will already be UNC’s third road ACC game of the season, so the environment in South Bend should not bother the Tar Heels. In their two conference games thus far they scored an average of 85 ppg on over 54% shooting while holding Georgia Tech and Boston College (who beat Notre Dame) to an average of 63.5 ppg on 38% shooting. They are the 16th-ranked offense in terms of efficiency — by both KenPom and Haslametrics — and are especially efficient from deep (40%). Read our full game preview for North Carolina vs Notre Dame.

Must-watch

We have another episode of Let’s Bet It for you to be on the lookout for — our daily betting show hosted by Lauren Jbara and Jared Smith. Two guests are on the schedule for Wednesday: Adam Ronis from FantasyAlarm to discuss all things NBA and golf betting analyst Will Gray from NBC Sports Edge to preview the 2022 season on the links and specifically the upcoming Tournament of Champions at Kapalua. Make sure you subscribe to our Pickswise Youtube channel so you never miss an episode!

Must-read

Our Week 18 NFL coverage has begun with Andrew Ortenberg’s breakdown of how the playoff implications affect the NFL Week 18 odds. Phil Agius has delivered Pickswise’s penultimate power rankings of the regular season. Jared Smith, Andrew Wilsher, and Ricky Dimon make their picks for the last remaining playoff spots in this week’s Burning Question, which drops later today.

The Georgia vs Alabama College Football Playoff National Championship is getting closer and closer, and as a result, our coverage is ramping up. Be sure to check out our early lookahead to the title game in addition to former NFL star Ross Tucker’s best bets.

Visit the Analysis tab for even more great sports betting content.

Stat of the Day

Since a brief break for Christmas, the Oilers are 0-4 – with all four losses coming on the road. They have been outscored 17-10 during this stretch. Edmonton wraps up its five-game road trip against Toronto on Wednesday night.

Boost of the Day

Kyrie Irving to score 25+ points
Boosted to +190 with DraftKings Sportsbook

Kyrie Irving is making his long-awaited season debut for the Nets on Wednesday, when they visit the Pacers. To celebrate the occasion, there is an odds boost on an Irving prop. DraftKings has bumped up the odds of Irving reaching the 25-point mark from +170 to +190.

Pickswise is the home of free sports picks, news, and best bets. Check out our expert NFL picks, NCAAF picks, NBA picks, NHL picks and Soccer picks for the latest game picks.