Free Sports Picks

My free play for Friday is the Cleveland Guardians. Cleveland has yet to announce a starting pitcher at the time of this post, but I like how they’ve been managing their rotation and bullpen and expect that approach to continue tonight. Tampa Bay will counter with Nick Martinez, who has been more hittable in recent outings. The Guardians have also been solid at the plate, while the Rays have struggled to generate offense throughout this series. With Cleveland pitching well and Tampa Bay having trouble putting runs on the board, my free play for Friday night is on the Cleveland Guardians. Thanks and best of luck! Jack Banks.

My selection is on Washington plus the points over Purdue at 8 pm et on Friday. The Boilermakers are coming off consecutive 'upset' wins over Illinois and Minnesota and are being asked to lay points against the reeling Huskies on Friday. Washington is likely going to be without QB Demond Williams but I don't know if that's as big of a deal as it's being made out to be as he has struggled mightily this season. Backup QB Elijah Brown performed well in mop-up duty against Iowa last week and has starting experience from his time spent with Stanford. I look for the Huskies defense to bounce back here after an embarrassing performance at home against a good Iowa team last week. Note that Washington had held its first five opponents to 27 points or less prior to that 41-24 beatdown. Purdue has played well defensively over the last couple of games but I do wonder if it's sustainable. This is the same team that got torn to shreds by UCLA and Notre Dame earlier in the season (I realize Washington's offense isn't close to being at that level this season). Take Washington (8*).

Free Play from Doc’s Sports. Take #209239 Atlante/Pumas UNAM DRAW (11 p.m., Friday, October 16 Fox Sports Deportes) Liga MX. We see value in the draw between two sides struggling to find consistency. Atlante has shared the points in five of its first 11 league matches, including three of five at home. With just one home victory, the hosts have had trouble turning competitive performances into wins. Pumas UNAM has defensive concerns of its own, conceding 11 goals over its last five matches. That makes the visitors difficult to trust to claim all three points on the road. We expect a closely contested matchup with chances for both teams, but neither side doing enough to pull away. At +235, take the draw. Do not miss out on Doc’s Sports weekend card featuring top plays in football, hockey, UFC and soccer. Sign-up with a long term package and let 55 years of handicapping experience work for you.

My selection is on the 'under' between Notre Dame and BYU at 7:30 pm et on Saturday. This has the potential to be the game of the week but I'm expecting it to be a tightly-contested, low-scoring affair. Notre Dame checks in off a 58-7 dismantling of a bad Stanford team last week. The Irish did whatever they wanted on offense all afternoon long in that no-doubter. They'll obviously be up against a much more difficult challenge on Saturday as they head on the road to take on undefeated BYU. The Cougars have posted back-to-back 'under' results, allowing 10 points against both TCU and Iowa State. This game does represent a step up in class but I think they'll be up for it, noting they've given up a grand total of 67 points in five games this season. Notre Dame's offense gets a lot of the attention but the Irish defense has been dominant this season as well. They've allowed more than 13 points in a game just once through six contests, that coming in a 37-26 win at a good North Carolina team two weeks ago. Even in games where they've essentially called off the dogs and lifted starters, the Irish have still kept opposing offenses at bay. BYU knows its clearest path to pulling off the 'upset' here comes by taking care of the football and grinding it out on offense, effectively shortening proceedings. Take the under (8*).