Today's premium betting card.

New week. We’re starting off by taking some extra protection with the alternate total and pairing Angels/Red Sox OVER 5.5 with Blue Jays ML. Boston and LA give us two vulnerable starters in Brayan Bello and Grayson Rodriguez, with the Angels batting .338 against Bello in 100 career ABs and Boston hitting .304 against Rodriguez, so instead of needing nine runs we’re dropping this all the way to six. Then we’re asking Toronto to win behind Dylan Cease, who has been one of baseball’s best starters with a 2.25 ERA (4th) and already held this Athletics lineup to 1 run over 5.1 innings earlier this season. Toronto also gets a favorable matchup against Jacob Lopez, who carries a 4.71 ERA, with current Blue Jays hitters batting .320 against him.

Wisconsin gets the in-state spotlight at Lambeau Field, but I think points are going to be extremely difficult to come by early against this #4 Notre Dame defense. The Badgers averaged just 12.8 points per game last season and things got even uglier when they stepped up in competition. Against six ranked opponents — Alabama, Michigan, Ohio State, Oregon, Indiana and Washington — Wisconsin scored just 0, 7, 0, 0, 7 and 3 first-half points, an average of only 2.8 points per first half. They stayed UNDER today’s 6.5 number in 4 of those 6 games, and never scored more than one first-half touchdown in any of them. Now Wisconsin opens the season with a revamped offense and new QB Colton Joseph against a Notre Dame defense that allowed only 17.6 points per game and 100.1 rushing yards per game last season. Joseph is dangerous on the ground after rushing for 1,007 yards and 13 TDs at Old Dominion but Notre Dame brings back plenty of talent from one of the top defenses in the country. Wisconsin should have plenty of crowd support at Lambeau but we’re betting this offense once again struggles to generate points early against elite competition. 0, 3 or 6 points all cash.

We’re buying seven points of protection in two spots I really like today. Washington absolutely lit up Washington State in last year’s matchup, winning 59-24, with QB Demond Williams Jr. accounting for five touchdowns. The betting market is expecting points again, but instead of needing 52, we only need 45 — scores like 31-14, 28-17 or 35-10 all get us there. Ole Miss gets teased from -6.5 all the way to +0.5, so we’re simply asking the No. 9 team in the country to beat Louisville. The Rebels are coming off a 13-2 CFP semifinal season and return QB Trinidad Chambliss who threw for 3,937 yards, 22 TDs and only 3 INTs, along with RB Kewan Lacy, who ran for 1,567 yards and 24 TDs. Ole Miss averaged 36.1 points per game last season and we’re taking the spread completely out of the equation and just asking them to win. Let’s take Ole Miss -0.5 / Washington-Washington State OVER 44.5 in the 7-point teaser.

We’re fading the public and trusting the starting pitching in Texas. Ian Seymour and MacKenzie Gore already faced this matchup on July 29, and the game finished just 3-0. Seymour completely shut down the Rangers, throwing 4.2 scoreless innings while allowing only two hits, and Texas never advanced a runner to third base all night. Gore gave up three runs in the first inning but absolutely dominated after that, retiring 20 of the final 21 batters he faced and finishing with 7 IP, 3 hits, 3 ER, 9 K and 0 walks. Gore has also historically given this Rays lineup problems, with Tampa Bay hitters batting just .195 against him entering today. These teams have consistently played low-scoring games against each other this season as well, with four of their first six meetings staying UNDER 7.5 runs. With roughly 90% of the public bets backing the full-game Over 7.5, we’re going the other way and removing the bullpens from the equation entirely. We need four runs or fewer through five innings. Give me Rays/Rangers First 5 UNDER 4.5 (-140).

We’re buying seven points of protection on two sides we already like. Auburn gets teased from -7.5 to essentially just needing to win, and I love their defensive matchup against a Baylor offense replacing four starters on the offensive line with DJ Lagway taking over at QB after having more turnovers than TD passes at Florida last season. Auburn was one of the country’s best teams at preventing opponents from getting push up front, while offensively the Tigers bring in Alex Golesh, Byrum Brown and several USF weapons to install a fast-paced attack. For the second leg, we’re taking Clemson from +10 to +17 at LSU. LSU is breaking in Lane Kiffin, a new starting QB, lead RB and an entirely new top six at WR, with 28 newcomers projected in its two-deep. Clemson does have defensive turnover, but returns LB Sammy Brown (107 tackles) and DE Will Heldt (15.5 TFL, 7.5 sacks) from a defense that held LSU to just 17 points last season. With this year’s total sitting around 50.5, getting Clemson +17 gives us a ton of room in what projects as another lower-scoring game. Give me Auburn -0.5 / Clemson +17 in the 7-point teaser at -125.