Steve Makinen’s weekly College Football Analytics Report is a lot to digest — stability scores, opening-week systems, team trends, power ratings, betting splits and more.
So we went looking for something specific: Which Week 1 bets have multiple Makinen indicators pointing in the same direction?
Here are the three that stood out.
This one has support from three different angles. Steve’s regular Power Ratings have Baylor as an underpriced underdog, his Bettors Ratings see an even bigger 5.6-point edge, and his revenge system likes Baylor, too: Neutral-field underdogs playing with revenge are 56-37 ATS (60.2%) since 2016.
The play: Baylor +7.5.
One of Steve’s opening-week systems shows G5-vs.-G5 games with a home favorite going 46-27 to the Under (63%) since 2013.
There’s confirmation from the betting splits: In games with totals of 49 or lower, when 72%+ of the handle backs the Under, those bettors have gone 69-51 (57.5%), and this game qualifies there, too.
And if that bet sounds familiar, there’s a reason: T-Shoe also likes the Under in this game.
The play: Wyoming-Colorado State Under 46.5.
This one comes with a warning label.
All three of Steve’s ratings systems see value on North Texas. The Power Ratings make the Mean Green the No. 1 underpriced underdog (+3.3); the Effective Strength Ratings see 5 points of value; and the Bettors Ratings again rank North Texas No. 1, this time with a whopping 7.5-point edge.
But two historical systems point the other way: Indiana is 16-4 ATS in its last 20 as a favorite of 20+, and opening-week home favorites of 36+ are 18-6 ATS since 2013.
We’ll trust the three ratings systems.
The play: North Texas +40.5.
My Week 0 bets using Steve’s Analytics Report went 1-2.And those are only three games on a very big Week 1 board.
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It all comes down to this.
The finale of Circa Survivor: The Quest for $18.7 Million airs tonight at 9 p.m. ET.
At 10 p.m. ET tonight, Nick Bakay and Billy Gardell debut their new weekly show, Winning Ugly.
They’ll bring their comedic perspectives to the NFL season — making bets, telling stories and laughing along the way.
And if you’re entering the Circa football contests, VSiN fans can still get $50 off FootballContest.com proxy service with promo code VSiN.
Registration just opened for the 2026 Average Joe Contest, sponsored by EdgeBoost — and we’re already closing in on 1,000 entries.
It’s free to enter. Make seven picks ATS or on totals each week, and the winner earns a spot in next year’s Circa Friday Football Invitational.
Here’s another bet we found while digging through our new NFL Betting Guide 2.0:
Arizona Cardinals +10.5 at LA Chargers
Steve Makinen has three separate Week 1 betting systems pointing toward Arizona.
Week 1 underdogs of 6.5 points or more are 32-13-1 ATS (71.1%) since 2013. Teams coming off eight or more close losses are 14-5-1 ATS (73.6%) in qualifying Week 1 games. And teams that declined by five or more wins the previous season are 26-13 ATS (66.7%) in the qualifying rebound spot.
And Steve isn’t alone.
Dave Tuley also has Cardinals +10.5 among his four Week 1 bets.
The Cubs and Brewers have split the first two games at Wrigley, and Greg Peterson sees a low-scoring matchup tonight.
Brewers-Cubs Under 8.5
Greg’s handicap: 6.9
Brewers starter Jacob Misiorowski has a 1.74 ERA with 13.2 strikeouts per nine innings, and Milwaukee’s bullpen leads the National League with a 2.93 ERA since July 1.
The NHL season is still 27 days away, but Jonathan Davis already has a bet for us.
New Jersey’s acquisition of Luke Evangelista caught JD’s attention. The Devils already have a crowded group of forwards, and JD thinks the move could be a precursor to another deal — potentially a package for Connor Hellebuyck or another top-tier goalie.
If he’s right, JD thinks there’s value in New Jersey right now:
🏒 Devils Over 95.5 points (-115)
🏒 Devils to make the playoffs (-120)
Jonathan’s team-by-team NHL previews are coming soon.
