October is the month of the “sports equinox” — when the NFL, MLB, NBA and NHL all overlap.
Today’s newsletter certainly reflects this time of the year: The VSiN NBA Betting Guide is out, the NHL season starts tonight, we have two MLB playoff games and we’re getting ready for NFL Week 6.
FYI: The exact day of the sports equinox is Monday, Oct. 27 when all four leagues play on the same night.
Jaguars Upset Chiefs on MNF
The upset-filled NFL Week 5 went out the way it started as the Jaguars (+3.5) rallied to beat the Chiefs 31-28 on Trevor Lawrence’s drop-and-roll TD stumble with 23 seconds left.
The Jags improved to 4-1 while the defending AFC champion Chiefs fell to 2-3.
Underdogs dominated 9-5 straight up and ATS in Week 5 and Overs went 9-5.
ICYMI: Adam Burke’s look at the Week 6 early line moves.
Escape from New York?
The defending AL champion Yankees will try to avoid an ALDS sweep by the Blue Jays tonight in New York.
Greg Peterson has opinions on Yankees-Jays (8:08 ET), plus Mariners-Tigers (4:08 ET), a series tied at 1.
Spoiler alert: Greg doesn’t like the Yankees’ chances.
Adam Burke will file his Best Bets and Steve Makinen will have his Analytics Report later this morning.
Note from VSiN By The Books host Jensen Lewis: Since 2016, 18 teams have seized a 2-0 series lead in the LDS and 17 have gone on to win the series, 11 via sweep. The Yankees came back in 2017 vs. Cleveland.
The Dodgers and Brewers are up 2-0 after victories Monday night.
The thaw is over
The NHL season opens with a tripleheader tonight on ESPN:
Blackhawks (+254 at Circa) at Panthers (-290), 5 ET
Penguins (+193) at Rangers (-217), 8 ET
Avalanche (-110) at Kings (-102), 10:30 ET
Let’s go over what we have on VSiN.com on a daily basis:
>VSiN hockey analyst Jonathan Davis will post his Best Bets around mid-day.
>Steve Makinen makes daily power ratings that generate an estimated score for every game that is displayed on our NHL matchups page.
>We have an NHL DraftKings.Circa Betting Splits page.
If you are just getting up to speed on the new season, JD has team previews on our NHL page.
And Steve just added his annual piece with betting systems based on the schedule.
For example, any team playing on 3+ days rest against an opponent on shorter rest was wildly successful in the 2024-25 season, going 75-50 for +24.75 units of profit.
Get your VSiN NBA Betting Guide
With the season opener two weeks from today, the VSiN NBA Betting Guide is ready.
VSiN.com senior Zach Cohen supervised the 79-page PDF and wrote the team previews, but he had help:
>Best bets and futures from VSiN hosts and analysts
>Title picks and award-betting insights from Jonathan Von Tobel
>Team previews and win total predictions for all 30 teams
>Trends and Power Ratings from analytics guru Steve Makinen
>Strategies for alternate win totals, player props, and live betting
But you need to be a VSiN Pro subscriber to have access to the guide. Find a package that works for you for a low as $9.99 for your first 30 days.
CFB Week 7 early bets
VSiN contributor Tyler Shoemaker has a few early Best Bets for Week 7 of the college football season.
Monday college football steam alerts from DonBest Sports:
Air Force +7 vs. UNLV
Illinois +16 vs. Ohio State
Michigan State -7.5 vs. UCLA
Michigan +3 vs. USC
Purdue +9.5 vs. Minnesota
Nebraska -5.5 vs. Maryland
Get real-time steam alerts from the DonBest Screen. Sign up now for a 7-day free trial at go.donbest.com. Use the promo code VSIN10 for 10% off your initial subscription.
>CFB Week 7 Hub with stories and resources.
Quick Hits
Contest Corner: Circa Survivor will head to Week 6 with 4,646 after 23 were eliminated on the Chiefs’ loss. . . . In the EdgeBoost Average Joe Contest, congrats to VSiN Pro subscriber Al Becker, who won the tiebreaker with eight other contestants at 7-0. >>Leaderboard. I hope he signed up for the EdgeBoost account already, so he receives $1,000 instead of $500.
