After spending much of this week digging into Steve Makinen’s preseason systems, team trends and ratings, I decided to put all that data to work.
I looked for the Week 1 bets where multiple relevant indicators point in the same direction — while downplaying those eye-catching trends that don’t tell us much about the teams taking the field in 2026.
Here’s what rose to the top:
🥇 Bears +2.5 vs. Browns (Saturday)
All three of Steve’s ratings systems say Chicago is undervalued. Plus, preseason underdogs of +1 to +3 are 190-128 ATS (59.7%) since 2015.
🥈 Vikings-Giants Under 41.5 (Saturday)
Two of Steve’s ratings models make this their No. 1 Under of Week 1. Same-conference preseason games with totals of 37+ are 54-25 Under (68.4%) since 2015.
🥉 Rams +2.5 at Chiefs (Saturday)
Road underdogs of +2.5 or less are 84-43 ATS (66.1%) since 2015, and Steve’s Effective Strength Ratings also show value on the Rams.
None of our three strongest bets happens to be among tonight’s six games.
That’s OK. We’re not going to manufacture a bet just because a game is on TV tonight.
Adam Burke does have a Best Bet among tonight’s six games.
👉 Adam’s Chargers-Texans Prediction →
Steve also studied what we’ve learned from preseason betting splits.
To cut to the chase: majority bettors have been bad on sides, but pretty good on totals.
👉 Steve’s Preseason Betting Splits Trends →
📊 Live NFL Preseason Betting Splits →
This week’s episode of Circa Survivor: The Quest for $18.7 Million picks up with a carnage-filled NFL Week 10 and the pressure mounting with Thanksgiving approaching.
Episode 4 is streaming now on YouTube.
👉 Watch Episode 4 →
🏈 Playing the Circa Contests?
Winner’s Circle is VSiN’s preferred proxy for Circa Survivor, Circa Million and Circa Grandissimo.
👉 Learn More About Winner’s Circle Proxy →
The Field of Dreams Game returns tonight with the Phillies taking on the Twins in Iowa (7:30 p.m. ET, Netflix).
Greg Peterson sees value on both the side and total.
Phillies starter Aaron Nola enters with a 5.47 ERA while allowing 2.1 home runs per nine innings. Minnesota’s Taj Bradley owns a 3.76 ERA with 10.1 strikeouts per nine innings, and Greg notes that the Twins lead the American League in road scoring at 4.8 runs per game.
🎯 Greg’s Picks: Twins ML -110 and Over 8.5
Greg’s Handicap: Twins -138 | Total 9.6
Yesterday’s results are now posted, and today’s AI-generated plays will be available a few hours before first pitch.
⚡ VOLT: Yesterday’s Results • Today’s Plays →
🏈 College Football: Tim Murray and Adam Burke tackle the Group of Six, with win totals, conference futures and long shots from the American, Sun Belt, Conference USA and MAC.
👉 Watch →
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Listen →
🏇 Horse Racing: Get today’s picks and betting analysis from Saratoga.
👉 Today’s Saratoga Picks →
🎾 Tennis: Men’s and women’s action begins at the Cincinnati Open, and Zach Cohen has his tournament preview and futures bets.
👉 Zach’s Cincinnati Open Preview and Futures →
🥊 UFC 330: Islam Makhachev faces Ian Machado Garry in Philadelphia on Saturday, and VSiN has the card covered from two angles.
👉 UFC 330 Best Bets from Lou Finocchiaro →
🤖 First Strike Model Predictions from Rob Moreno →
🏈 DonBest Football Rotation Guide
Every NFL and college football game through Nov. 2, including preseason schedules, rotation numbers and matchup information in one convenient guide.
👉 Purchase for $4.99 →
🔥 August Young’s WNBA run continues.
August Young from Doc’s Sports is now 21-3 (88%) this WNBA season for nearly +7,000 in documented profit, including an incredible 16-1 (94%) run for +5,760.
Young is coming off another winner as he continues to dominate the women’s pro league.
