This Week's Best Spot Bet Opportunities
By Ben Burns
Covers.com
Lookahead spot
The Boston Red Sox are longing for the familiar form of Fenway Park, wrapping up a seven-game western road trip this week. Boston has stumbled since returning from the break. It was swept in four games against the Los Angeles Dodgers, getting outscored 4-24 in that series, and dropped the opener at Houston Tuesday.
Boston has two more games against the Astros before heading home. The Red Sox are just 20-29 and down -8.5 units away from Beantown, as of Wednesday, and could get caught looking ahead to an extended 10-game home stand which begins Friday.
Letdown spot
The Carolina Panthers are trying to hold on to their place in the NFC South as well as the conference, making the playoffs as a 7-8-1 SU team last season – enough to top the sub-par division. The Panthers can prove they’re not just a formality with a big win against the Green Bay Packers in Week 9 of the upcoming NFL season. Oddsmakers currently have Carolina set as a 3-point home underdog for that matchup.
However, the Panthers are in prime letdown position following this showdown with the Cheeseheads, traveling to play the Tennessee Titans in Week 10. Carolina is an early 2.5-point underdog on the road but the Titans will be coming home for the only time in a four-game span that has them in Houston, New Orleans and Jacksonville in November.
Schedule spot
There’s plenty of buzz in Ann Arbor this summer, with former San Francisco 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh taking over the sidelines at the Big House. However, Harbaugh’s debut will come away from home in a tough schedule spot for the Wolverines. Michigan opens play at Utah in Week 1, set as a +5.5 underdog, in what will be a closely-dissected game for loyal backers of the Maize and Blue.
Not only will Michigan be dealing with the pressure that comes with upholding Harbaugh’s standard but this showdown in Salt Lake City will also test the Wolverines’ early-season conditioning, which is never in game shape no matter how many wind sprints you run. The altitude at Rice-Eccles Stadium could quickly suck the air out of Harbaugh’s debut.