Sports Handicapper Frank Sawyer's Picks & Predictions

FRANK’S CUTTING ROOM FLOOR FOR FRIDAY, 10/30:

My “Cutting Room Floor” plays are the situations I considered the closest to being worthy of investment but did not make the “final cut” for my official plays today for subscribers. The last play on my cut list for Friday i with Under the Total in the game between the Hawai’i Rainbow Warriors and the Wyoming Cowboys. Hawai’i (1-0) won their opening game of the season last week with their 34-19 upset win at Fresno State as a 2.5-point underdog. The Rainbow Warriors have now played 4 straight conference games Under the Total after that game finished below the 64.5 threshold. Hawai’i has also played 6 of their last 8 games Under the Total with the number in the 56.5 to 63 point range. Wyoming (0-1) looks to rebound from a 37-34 upset loss in overtime at Nevada last week as a 3-point favorite. The Under is 13-4-1 in the Cowboys’ last 18 games after a straight-up loss. Wyoming has also played 4 of their last 5 games Under the Total at home. Take the Under. Best of luck — Frank.

My “Cutting Room Floor” plays are the situations I considered the closest to being worthy of investment but did not make the “final cut” for my official plays today for subscribers. The last play on my cut list for Friday i with Under the Total in the game between the Hawai’i Rainbow Warriors and the Wyoming Cowboys. Hawai’i (1-0) won their opening game of the season last week with their 34-19 upset win at Fresno State as a 2.5-point underdog. The Rainbow Warriors have now played 4 straight conference games Under the Total after that game finished below the 64.5 threshold. Hawai’i has also played 6 of their last 8 games Under the Total with the number in the 56.5 to 63 point range. Wyoming (0-1) looks to rebound from a 37-34 upset loss in overtime at Nevada last week as a 3-point favorite. The Under is 13-4-1 in the Cowboys’ last 18 games after a straight-up loss. Wyoming has also played 4 of their last 5 games Under the Total at home. Take the Under. Best of luck — Frank.

Frank Sawyer’s Hollywood Sports DELIVERED their 25* NFC South Game of the Month last night on underdog Atlanta to improve their 19 of 27 (70%) Football Game of the Year/Month sides run! Frank ALSO CA$HED his 25* CFB Thursday ESPN Total of the Year last night with the South Alabama-Georgia Southern Under to fuel his 20 of 32 (63%) CFB run — and now he furthers his NEAR PERFECT 6 of 7 (86%) CFB Game of the Year/Month mark with his 25* CFB Game of the Month for Friday night! DON’T MISS OUT!

At 4:00 PM ET on Friday, we will be playing Wolverhampton (200146) minus the goal-line versus Crystal Palace (2000145). THE SITUATION: Wolverhampton (W3-D1-L2) looks to get back to their winning ways after settling for a 1-1 draw to Newcastle United last Sunday. Crystal Palace (W3-D1-L2) snapped a three-match winless streak with their 2-1 win at Fulham last Saturday.

REASONS TO TAKE WOLVERHAMPTON WITH THE GOAL-LINE: Crystal Palace benefited from facing the promoted Fulham side who may be the worst team in the premiership (pending their result on Monday with West Bromwich). The Eagles had the second-worst expected goals (xG) mark (excluding penalty kicks) along with the fewest shots in the box before that match last week. After managing just 0.14 expected goals three matches ago to Chelsea, they had zero shots in the box outside Wilfried Zaha’s penalty shot two matches ago against Brighton in a contest where they generated a Blutarski 0.0 xG mark in non-penalty kick scoring chances. Crystal Palace is playing very cautiously — but the problem is that they are still giving up plenty of scoring chances. The Eagles are third to last in the league by allowing their opponents to generate 1.80 xG. They have surrendered at least one goal in five straight EPL matches. Against a mediocre Fulham side, they allowed the second-most Big Chances (representing a scoring opportunity with at least a 38% success rate) all week. And while the win over Fulham was their second victory on the road this season after a surprising win at Manchester United last month, Palace was second-to-last in expected points (xPTS) in the EPL last season. Wolverhampton is unbeaten in their last three matches — and they were a few moments away from a three-game winning streak in the EPL before they surrendered a goal to Newcastle in the 89th minute last week. That was the only goal the Wolves have allowed in their last three league matches. Wolverhampton led the EPL with an expected goals allowed (xGA) mark of 1.08. After a slow start this season, the Wolves have stepped up their play on defense. After allowing seven Big Chances along with 29 shots in the box in their first three matches, Wolverhampton has given up only two Big Chances in their last three matches along with just 21 combined shots in the box.

FINAL TAKE: The Wolves struggled to generate scoring opportunities last week against a Newcastle side content to not control possession and simply counter-attack. Wolverhampton perhaps got too content with yet another second-half 1-0 lead after winning their last two EPL matches by 1-0 scores via a second-half goal. The Wolves should find it easier to score against this Palace defense. Let’s remember that Wolverhampton has been a top-seven team in each of the last two seasons in the EPL since its promotion three years ago. 25* EPL Friday NBC Sports Network Match of the Month with the Wolverhampton (200146) minus the goal-line versus Crystal Palace (2000145). Best of luck for us — Frank.

At 9:45 PM ET on Friday, we will be playing the Wyoming Cowboys (142) minus the point(s) versus the Hawai’i Rainbow Warriors (141). THE SITUATION: Wyoming (0-1) looks to rebound from their 37-34 upset loss at Nevada in overtime last week by a 3-point favorite. Hawai’i (1-0) comes off a 34-19 upset win at Fresno State last Saturday as a 2.5-point underdog.

REASONS TO TAKE THE COWBOYS MINUS THE POINT(S): Wyoming started slowly as they fell behind by a 28-6 margin before rallying to force overtime where they eventually failed to steal the victory. But the Cowboys have then bounced-back to cover the point spread in 5 of their last 7 games after a straight-up loss — and they have covered the point spread in 6 of their last 7 games after a point spread setback. Wyoming endured sophomore quarterback Sean Chambers suffer a season-ending broken leg in the third play of this game. Chambers started the first seven games last year before suffering a season-ending knee injury. However, the Cowboys have a capable replacement in redshirt freshman Levi Williams, who led the team to 38 points as the starter last year in their 38-17 victory over Georgia State in the Arizona Bowl. Williams completed 16 of 31 passes for 227 yards while adding another 40 yards on the ground with two touchdowns in almost leading his team to the comeback win. Chambers is a run-first quarterback — Williams is the better passer while still offering running skills. Despite the loss, this is a good Wyoming team that returned over 70% of the two-deep from the team last year that finished 8-5. Many observers have commented on the lack of a home-field advantage when playing in a pandemic without crowded stadiums — but this has been a myopic view of the intangibles that offer teams a home edge. The Cowboys retain a significant home edge playing in Laramie, with it being 7220 feet above sea level. Becoming comfortable playing in a high altitude is not as easy for visiting teams — Wyoming has won 29 of their last 44 games at home on Jonah Field in War Memorial Stadium, including all six home contests last season. The Cowboys have covered the point spread in 5 of their last 7 games at home — and they have also covered the point spread in 14 of their last 20 games when favored. Hawai’i has failed to cover the point spread in 6 of their last 9 games after an upset win by at least 10 points as a road underdog. The Rainbow Warriors ran for 323 yards in the first game under first-year head coach Todd Graham who has molded the team’s Run-and-Shoot attack with Air Raid principles and an increased emphasis on running the football. But Hawai’i has failed to cover the point spread in 7 straight games after rushing for at least 200 yards. Graham inherited eleven starters from last year’s team finished 10-5 with their 38-34 win over BYU in the Hawai’i Bowl. That team enjoyed four net victories in games decided by one scoring possession — so that winning record could have been flipped with some bad breaks. They did have a -11 net turnover margin last year — but they enjoyed a fortunate +3 net turnover edge against the Bulldogs last week. Now this team goes on the road where they have failed to cover the point spread in 5 of their last 6 games with the Total set in the 56.5 to 63 point range. Additionally, the Rainbow Warriors have failed to cover the point spread in 20 of their last 26 games against teams with a losing record — and they are just 7-16-1 ATS in their last 24 games as an underdog.

FINAL TAKE: Graham had scheduled practice time in the Rocky Mountains this week — but seven inches of snow in Denver led to the postponement of those outdoor practices. That is not a good sign for this team from the tropics, who are just 9-24-1 ATS in their last 35 games in October. Wyoming has covered the point spread in 15 of their last 21 games in October — and the temperature is expected to drop below the freezing level tonight. Head coach Craig Bohl will have his team ready to play against this Rainbow Warriors team that upset them last week by a 17-13 score as a 4-point underdog. 25* College Football Game of the Month with the Wyoming Cowboys (142) minus the point(s) versus the Hawai’i Rainbow Warriors (141). Best of luck for us — Frank.