Playing the total in Tulane-Houston and coast-to-coast MLB parlay: Best Bets for Sept. 30

Each day, one of our experts will offer up a best bet (or two or three) that mobile sportsbooks are offering. It might be a traditional spread bet, a player prop or one of the various odds boosts that books offer.

Here are our best bets for Friday, Sept. 30:

TOP PLAY

The play: College football, Tulane-Houston OVER 54½

The odds/bet: -110 ($33 to win $30)

The book: Caesars Sportsbook

Time/TV: 6 p.m. (ESPN)

Our take: The Green Wave wasn’t able to follow up its mammoth win at Kansas State last week, losing a home game to Southern Miss despite a massive 451-253 edge in total yards. It’s a bit hard to see how Tulane lost that game, honestly, and picking them to upset Houston outright in this American Athletic Conference opener isn’t a bad bet.

But we’ll stick with the total for a couple of reasons. One, even though Tulane hasn’t hit 54 points in any of its games so far, Houston has gone over 60 in every game. Two, this one figures to be close, and those back-and-forth type affairs get high-scoring in the fourth quarter. If we get overtime, even better.

Statistically, Houston’s defense is among the worst in the country, and Tulane’s is among the best. So again, if you want to take the Green Wave to cover or win outright, that’s a recommendation if not an official bet. But the Cougars are at home, and Dana Holgorsen’s offense has given the Wave plenty of problems in the past, so we’ll say this one shoots well over the 54½.

MLB PARLAY

The play: MLB money line parlay, Blue Jays over Red Sox/Padres over White Sox

The odds/bet: +125 ($10 to win $12.50)

The book: Caesars Sportsbook

Our take: The most important series left in the MLB season is clearly Braves-Mets, and it starts tonight with the Mets slightly favored at -120 and the NL East hanging in the balance. But in the final week of the regular season, you watch the important games but save your bets on good teams who need to win. And the Blue Jays and Padres certainly fit the bill.

Toronto has already clinched a playoff spot, but is fighting to hold off the Seattle Mariners and Tampa Bay Rays for the important all-three-games home-field advantage in the wild-card series. The Blue Jays have a 1½-game lead over Seattle and 2 over Tampa Bay in that race, so every win counts. And by the way, the Red Sox have lost five straight on the road and are facing Blue Jays ace Alek Manoah.

Shift to the West Coast, where the Chicago White Sox are, to put it mildly, playing out the string on a disappointing, lost season. Their win Thursday at Minnesota snapped an eight-game losing streak that ended their fleeting chances at a playoff spot. Now they had to fly cross-country to face Yu Darvish and the Padres, who could clinch a playoff spot as early as Saturday. The San Diego fans will be hopping, and this should finish off our parlay nicely.

HOW WE’VE FARED

Thursday’s best bets

MLB money line: Brewers over Cardinals (WON $30)

MLB boost: Yankees’ Aaron Judge to walk at least once (WON $10)

Thursday’s profit/loss: +$40 (2-0)

Total for the week: +$111.50 (6-1)

Total for September: -$108.90 (24-29)

Total for 2022: -$157.70 (247-278)

NOTE: If a line or odds are minus, it considers the juice one must lay to place the bet. Ex: Team A is -160 on the money line, one would have to bet $160 to win $100 (or $16 to win $10). OR Team B is a 5-point favorite at -110, one would have to bet $110 to win $100 (or $11 to win $10.)

Conversely, on positive lines, if Team C is +140 on the money line, a $100 would bring in $140 (or $10 to win $14).