Nick Kostos, You Better You Bet Host

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Shop in store or visit Ashley.com today. You can always listen to Nick Costos on You Better, You Bet via BeckQL Monday through Fridays 3 to 7 p.m. Eastern and then on Sundays 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Eastern. Also could hear him on the fan from 830 to 9 a.m. Eastern as well and get the BetMGM app today. Now you are winning with the King of Sportsbooks.

Please gamble responsibly. Nick Costos joins us in football season each and every Monday right here at 720 p.m. Eastern, 420 p.m. Pacific on CBS Sports Radio. Nick, how are you?

Zach, what's going on my friend? Great to be back on with you and sweating my New Orleans Saints bet right now. It doesn't feel good to lay points on the road in prime time with Derek Carr and Dennis Allen. But here we are, buddy, in the first of the Monday Night Football doubleheader.

Yeah, the Saints are a team that everyone said, oh, they'll win the NFC South this year. I don't have a lot of confidence in the Panthers. We'll see how this game is going to play on out.

But I expect this to be low scoring and sloppy and I know it's early, but that's the way that it's looking like so far. Yeah, we talked about it on You Better, You Bet, Zach, before we went off the air at 7 o'clock Eastern time and hard not to like this under as well. My co-host, Ken Barkley, bet the under.

I laid three with New Orleans. So far, I think I'd prefer his bet if I could choose with the under on the game. But as Miles Sanders breaks off a long run here, Panthers in about midfield not to do play-by-play, I'm hoping that the Saints are able to catch this bet for me. So something I don't get from yesterday, and it's not just because I had the Niners laying seven, thankfully I didn't have them laying seven and a half points, is Sean McVay down 10, kicking that field goal at the end of the game? Did he have money on the game? Do we need to launch an investigation against Sean McVay? Well, I'm happy that you bet the best number available with San Francisco, a 1-0 all the way down to seven.

I bet seven and a half with the Rams on Friday, so I was able to catch there. And look, he's my king at this point. Sean McVay is my king.

He is my absolute hero. And it's really interesting, because the win probability when Sean McVay has that decision to make is literally 100% in favor of the 49ers. There is nothing that he can do, there's no decision that he can make that can win his team the game.

They are down by two scores, there is only time for one play, he can only do one thing. We talked about this on the show today. I think, and curious if you agree or disagree, I think there is a literal 100, not 99, 100% chance that every coach in the NFL and all the players, they know what the point spread is of the games that they're playing in.

We hear it's used as bulletin board material all the time. I think that there's a reasonable chance that McVay was like, hey, we're going to lose anyway, let's at least try and cover the spread for the people that bet on us. Now, I have no inside information that that's the case. I would not be shocked, though, if it were, and I definitely think he knew what the point spread was going into the game. It makes no sense in terms of why he took the field goal, so therefore I think you're on to something there. Well, what if Stafford gets hurt on the final play of the game, Nakua gets hurt, it's absolutely meaningless. Kyron Williams gets hurt, Tutu Atwill gets hurt, an offensive lineman gets hurt.

I think there's ways to explain it. You lose the game either way, so why not take the option that presents the least opportunity to get your star players hurt. Yeah, but then a lineman or something gets hurt. Remember all those years ago, Belichick, I think it was up against the Colts where he put Gronk in on an extra point or a field goal, and then Gronk got hurt, so then you could lose a lineman or a tight end, and then we're still blasted him. I thought it was idiotic what McVeigh did, but maybe you're on to something where, hey, Rams fans that had a plus seven and a half or plus seven, he was trying to do them a favor yesterday.

God bless him. Like I said, Sean McVeigh, actually my hero, I needed that result, and the commanders beating the Broncos yesterday to have a pretty good Sunday, thank God. Is there a team after two weeks, Nick Costos, that you're like, okay, I'll look into the future market on them to maybe win a division or go to a Super Bowl, win a Super Bowl that maybe you weren't that high on heading into the season? You know what, I think if it's to win the Super Bowl, I think it's Dallas, and that's obviously a really obvious answer to give to Dallas Cowboys. We might come to the end of the season, Zach, and there's usually a unit that is kind of the story of a season every year, or a couple of them, whether it's offense or defense. I think when we get to the end of the season, there's a chance that we will say the story of the NFL regular season, the main story, was the Dallas Cowboys defense.

Obviously, like back-to-back dominant performances to begin the year. Another coming up on deck as the Cowboys visit the Arizona Cardinals. So Dallas, as far as winning the Super Bowl is concerned, is something I was not necessarily on before the season, but something I feel pretty good about right now.

And I'll give you one more. How about I'll give you two more here, just as potential playoff teams. One would be the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and that point spread on Monday night next week.

So Monday night football double header next week. Eagles and the Bucks and then the Rams and the Bengals. I'll talk about the Rams in a second. I know we just talked about them, but I think the Rams are a lot better than we think. I think the Rams can absolutely be a playoff team.

I did not think that before the year. They annihilated, annihilated the Seahawks on the road in Seattle in week one. Then we saw Seattle go on the road yesterday without their starting two offensive tackles and beat a Detroit team to beat the Chiefs in the season opener. Like the Rams are good, and we'll see if Joe Burrow is going to play in this game. I think the Rams, like I think they're going to the playoffs if Matthew Stafford stays healthy. I don't think they win the division. I think the Niners will win the division, but I think the Rams are a playoff team in the NFC when it's all said and done. And then it's hard not to look right now at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFC South.

Like I bet them already against the Eagles on Monday night, albeit at a number that no longer exists. I like Tampa in the game. Like Baker Mayfield looks good. Offensive coordinator Dave Canales I think is going to be a head coach next year in the NFL.

He's doing a great job with this offense. It's a bad division. I don't think we should discount the Tampa Bay Buccaneers right now to potentially win the NFC South.

So I'm laughing a little bit just because you're not taking one thing into account. My producer extraordinaire Hot Take Hickey was in on the Bucs before the start of the year and also the Rams before the start of the year. And I guess you're not familiar with the Hickey Hex. There are teams that Hickey speaks highly of before the year and they always find a way to craft the bed. So it's a good start for the Bucs and it's a good start for the Rams. I'll admit that. But throughout the year the Hickey Hex is going to prevail.

With apologies to Hickey, I believe that he has no astrological cosmic power and I think he has no impact over anything that happens. You know what? Last year Broncos were the pick to go to the Super Bowl. Russell Wilson, Super Bowl MVP.

Nathaniel Hackett, top three coach of the year. And all those predictions were shot four weeks into the season. I'd say that was less of a hex and more like, and I'm sorry to say it within this term Hickey, that's just dumb.

That's not a hex, that's just dumb. I love it. Nick Costas here with us. Thursday night Giants and 49ers. No Saquon Barkley reportedly going to be out for three weeks of that ankle injury that he suffered towards the end of that crazy comeback against the Cardinals. The Niners are a ten and a half point favorite. The over-under is 45. Do you have an early lean on that game? Yeah, if I had to bet the game I'd actually take the ten and a half with the Giants. I make my own point spreads in the NFL and we just came off doing a four hour show talking about all of this. And my co-host Ken Barkley, we made the same number which was San Francisco favored by ten.

And that accounts for Saquon Barkley missing the game which I think we expected kind of like even like last night. So I guess like a slight edge here with the Giants getting ten and a half. But if you bet on the Giants you are betting against the team that I actually think is the best team in football. And I think the Niners are going to be able to name their score in this game. So it's almost like if you bet the Giants you have to like the over as well, right?

So I think if you like the Giants, like a Giants over parlay is correlated. Because San Francisco's scoring in this game. This Giants defense allowed 28 points yesterday to Josh Dobbs and the Arizona Cardinals and I understand they looked a little better in the second half.

Also that pass versus Don exists and Kavon Thibodeau should be on the side of a milk card. And Dallas look great against them in week number one. So like maybe the Giants can cover this spread but you got to hope that Daniel Jones plays like he did in the second half yesterday against Arizona. Because the Niners are going to be able to name their score in this game. So like I think like Zach like the best mathematical bet is the Giants to cover the plus ten and a half slight edge there. But I mean clicking that button to bet against the 49ers feels really tough. I think this is probably no bet for me on Thursday night on Cider total. Yeah this has like a 38-10, 38-14 even a 38-21 type of score.

I would early on in the week lay the points with the Niners and then also I like that pick of maybe going with the over as well with it being at 45. I just want to get your thoughts here on a college football spread Nick Costos. So Alabama has been a disappointing team this year. Their offense has been non-existent and we saw that up against USF over the weekend. Ole Miss at Alabama is this just because everyone looks at Alabama they go oh it's Alabama they'll figure it out. But Bama's a seven point favorite up against another top 15, top 20 team in Ole Miss. I just I love that like Nick Saban actually thought he could get away with starting any quarterback on this team not named Jalen Milro.

Like the Milro benching was like very short lived obviously. Like if you're going to lose to South Florida potentially like the rule is you have to go back to Jalen Milro. Who like might not be the best thrower of the football but I mean he's much better than these other options that Nick Saban's got. So now Milro's going to start this game against Ole Miss. I think this point spread's probably right Alabama's a touchdown favorite. I think if you're going to bet Ole Miss in the game with how good Jackson Dart has looked thus far this year. I'd just play Ole Miss on the money line honestly bet Ole Miss plus 210. We've seen Bama go down once already at home this year. So in lieu of me taking the seven with Ole Miss on the road give me Ole Miss to just go in there and win the game. Where if you think Milro's going to struggle we know Dart's going to get his. I would just take Mississippi to win this game Zach.

I was talking to your colleague on ION football yesterday Ryan Horvat does a great job for Ben MGM tonight via Beck QL. And it was at halftime of the Lions Seahawks game. And the Lions were up by seven. And the Seahawks were plus 450 on the money line.

And in the moment I thought it was an error on the app. I couldn't believe the Seahawks at any point in that game down seven were plus 450 on the money line Nick. Yeah and we saw Seattle do this last year at a similar spot against Detroit.

Similar point spread range also. Like win that game against the Lions. Yeah like it's kind of like I'm a little peeved at that game because I laid it with Detroit. And I feel like the Lions, I don't want to say they were the right side.

That's sour grapes on my part. But the Lions like slammed them in the box score. They turned it over three times. The Seahawks didn't turn it over once. And the Seahawks still like barely won the game in overtime. Some questionable officiating. But look like Gino played great.

He was absolutely nails. And you'll see this sometimes Zach to the point that you're making about these live. The live point spreads right in the live money lines. Like it's not a person that's doing that.

Like it's not a human being that's saying hey here's what I think the live line of the game should be. It's an algorithm based on what the point spread was before the game. So like Detroit you know closes the game as a four and a half point favorite. Now they're up by seven.

Of course they're going to be a huge price on the money line to win. But that's where Zach you as someone with a brain right not a computer. Can say hey like I think Gino's slinging the ball pretty well here.

I know they can score on this Lions defense. Honestly that's a great job by you. And just something to keep in mind for people that like to live bet. Again it's not a human that's making these live numbers. It's a computer and it's all based on the pregame spread.

You can definitely take advantage of live markets. Especially when there are injuries. Alrighty last thing for Nick Costos. College football this weekend. Early read Ohio State Notre Dame. Ohio State's a three and a half point favorite. And then you also have Florida State Clemson. Florida State is a two point favorite. I like Florida State this weekend. And I also like Notre Dame plus the three and a half points. I'll start with the game I like and we'll close with the game that I love. I like Notre Dame with a number above three.

My sense is Zach that if you like you personally and anyone listening. If you like Notre Dame in this game. My sense is that this is going to go down to three. So if you like Ohio State I would wait until later in the week. I think you will get an opportunity to lay three.

Which you would much rather do than lay three and a half. And if you like Notre Dame I would look to bet this game sooner rather than later. Once it's three I don't have a lot of interest in Notre Dame. I think three is the right number in the game. So three and a half would be a bet for me on Notre Dame with Sam Hartman at home. Notre Dame definitely has the better quarterback in the game.

Now I like that game. I love Florida State. I'm with you on Florida State. And this number has been bet up Zach over the course of the day today. This was like Florida State one. Then it was one and a half.

Now we're sitting at about two. Florida State a road favorite against Clemson. I think Florida State should be more than a three point favorite in this game. What we've seen from Florida State is that maybe they're the best team in the country. And Clemson lost to Duke. And I get that that loss to Duke was a little wonky with all the red zone turnovers. Also they lost to Duke. They lost to Duke and Florida State might be the best team. And Florida State is favored by two on the road.

Just like no way. I think Florida State slams Clemson in this game. I think the Seminoles are way good in this spot. So like I like Notre Dame plus three and a half. I love Florida State laying anything under a touchdown here on the road at Clemson.

I almost want to call it a funeral type of game. Where Clemson has been the standard in the ACC for so many years. And now it feels like there's a changing of the guard in the ACC with what Mike Norvell's been able to do. Yeah I kind of think maybe Jordan Travis should wear black to the game. If they could make it a funeral here for Clemson I absolutely love it especially for our bet.

Alrighty Nick Costas. Always enjoy our chats. We'll do it again next week. Thank you. Zach appreciate it man. Wishing you and all your listeners minimal sweats winning bets.

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