Ryan Horvat, BetMGM Tonight Host

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One-year upgrade requires financing, qualifying, device, and upgrading in good condition after six months with half paid off. Ryan, how are you? And Zach, this isn't even pandering, man, because I'm on for the season again.

Season two together. But I think you're the best interviewer in the game now that Stern is washed up especially. I mean, every week, man, I'm on social media.

You're interviewing Coach Prime right before the big game. You get everybody. So I'm so glad to be back. You're the best in the business.

Never again will I hate. Wow. That's some serious praise. Let me tell you, whatever Mitch Rosen is paying you there at BetQL, not enough.

The price just went up after that. Holy smokes. Very nice words, Ryan Horvat.

Alrighty, let's do what you do best. That's picking games. Nebraska, Colorado, Matt Ruhle and the Cornhuskers. Looked like they were getting a victory in week one.

Then the running back and their quarterback just gave that game away. Now everyone's talking about Colorado. Home game for Coach Prime. Shadore Sanders, awesome. Shiloh Sanders, awesome.

Travis Hunter. The running back, Edwards, was sensational. Colorado is a three-point favorite. Everyone loves the Buffaloes. Are you riding with Coach Prime or are you plus-ing the three points with Nebraska? Alright, so I had to take the points with Nebraska out of principle just because this is a huge adjustment in the market.

We're looking at eight and a half points. And it makes sense because Nebraska loses their opener. And Matt Ruhle, year one for Matt Ruhle is usually about just kind of building the culture with the program. Like Temple, he wins one game.

But then by season three, he wins ten games. You know, we saw the same thing at Baylor as well. But even if you're just trying to build culture, you can't have, you know, Jeff Sims dropping back throwing three picks. You have to run the football. They were running for five yards per carry against a pretty good Minnesota defense.

And same thing. Like if you go back, you watch the Colorado game. And I don't want to take anything away from Colorado and Coach Prime. Because, I mean, they beat TCU. Granted, that's not last year's TCU team. But if TCU runs the ball and doesn't drop Chandler Morris back 42 times in that game, he throws two picks, they'd probably end up winning that game. I just thought Kendall Briles got way too cute. So I'm going to take the points with Nebraska here as three and a half point dogs.

Maybe wait to get a better number. But, you know, this is a bet where I'm comfortable losing. Because let's say Colorado wins this game. They're going to beat Colorado State next week. Then they get Oregon and then they get Washington.

And we might get really good prices with a good Oregon offense and a good Washington offense. And I think they'll beat up on Colorado. So great story, but I have to take the points with Nebraska this week.

Let's go to 3.30 PM Eastern. This is a hot seat game between Texas A&M and Miami. Whichever team loses, their fan base is going to be screaming at either Jimbo Fisher or Mario Cristobal. The Aggies of A&M are a three point favorite on the road up against the Miami Hurricanes.

Where do you go here? So I really liked Miami last season and I liked the Mario hire, but I just didn't like the coordinators. Luckily he got to retool everything. Josh Gaddis is done. And I like Miami offensively with a healthy Tyler Van Dyke. I also think Texas A&M upgrades on the offensive side of the ball because Jimbo Fisher is no longer calling plays.

Bobby Petrino takes over. They hang 52 points week one. They were running more tempo offense. Their quarterback, Connor Wegman, could push the ball down the field. So I think we actually get some points in this game. And I think Miami is going to be a little bit better than people expect.

Shannon Dawson takes over as OC. Their run game looked much improved. They ran for their most yards in a game since the 2020 season. Henry Parrish had 90 yards I believe on the ground.

Mark Fleischer had over 70. So I think we're going to get some points in this game. Texas A&M's defense, even with all those five stars, didn't look that impressive to me week one.

So I think we get the over here even though the totals went all the way up to 52. And I like Miami actually to keep this game close and to go over their win total this season, seven and a half. Let's get to Texas and Alabama. I'm pretty sure last year when it was Alabama going up against Tennessee, Alabama was a seven point favorite and Tennessee ended up winning the game outright.

Here we go. We remember the game from last year between Alabama and Texas. If Quinn Ewers didn't get hurt, Alabama probably loses the game and they survived by one point.

I want to say that game was 20 to 19 or something like that. Bama though, seven point favorite. They are home up against Quinn Ewers, Steve Sarkisian, Texas. Do you go with the Longhorns or do you go with the Crimson Tide?

I think the best bet you can make in this game is the under because I think these are two really good defenses. But like you said, Quinn Ewers, if he doesn't get knocked out of that game, they probably win that game, which is crazy because he was also really good in another big game against Oklahoma where he threw four touchdowns. But then after those games, he went four straight games where he didn't complete 60 percent of his passes. Against Oklahoma State, he was 19 for 49. Again, TCU, he was 17 for 39. And then I had higher expectations for him this season with all five starters back on the O-line with Xavier Worthy, you know, in the wide receiver room, Jordan Whittington, and they have a really good tight end, Jatavion Sanders, who caught 54 balls last season. But then last week again, man, against Royce, 0 for 6 on passes 20 or more yards down the field.

I really like Texas. I think they could keep this within the number, although they did really look like they were missing Dijon last week. I think the plays, the under, and with a low scoring game, I'm going to take the points with Texas. I should see this being a 17-13 type game. So I know that you're a big-time Packer fan as Ryan Horvat is here with us from BetMGM tonight via BeckQL. No Christian Watson for this game on Sunday up against the Bears, Packers and Bears in Chicago.

The Bears are a one-and-a-half point favorite, and the over-under is 41-and-a-half. What is the Ryan Horvat play here? The play for me is a player prop, and it's going to be A.J. Dillon rushing yards.

I actually found 35-and-a-half and 36-and-a-half. I think he's going to be more involved in the offense now that Aaron Rodgers is gone, especially with Christian Watson, who's not only their best deep threat, but he's also their gadget guy. They want to run a lot of pre-snap motion in this La Flora offense, him on jet sweeps, and now he's already injured. This is already the youngest wide receiver room in the league. I know a lot of people like Green Bay in this game. That's why it's went from 2-and-a-half down to nearly a pick.

I would actually lean Chicago at home. I think Justin Fields is going to have a bounce back here, although he was alright last season. Terrible offensive line. I like the pickups. I like D.J.

more. Last season, I know Justin Fields is going to push the ball down the field in preseason. Everybody made a big deal out of that, but that's not what they really need. They needed Yak, and now you've got Mooney as the number two. We'll see what they get from Chase Claypool, but I think the Bears might be a little bit better than people expect. I think both teams go over their win total. I lean Chicago, but I'm going to go with an A.J. Dillon prop in this game, because I think Green Bay is going to have to run the ball without Watson. If he's healthy, I lean Green Bay, but that's already the youngest wide receiver room, and now you lose your number two. That's a lot of targets for Romeo Dobbs and Jayden Reed, who's a rookie.

Just a lot of unproven guys. Dolphins and Chargers. We expect a lot of points in this one.

The over-unders 51. Chargers are a three-point favorite. No Teron Armstead for the Miami Dolphins, their big offensive lineman.

Your play in this game between Tuatunga Vailoa and Justin Herbert is? Yeah, so I feel like I'm on an island here, because I really like the Chargers, and I'm high on them coming into the season. You know, Joe Lombardi's gone. You bring in Kellen Moore. Last season in 10 to their yards, Justin Herbert was 41.

That makes no sense. He has the biggest arm in the league, and it would help, obviously, if Keenan Allen and Mike Williams could stay on the field, but now they draft Quinton Johnson out of TCU. He's a 4-3 burner, so I feel good about the offense. And defensively, man, if they could just stay healthy, Joey Bosa, Khalil Mack, J.C. Jackson, I think you have to upgrade them. And I'm worried not only about Armstead, because you have Tua, who struggles to stay healthy and struggles to stay in the pocket without him, but I'm worried about that secondary. You have Eli Apple coming in.

It's a new defensive system with Vic Fangio taking over. No Jalen Ramsey the first couple weeks of the season. I'm going to go with the Chargers, actually, at home. Wrap it up with Ryan Horvat from BetMGM tonight. He's going to join us each and every football Friday. He'll give us three college games, three NFL games, and then his best bet right here on the Zach Gelb show. Let's go to Sunday Night Football. Bum-bum-ba-da-bum-bum.

Ba-da-ba-da-ba-da-ba-da-bum. Between the Cowboys and Giants at MetLife Stadium in the swamps of Jersey, the Dallas Cowboys are a 3.5-point favorite. The over-under is 45, and now Darren Waller, in addition to the injury report, is questionable. Yeah, I was going to say, the way that the Giants cover, they win this game, and I know it's not really Daniel Jones' game, he's going to have to hit a couple deep shots against this Dallas defense, because I'm so high on Dallas this season.

I know famous last words, but just because of the defensive side of the ball. I know Stephon Gilmore is another year older, but he was good last season, and a couple years ago, he was the defensive player of the year. I don't know the next time we're going to see a DB win that award. Offensively for Dallas, you bring in Brandon Cooks, C.D. Lamb proved last year, he's a number one, and now Michael Gallup's another year removed from that ACL that he tore in 2019. I know McCarthy takes over as play caller without Kellen Moore, but that might be a good thing, because Zeke's gone, and now they're going to run the ball with Tony Pollard, who needs, I know he's coming off an injury, needs 20 touches per game. So I'm actually going to take the points here with Dallas, because they're healthier, and I like them a lot this season. I won't be shocked if they win the NFC. So you're going Dallas, laying the 3.5 is what you're doing. I am, that's one of the favorites I like. Okay, now give me the best bet here for Ryan Horvath this weekend. What do you love?

Alright, I got two really quick. I'm going to take the points with the Browns if we get to three, just because Joe Burrow plays terrible against Cleveland. I really like what they've done defensively this year, adding a bunch on that defensive line. Z'Darius Smith, I think they're going to get after Joe Burrow without having to blitz. If they have to blitz, it's over.

Burrow's going to pick them apart. I think the best bet is the Steelers, especially if you could get a three, even with Nick Bosa back. Mike Tomlin at home, 13-4-3 against the spread as a home dog.

It's been a wild camp for San Francisco. They trade Trey Lance, the Nick Bosa contract dispute. You have Brock Purdy coming back from an injury.

Here's what concerns me. Purdy's not going to beat you with the deep ball. That's the only way you could beat that Pittsburgh defense. He was quarterback 34 last year in air yards intended. Forty percent of his throws were at or behind the line of scrimmage last season.

My hot take is Sam Darnall might have that job by week five. Pittsburgh defense is healthy, and I love what I saw from the offense. I know it was preseason, but my big question mark was can Kenny Pickett and George Pickens get on the right page or get on the same page hitting the deep ball down the field? On the deep ball in preseason, 20 yards or more down the field, Pickett was five of seven, two touchdowns, no picks, and he was one of the higher-rated quarterbacks by a 12-football focus in the preseason.

I think that should be closer to a pick. I think Pittsburgh might win that game outright. I love the Steelers this week. You can hear Ryan Horvat Monday through Friday bet MGM tonight across the BetQL network. Also, I was reading online, new big weekend show to get people ready for football. What's shaking there? Yeah, the BetQL tailgate kickoff, and that's coming up actually tomorrow morning, 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. Eastern.

You can find it on the Odyssey app, the BetQL network, Twitch, really good stuff. We take a look at line movement. We have some great guests. Tomorrow we're really going to be paying attention to the weather, actually, because I think that's going to affect a lot of these totals. Ryan Horvat, we appreciate it. We'll do it again next week. Thank you.

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