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The Friday, August 22 sports calendar is packed with four NFL preseason games, a full 15-game MLB schedule, three WNBA contests and the second round of the 2025 Tour Championship. It's also the final night of rest before the 2025 college football season officially begins with five Week 0 contests on Saturday, starting with No. 22 Iowa State vs. No. 17 Kansas State in Dublin, Ireland. Before then, Friday has plenty of intriguing options for sports bettors, including Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City starters taking the field against Caleb Williams and the Bears starters at 8:20 p.m. ET. 

Whether you're dabbling in MLB betting, football betting or anything else on the Friday sports calendar, there are a number of online sports betting options, and our team can help point you in the right direction. Our computer model and experts will weigh in on all of the biggest events every day and they're offering their top sports betting picks right now.

Here's what we're betting today: 

MLB best bets 

  • Game: Rockies vs. Pirates (6:40 p.m. ET)
  • The Pick: Over 8.5 runs (-110)

The Rockies are allowing the most runs in baseball (6.4 runs per game) and are starting Antonio Senzatela, who has a 7.00 ERA this season. The 30-year-old is facing the Pirates for the second time this month, and Pittsburgh rocked him for eight runs before the end of the first inning in a wild 17-16 contest last meeting. It's difficult to imagine 30+ runs being scored again, but the model projects both teams to find offensive success, as the Pirates hitters should feel confident against Senzatela again. The Pirates are 3-8 over their last 11 games, and allowed at least seven runs in five of those contests. The model projects the Over to hit in 70% of simulations.

  • Game: Nationals vs. Phillies (6:45 pm ET)
  • The Pick: Over 9.5 runs (+100)

The Phillies and Nationals go head-to-head for their second series in a week, and the last time they saw one another, they combined for 20 runs in an 11-9 Phillies victory. The Phillies have won four straight games, scoring at least six runs in all three contests while averaging 10 runs per game on their own during that span. Meanwhile, the Nationals are coming off back-to-back wins against the Mets, averaging seven runs in those contests. The 33-year-old Taijuan Walker starts for the Phillies, with Cade Cavalli making just his fifth major league start for the Nationals. The model expects more power on display on Friday, projecting the Over to hit in almost 60% of simulations, showcasing value on the Over at plus-money odds at FanDuel.

  • Game: Braves vs. Mets (7:15 pm ET)
  • The Pick: Braves ML (-118)

The Mets are 5-16 over their last 21 games, and although the Braves have been a disappointment this season at 11 games under .500, they are 10-2 over their last 12 games. The Braves took two of three games against the Mets last week in New York, and now they'll be home in Atlanta. Nolan McLean is making his second career start for the Mets, but he was strong in his debut with 5 1/3 shutout innings against the Mariners. The Braves are starting Joey Wentz, who has allowed just one earned run in back-to-back starts. Given two teams on the opposite sides of trends and Atlanta's veteran lineup against a young pitcher, the model projects value in the Braves, projecting Atlanta to win in almost 70% of simulations.

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NFL Friday preseason best bets

  • Game: Vikings vs. Titans at 8 p.m. ET on CBS and Paramount+ Premium
  • The Pick: Titans -2.5 (-110) (R.J. White)

The Titans are expected to play their starters, including Cam Ward, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, on Friday, while the Vikings appear unlikely to play their starters. White likes the opportunity to back the starters for the first few drives, but he also has confidence in the Tennessee reserves. 

"It's worth noting the Titans backups looked better with Trevor Siemian last week rather than Tim Boyle, but it was Brandon Allen who really put it together to lead Tennessee to a win," White told SportsLine. "I have more confidence in this QB group than I would in Minnesota's if J.J. McCarthy isn't going to play. The Vikings had no touchdowns last week and four field goal drives of 53, 48, 31 and negative-1 yards, and we should see more of players on the roster bubble this week." The Titans have moved to 3.5-point favorites, but White said he would still play the Titans up to 3.5-point favorites.

College football Week 0 best bets

  • Game: Stanford vs. Hawaii (Saturday, 7:30 ET on CBS and Paramount+ Premium)
  • The Pick: Hawaii -2.5 vs. Stanford (Chip Patterson)

The number has moved in favor of Hawaii, who is now favored after opening as an underdog. Although other SportsLine experts played Hawaii earlier in the week as an underdog or with better odds for the bettors, Patterson is backing Hawaii still as the favorite at a key number below 3 points. Stanford is largely starting over this season with Frank Reich stepping in as interim head coach following the firing of Troy Taylor in March. Timmy Chang begins his fourth season at Hawaii and Micah Alejado, who threw for 469 yards and five touchdowns in a 38-30 victory over New Mexico after stepping in for injured starter John-Keawe Sagapolutele, is set to take over as QB1 this season. Patterson, and other SportsLine experts, lean toward Hawaii at home on Saturday. 

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NFL Week 1 best bets

  • Game: Giants vs. Commanders (Sunday, September 7 at 1 pm ET)
  • The Pick: Commanders -6 (-110)

The Giants have been impressive in the preseason, scoring more than 30 points in all three of their preseason contests, but that's largely due to having one of the deepest quarterback rooms from top to bottom. However, when talking about the QB1 situation, Washington seems to have the edge with Jayden Daniels as last year's NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year, compared to the 36-year-old Russell Wilson. Washington will host the Giants in Week 1, and the Commanders went 7-2 overall and against the spread at home last season. Meanwhile, the Giants went 2-5 ATS on the road last season. The Commanders cover in well over 60% of simulations as one of the model's top spread picks for Week 1.

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