BATON ROUGE - It’s officially bowl season—one of the best times of the year. We have bowl games this weekend with plenty of important NFL matchups. These are our week's Best Bet$:

1. UTSA +1
We are going to start with the Cure Bowl on Friday between two of the best teams in Group of 5. UTSA is actually the underdog in this one against Troy. The Trojans are making their first bowl appearance since 2018, and both teams have won 10 straight games. But I like the Roadrunners' experience in this one: sixth-year quarterback Frank Harris has been great this year, throwing for 31 scores. I expect them to score enough to get their first bowl win over a solid Troy defense. 

2. Louisville -1
Now on Saturday in the Fenway bowl, I feel like there’s going to be a lot of pettiness in this one. Louisville's old coach Scott Satterfield is leaving to go to the school they’re playing in Cincinnati. While he won’t be coaching on Saturday, I still feel like his former players won’t like that he straight up quit on them. And this season, the Cardinals are 4-0 against the spread coming off a loss. Cincinnati is one of the worst teams in general covering the spread. I’m taking the Cardinals.

3. Lions +1
Over in the NFL, the Detroit Lions are one of the hottest teams in the league. They have won six of their last seven games, and now they’re going on the road to face the New York Jets. Right now, Detroit is a one-point underdog, and I really like them in this matchup. I think they’re playing really well offensively, so I am going with the Lions' Moneyline.

4. Under: 44.5 Patriots at Raiders

The patriots have one of the best defenses in the league, and offensively, they have struggled with Mac Jones as their quarterback. The Raiders, on the other hand, have just been inconsistent the entire season. Last week, they allowed Baker Mayfield to have a game-winning drive after only being on the team for less than two days. I think the under is a safe bet here. 

5. Over: 47.5 Cowboys vs Jaguars
Lastly, I don’t like to admit it, but the Dallas Cowboys offense has been really good lately. This week, they’re playing a scrappy Jacksonville team, and I like the over in this one. Right now, it’s at 47 1/2 points, and the Cowboys, like we said, are going to score. I think Trevor Lawrence in the Jags will keep up with them.