Pop Pulse News

A sports bettor's guide to Election Day 2024, with the NBA and NFL off

By Prince J. Grimes

A sports bettor's guide to Election Day 2024, with the NBA and NFL off

OK, so here's the deal. There's an election today. I don't know if you've heard, but it's a pretty big deal. These stressful and uncertain hours leading up to when the new U.S. president is decided can be stressful, and a distraction is nice if not necessary to have.

If sports betting is your go-to thing for comfort, your options aren't what they were a week ago when we had a rare sports equinox -- NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL in action the same night. In fact, only one of those leagues have games Tuesday.

Related: Why the NBA has zero games Tuesday

Even the election itself is off limits for betting in the United States, though you might've seen odds for each candidate from sportsbooks in Canada.

Thankfully, you do have a few other options for your fix of betting comfort, and I'll lay them out here.

NHL

The NBA might be off, but you can still get some major pro sports league action tonight from the NHL. There are 11 games on the schedule and while they aren't the sexiest matchups, a few are solid enough to hold your attention.

Boston Bruins (+110) at Toronto Maple Leafs (-130) (O/U 5.5), 7 ET LA Kings (+145) at Minnesota Wild (-175) (O/U 6), 8 ET Utah Hockey Club (+185) at Winnipeg Jets (-225) (O/U 6), 8 ET Tampa Bay Lightning (-175) at St. Louis Blues (+145) (O/U 6), 8 ET

Odds via BetMGM

Those are probably the best, but if you want to go with something with a little election theme to it, the Philadelphia Flyers at Carolina Hurricanes is a meeting between two teams from important battleground states. Not the best way to distract yourself, but a win is a win if you pick right.

College Basketball

The best of the men's and women's college basketball openers were yesterday, but a few more teams open their seasons today and that includes a couple more ranked women's teams and some power conference men's teams.

NCAAW

Cleveland State at No. 14 Ohio State (-19.5) (O/U 145.5), 6 ET East Tennessee State at No. 9 NC State (-38.5) (O/U 123.5), 7 ET Towson at No. 16 West Virginia (-28.5) (O/U 135.5), 7 ET

Odds via DraftKings

NCAAM

Bethune-Cookman at Texas Tech (-31.5) (O/U 146.5), 8 ET New Orleans at Kansas State (-30.5) (O/U 147.5), 8 ET Idaho State at Arizona State (-17.5) (O/U 143.5), 9 ET Central Arkansas at BYU (-33.5) (O/U 13.5), 9 ET UC Davis at Washington (-15.5) (O/U 146.5), 10 ET

Odds via BetMGM

True to season-opener form, none of these spreads are particularly close. But if you want to dig into something that may be more competitive, there is one game with a single-digit spread, and that's the men's matchup between FIU and Rice.

College Football

Election Day is also a good day to have a MAC attack. There isn't a ton of college football to watch, but there will be some Tuesday MACtion for the first time all season. Two games to be exact, including one with a Miami team led by Brett Gabbert (yes, the little brother of Blaine).

The spreads don't look promising if you're hoping for a close game, but you never know in the Mid-American Conference.

Soccer

You can always find some obscure soccer league to bet on, which I never recommend to bet on things you aren't at least a little familiar with. And there was even some Champions League action early Tuesday. But in the evening, Mexican Liga MX has a nice little slate maybe worth your time.

And by nice, I simply mean there are games being played.

León (-130) vs. Mazatlán (+310), 8 ET Santos (+450) vs. Guadalajara (-185), 8 ET Pumas UNAM (-250) vs. Querétaro (+650), 10:05 ET

Odds via BetMGM

Prep!

If none of those things get your betting juices flowing, then you can always focus your energy on prep for the week ahead. The NBA is back Wednesday, the Bengals and Ravens have a big divisional meeting on Thursday and many of the top ranked college basketball teams are back on Friday and Saturday before NFL Week 10 continues Sunday.

Related: NFL Week 10 betting lines

Previous articleNext article

POPULAR CATEGORY

corporate

7781

tech

8841

entertainment

9702

research

4184

wellness

7536

athletics

9954