USL Odds, November 16
A USL1 Final and the USLC semifinals this weekend! The business end of the year.
This weekend, we will crown a USL1 league champion. Will it be Omaha adding another star to their crest, with their second title in four seasons? Or will expansion side Spokane end their Cinderella first season with a trophy? Meanwhile in USLC, we have both conference finals to sort out. Charleston hosts Rhode Island in the East, while Las Vegas travels to Colorado Springs in the West. We will have a first time Western Conference champion, while Charleston are looking to repeat as Eastern Conference champions, unless Rhode Island has something to say.
As always, make all wagers at your own discretion, any bet you make should be made at your own risk. Only view these options below as potential choices to bet.
All odds were from Bet365 as of Friday, November 15.
USL Championship
Charleston v Rhode Island
1.57 - 4.10 - 4.75
These two teams were the talk of the Conference semifinals from last week. First, you had Rhode Island knocking out league favorites in Louisville 3-0, as RIFC continues to have the number of the Kentucky club this season. Meanwhile, it was Charleston with a come from behind win over Tampa Bay, with one hell of a goal from Aaron Molloy to win it 2-1. These two teams played out a pair of draws in the season, but Rhode Island has honestly gotten into incredible form with this postseason, while Charleston has been doing enough to get to the next round (survive and advance) it felt like, until Molloy’s goal hit the back of the net.
In spite of the incredible form Rhode Island have been on, Charleston seem to be a club on a mission this year to right the wrong of their runner-up performance from last season’s USL Cup final at home. And especially Charleston having lost just one match at home all season, they are an extremely tough out. I am taking Charleston to advance, but don’t let the difference in seeding fool you, this is a very close game, and my Elo ratings has this as one of the closest ever Eastern Conference finals in league history.
Bet:
Charleston double chance win or tie at 90’ (1.16)
Rhode Island to score first (3.00)
BTTS (1.66)
Parlay Charleston double chance and BTTS (1.90)
Colorado Springs v Las Vegas
2.00 - 3.50 - 3.20
As I had picked from the start of the playoffs, we have Colorado Springs and Las Vegas in the Western Conference final (I only missed one game all playoffs in the West, New Mexico over Phoenix). These two teams, though lower in Elo ratings than their Eastern Conference counterparts, have been the two best teams of the Western Conference in the latter half of this season. This should lead to a rather fun West final. In season, these two teams also played out a pair of draws, including a six goal thriller back in June. However, I think Colorado Springs hosting this match is crucial, as Las Vegas, in their five trips to Colorado Springs, have only won here once (2019). Las Vegas may have been the West’s best team away from home this year, but Colorado Springs has one of the toughest grounds to go into and walk away with a win.
I picked Colorado Springs to win the West from the start of the playoffs, and I feel I should stick with that selection.
Bet:
Colorado Springs to win (2.00)
BTTS (1.66)
Over 2.5 goals (1.70)
Parlay: 4.00
USL1
Omaha v Spokane
No odds as of writing
The story of the playoffs has to be Spokane’s shocking run to the final in year one of their club’s existence. After upsetting Northern Colorado in the quarterfinals in a surprising 3-0 scoreline, Spokane followed that performance up with a win on penalties over Madison in the semifinals and have kept a shutout streak of 328’—you could watch the entire Mighty Ducks trilogy in 313’. Their reward? A match against shield winners, Union Omaha, away. Despite falling behind in the first half against Greenville, Omaha rallied and scored two goals to win 2-1 and advance to their first USL1 Cup final since 2021. While the effort to reach this final, particularly in year one, has been valiant from Spokane, I think the luck runs out and Omaha at the end of the day, is lifting the cup in a resounding result that would crown this year’s team as USL1’s best ever side as per my Elo ratings.
Bet:
Omaha to win the cup
Under 2.5 goals
Omaha 2-0 scoreline
Non-USL Related Bets:
College Football
Colorado -11 vs Utah (1.90)
Tulane ML vs Navy (1.35)
Illinois -2.5 vs Michigan State (1.90)
Charlotte +2.5 vs USF (1.90)
Tennessee +9.5 at Georgia (1.90)
Memphis -16 vs UAB (1.90)
BYU -2.5 vs Kansas (1.90)
NFL
Ravens at Steelers over 48.5 points (1.90)
Henry anytime TD, Wilson over 1.5 passing TDs (3.10)
Chiefs at Bills over 46.0 points (1.90)
The Bills are favored but given the Chiefs are still undefeated, it may be worth a ML bet on the Chiefs (2.10) to continue their winning ways.
Chargers to cover -1.5 vs the Bengals (1.90)
NFC North ML parlay: Lions, Vikings, Packers (2.19)
Final Thoughts
As John had said earlier this week in his Back Four post, BlueSky is where USL is at nowadays! Most of the USL personalities you know and love have made their way over to the site, along with a few USL teams already—shout out to Detroit, New Mexico, Hartford, Richmond, Omaha, Sacramento and more! This is a call to all other USL clubs to join the site and be among USL fans!
Just finished watching The Penguin on HBO Max and it was utterly brilliant. Dark, story twisting at every step of the way to show off a truly villainous Batman character. Farrell and Milioti deserve the Emmy awards. Cannot wait for The Batman 2 and where this character and the wider story for this Gotham universe goes.
Indulge me for a moment, as I rant about the NASCAR playoff format. Joey Logano won his third championship at Phoenix this past weekend in what has been one of the worst NASCAR championship seasons in the history of the sport. Logano, who already got into the round of eight due to another driver’s disqualification, had an average finish of 17th on the season, the lowest of any champion. Logano also was 13th in the season long points total as well. But, since he won a race in a round of 8 and the championship race in Phoenix, he’s the champion. This championship format is poor, NASCAR needs to either go back to the Chase format, or a return of the Winston Cup season long points format.
My East Carolina Pirates football team reached bowl eligibility last night with a 38-31 win over Tulsa to improve to 6-4. In what has been a tumultuous year where we fired our head coach partway through the season, to reach a bowl game is a tremendous accomplishment. Hoping for a fun bowl game destination!
Follow me on Bluesky @ilm-ryan.bsky.social. and follow the USL Show @theuslshow.bsky.social.