AFC, NFC Divisional Round Today – January 20

The NFL’s divisional round of the playoffs begins today. Houston is at Baltimore in the AFC divisional round with kickoff set for 4:30 p.m. ET. Today’s second game pits the longshot Green Bay Packers against the favorite to win the NFC, San Francisco. That game will begin at 8:15 p.m. ET. The winners of today’s games will advance to their respective confernece championship game next Sunday.

With four games today, the NFL divisional round brings bettors a wealth of NFL betting opportunities. Betting boards will be full of all of the traditional bets – point spread, moneyline, and totals – as well as all of your favorite prop bets. To help you find the best value today, Sports Hub is here with several resources. Our database is full of expert NFL handicappers who have provided over two dozen picks for the divisional round already. Remember, members can search our database and find out who the hottest NFL cappers are right now. Sports Hub’s NFL Free Pick are winning at a 60 percent clip over the last month. Just sayin’.

AFC Divisional Round Preview

The Houston Texans have been a big surprise this season. New head coach DeMeco Ryans has turned the Texans around with the likely NFL Rookie of the Year in QB C.J. Stroud. He threw for 274 yards and three touchdowns in last week’s 45-14 rout of Cleveland in the wild card round. Today in the divisional round, Stroud will face what is likely the best defense in the NFL. 

Baltimore earned the top seed in the AFC divisional round by going 13-4 in the regular season. They have the NFL’s best scoring defense (16.4 ppg) and the third-best offense (28.4). The offense is led by the probable league MVP – QB Lamar Jackson. The Ravens quarterback is listed at -8000 to win the MVP for a second time. He has been outstanding this season. He’s completed 67.2 percent of his passes for 3,678 yards and 24 touchdowns. He’s also the Ravens leading rusher with 821 yards.

The Ravens opened as an 8.5-point home favorite. The line is up 9.5 right now. In the postseason, Jackson is just 1-3 SU and ATS. Baltimore is 6-1 SU and 5-2 ATS in its last seven games. The Texans are 2-11 SU in their last 13 games against Baltimore.

NFC Divisional Round Preview

In today’s NFC divisional round game, the surprising Green Bay Packers head to San Francisco. The Packers are a 10-point underdog after opening at 9.5. These two teams have met three times over the past four seasons. Green Bay has won and covered in both of the games played in San Francisco. 

The 49ers opened at +350 to win the NFC title this year. Heading into today’s game, you can find the Niners at -180 to win it. They are a heavy favorite today because, like Baltimore, they have an explosive offense and a stingy defense. QB Brock Purdy leads a San Francisco offense that averages 28.9 points per game. That ranks second in the NFL. The defense ranks third allowing 17.5 points per game. 

That defense will have to slow down a red-hot Jordan Love of the Packers. In his last nine games, Love has thrown 21 touchdowns and just one interception. Last week in a win over Dallas, Love completed 75 percent of his passes and threw three touchdowns. It was Green Bay’s fourth straight win as an underdog. You can learn more about each of today’s divisional round playoff games by visiting our NFL divisional round picks page. 

Another Strong Day for Our Cappers

The Sports Hub train of expert handicappers rolled in a bunch of picks yesterday and left town with a load of cash! Four of yesterday’s top-5 were Sports Hub exclusive handicappers who went 14-1 overall and earned over $1200. Just another day at the office for our handicappers.

You can gain access to all of our handicapper picks by joining Sports Hub. You’ll find a number of daily free picks as well as premium predictions from the best handicappers in the world. And, you won’t find them anywhere else. If you like adding cash money to your bankroll, click that orange button at the top of the page.

Now, let’s check out yesterday’s leaderboard.

• Running numbers: Mike Kelly was running numbers in Vegas before finding Costa Rica as home. Yesterday, from his tropical paradise, Mike went 6-1 and earned $480. He’s on one right now. Over the last three days, Mike is 10-1 and has added $895 to his bankroll.
• Sports Central: Our friends at Sports Central have been consistently picking winners all month long. Yesterday, SC went 5-1 and won $385 to finish second on the board. Over the last 30 days, Sports Central is up $1061.
• Doyle rules: Patrick Doyle has been here before. Yesterday, he went 3-0 and earned $300 on three basketball picks. Patrick has also been pretty consistent this month. If you had made every pick he did over the past 30 days, you’d be up $1062.
• Our favorite Brit: Ashlee Kiddell provides us with some outstanding content from his home in Great Britain. Yesterday, he went 3-0 and earned $300 hitting two picks in his specialty – soccer. 
• James Anderson: You should recognize this name. James has inside information that allows him to bet like the sharps do. That’s why he went 2-0 yesterday and collected $200. James does have divisional round playoff picks this weekend, if you’re interested (which you should be lol).

Today’s Top Sports Stories

Every day here at Sports Hub, we bring to light things that are going on in the sports world. Some of these items may directly affect a betting decision. Others might not have a direct impact, but may eventually play a role in a future betting pick. Either way, I bring you these trending stories each and every day. It never hurts to have too much information…at least in sports betting.

What’s trending today…

• Belichick: The Atlanta Falcons brought legendary NFL coach Bill Belichick back for a second interview yesterday.
• Australian Open upset: Top-seeded Iga Swiatek lost to Linda Noskova in her third-round match at the Aussie Open.  Noskova is just 19 years old and Swiatek once again failed to get past the Australian Open semifinals. She never has.

• VanDerveer ties Coach K: Stanford women’s basketball coach Tara VanDerveer won her 1,202nd career game last night when the Cardinal beat Oregon 88-63. The win ties VanDerveer with former Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski for the most college basketball coaching wins.
• Celtics streak ends: Two-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic had 34 points, 12 rebounds, and 9 assists and Jamal Murray added 35 points as Denver beat Boston 102-100. That ended the Celtics run of 20 straight home wins this season.

Divisional Round Playoffs Top Today’s Schedule

The AFC and NFC divisional round playoff games are the hot item on today’s sports schedule. Check the times for each game below. It’s a big day in college basketball and also on the ice in the NHL today. 

Let’s check the schedule.

1. AFC divisional round: Houston, a 9.5-point underdog, is at Baltimore today in the AFC’s first divisional round playoff game. Coverage of the game on ESPN and ABC begins at 4:30 p.m. ET. The winner advances to next week’s AFC championship game.
2. NFC divisional round: Green Bay, a 10-point underdog, is at San Francisco today in the NFC’s first divisional round playoff game. You can watch the game on FOX beginning at 8:15 p.m. The winner advances to next week’s NFC championship game.

3. NCAAB: Almost the entire AP Top 25 is in action today. No. 1 UConn is at Villanova and No. 17 Marquette and No. 18 Creighton are also on the road in the Big East today. No. 2 Purdue is at Iowa in the Big Ten. There are dozens of games all throughout the day today. Check our members’ area for college basketball picks. There are dozens of those already in the database.
4. NHL: There are 12 games on the Saturday NHL schedule. It all starts with Tampa Bay at Buffalo beginning at 12:30 p.m. ET. The day ends in Los Angeles where the Kings host the New York Rangers in a game that begins at 10:30 p.m. ET.
5. UFC 297: Sean Strickland (28-5) takes on Dricus Du Plessis (20-2) in tonight’s middleweight main event title fight. Get yourself ready for the action with our UFC 297 predictions, odds, and preview. 
6. Australian Open: The big news, of course, is that No. 1 Iga Swiatek was upset in the third round yesterday. Novak Djokovic, the men’s No. 1 seed, plays in the fourth round today. No. 2 seed Aryna Sabalenka plays in women’s fourth round action today.
7. NBA: There are eight games in the NBA today. The Cavs, who have the NBA’s longest win streak right now at six games, play at Atlanta tonight.
8. Golf: Sam Burns leads The American Express as the tournament heads into third round play today at La Quinta Country Club in La Quinta, California.

It’s a big schedule today with the NFL divisional round of the playoffs the focal point. Get yourself on the right side of the action – whatever sport you choose – by partnering with the expert handicappers here at Sports Hub. Our guys just keep pumping out the wins. Check back tomorrow and see how our guys did. Hopefully, you’ll have won with them. See you tomorrow.