Cashing Out | August 18, 2026 | Hour 3

**SPEAKER_1** (0:01)
This is Cashing Out with your host, Dustin Swedelson on VSiN, The SportsBetting Network.

**Dustin Swedelson** (0:10)
Dustin Swedelson, coming to you from the Circus Sportsbook in downtown Las Vegas. Me here, you there. Thanks for making us part of your night. However, you may be tuning in. SiriusXM Channel 158, YouTube TV, the VSiN Watch app and radio affiliates across the United States of God Bless America. If you are hearing the sound of my voice, I want to firmly announce right here on the program, that every single week at this time going forward, you will hear our next guest on Cashing Out. He is Zak Bigelow, former college football staffer, sharp college football handicapper on X at Coach Big CFB, and he's back with us again once again on the program. Zak, welcome back and I'm looking forward to chatting all season long, my friend.

**Zak Bigelow** (0:54)
Nothing better than talking ball with you, Dustin. I appreciate you having me. Looking forward to being here every night of the week.

**Dustin Swedelson** (0:58)
Of course, buddy. The information is tremendous. Everyone check him out at Coach Big CFB.
I mean, he lays out the information so you don't have to do the dirty work. We're talking breaking down teams. He's got plays he likes. He's looking ahead to week zero, week one, and he's still got plenty of win totals we need to discuss. So let's begin with a team that I am fascinated by in the UCLA Bruins here, Zak, because Bob Chesney comes over from James Madison following in the footsteps of Kurt Signetti. He inherits a quarterback in Nico Imaliava. We've seen the good. We've seen the bad. There was some good down the stretch under Jerry Nuhisel last season. Win total, you can get five and a half at Heavy Juice. You can go up to six and a half, get a better price. What do you want to do with the Bruins this upcoming season?

**Zak Bigelow** (1:44)
I'm hooked on Chesney and I can't quit it. I broke it down, looked at a number of times, and the initial play I made was UCLA plus 110 Moneyline versus Cal Week 1 Take the experienced staff over the inexperienced staff. But when I kept deep diving this and going through it again, something I went back to is in the two years he was at James Madison, remember when he had to replace Cignetti, I had him overperform my power rank plus 62 and then plus 32
The man beats the rosters he's handed every single time and you know my soapbox, I'm always going to take the staff over anything else.
As I go through this team, there's enough talent there when I think about what he's got. He's brought his whole coaching staff, both coordinators.
And I kind of believe in what he can do with Niko. Now it comes down to will Niko commit to running? You'll look at his stats last year and you'll see, oh, this is a dual threat guy that's willing to run, but it's actually most in scrambles. And what Chesney and this staff has done a really good job with is really developing a really strong run game, which includes utilizing the quarterbacks and run. So if Niko's willing to do that and they can keep that same system going, Niko's shown he can be a big time thrower. He was at Tennessee, his big time throws were up there, and he ranked in the top third in the nation. And then as you pull it back last year, he really played cautiously between an O line that really wasn't there and didn't have as much skill on the outside. But his turnover worthy plays were really, really low. He was in the top 20 percent there. So he protects the ball. He knows how to do it. Think he's finally got the experience they didn't have when he started at Tennessee, the coaching staff that he didn't have last year to put it all together. There's enough pieces on defense that make me really excited about this. And as you go through that Big Ten schedule, no Ohio State, no Indiana, you do have to pick off the Oregon game, but then every other game, the rest of the way is gettable. I think they can start really, really hot 4-0 before that Oregon game isn't off the table. Give me over six and a half and we got it up plus money. I'm in on UCLA over.

**Dustin Swedelson** (3:33)
Yeah, I'm with you, man. I'm on the win total over. I know Ben Stevens wrote it up in our Veesen College football betting guide. I agree with every point he made and I'm going a step further.