NBA Tuesday 10* Top Play Indiana Pacers (+) @ Philadelphia 76ers @ 7:10 ET - Embiid may not play here as he has a sore left hip. To put that on the injury report in a different way, Embiid may rest here because the Sixers have another huge game with the rival Celtics on deck for tomorrow night! In all seriousness that is a real factor here and it would not surprise me if this is the Sixers excuse to end up holding Embiid out of this one. Even if he does play I expect Philly to rest some guys if they do have a sizable lead late. But the fact is this Pacers team can hang around in this one and possibly even steal an upset win. The Sixers can not help but to think about the huge showdown with the Celtics on deck. Yes they finally beat them when these teams met last week but that does not change importance of "round two" of their season series. Also, though Philly won by 11 in the game versus Indiana Sunday, that was with Maxey scoring 50 points and with the team overall making 14 three pointers! I just do not see those types of numbers again and expect a tight battle here in this one. The Pacers have a strong shot at revenge here but we'll grab the points being offered for added insurance. The current line on this one as of early gameday morning is +5.5 points. 10* INDIANA + points

CFB Tuesday 10* Top Play Western Michigan Broncos (+) @ Northern Illinois Huskies @ 7 ET - Both teams are 4-6 on the season and trying to keep bowl hopes alive with each having one game remaining after this one and, of course, needing to get to 6 wins. That said, I like the momentum factor here and feel the Broncos are undervalued. The Huskies are off B2B losses and the Broncos are off B2B wins. So, entering this game, you have one team surging and one fading and plus Northern Illinois was favored in both of those games they just lost, once favored by nearly a TD and then once favored by nearly 10 points. Overall, the Huskies are on an 0-3 ATS run. The Broncos have covered 3 straight and 6 of last 7. Western Michigan is 14-2 ATS the last 16 times they have been a MAC dog of more than 3 points! Last season the Broncos faced the Huskies late in season as well and that 24-21 loss on a Northern Illinois TD with under a minute to go ultimately cost the Broncos a 6-6 season. They would go on to win their two games after that and finish the season 5-7. This season is shaping up for a different finish the way things are going for each of these teams right now. Look for the surging road dog to grab the cash again in this one and truly I expect an outright upset win but will grab the points as added insurance. Currently this line is a 5 as of early gameday morning. 10* WESTERN MICHIGAN + points 

NFL Monday 10* Top Play Buffalo Bills -7 vs Denver Broncos @ 8:15 ET - Denver enters this game off B2B wins and they are an underdog in both. However, getting B2B wins like that as a dog is rare for the Broncos. In fact, they are now just 1-9 ATS when they enter a game off a SU win as an underdog. Also, they are just 1-8 ATS when off B2B SU/ATS wins and facing a team with a winning record. That is the case here and I know the Bills have underachieved this season and sit with just a 5-4 record. However, they are more than capable of stepping up big, particularly at home. I know the Broncos just shocked KC but the Chiefs turned the ball over 5 times in the game and were coming off a big win over the Chargers, and they had a huge trip to Europe on deck. That said, it is no wonder Denver got the shocking win and Kansas City turned the ball over like crazy. The Broncos other two wins were against teams having very bad seasons. That said, I love Buffalo at a very fair price here. The line is saying Buffalo would be only -4 on a neutral site and even though they have struggled, I still do not buy the argument that the Bills are only 4 points better than the Broncos on a neutral field...no way! I also like the fact that the Bills are off loss at Cincy and lost the turnover battle 2-0 in this one. I know Denver off a bye week but they are coming in fat and happy and this Buffalo team is angry. Also, Buffalo is 3-0 SU when off a loss this season and is yet to lose B2B games. What about the cover though? Well I love the fact this line is a 7 and want to note too that the Bills are now 7-0 ATS L7 times when favored over an AFC West foe. Look for that run of ATS success to reach 8-0 ATS in this one as everything is set up perfectly! 10* BUFFALO -7

NBA Monday 10* Top Play New York Knicks + @ Boston Celtics @ 7:40 ET - This is a great set-up. The Celtics have a big revenge game with the 76ers on deck. Conversely, the Knicks have revenge on their minds right here, right now as they lost their season opener at home to Boston despite having an edge in field goal attempts of 20 more in that game! Not only that, the Knicks enter this game off B2B high-scoring performances including a season high in shooting efficiency in their most recent win. Yes, Boston is solid defensively and they are the better overall team in this match-up as they are one of the best teams in the league. However, the Knicks are a solid club and they have a big motivational edge here and could catch the Celtics thinking ahead to the rematch with Philly. I'll gladly grab the generous points here which is in the +9 range as of early game day morning. 10* NEW YORK KNICKS + points 

Monday CBB 10* Top Play Villanova Wildcats (-) @ Pennsylvania Quakers @ 7 ET - As mentioned in my play on St Joe's against the Quakers Friday, I know Penn began the season with a strong start but they had played a weak schedule. They are still dealing with a roster featuring a lot of guys playing their first college basketball. Sure enough, despite managing a surprising in-game 19-2 run, the Quakers still fell short and also failed to cover as we cashed in with the Hawks Friday. As for Monday's opponents for Penn, the Wildcats are laying about a dozen points in this spot but should roll big here. They are, of course, the most talented team in the Philly Big 5 and they looked strong so far even though they faced some weaker competition as they simply managed each game and they turned it on when they needed to. Since they are the more veteran team, they will have an advantage if this game is tight at halftime and they will pull away in the 2nd half. They know how to close out games like this and have the depth to give the Quakers trouble all game long if it is tighter than expected early in the 2nd half. However, I am expecting a rather comfortable win here as this is an important Big 5 game in Philly. Last season the Wildcats won this meeting only 70-59 but over 2/3 of the points for the Quakers came from two guys who are not here anymore. That includes star Jordan Dingle who is now with Syracuse. This is a transition season for Penn and they will struggle against a Nova team that is again a Top 25 team in the country this season. The line is around 11.5 as of early gameday morning and I expect a rout in this one. 10* VILLANOVA (-)

CBB Sunday 10* Top Play Nevada Wolf Pack (+) @ Washington Huskies @ 10 ET - Classic case of line value based on the Mountain West school taking on the big, bad Big 12 school. In this case, when you compare these two rosters and all the aspects of these two teams, I would rate the Wolf Pack with an edge. We are getting 5 points with the better team. Of course it is because this game is in Seattle so of course some value being assigned to Washington for this makes sense. However, this line has moved into the +5 range and it is just too much. I sense and upset here with a road team from the smaller school with strong talent and a solid roster. 10* NEVADA

NFL Sunday 10* Top Play New York Jets Pick -115 @ Las Vegas Raiders @ 8:20 ET - The Raiders are off a 30-6 win over a bad Giants team but the yardage was nearly equal in the game too! The Jets are off a 27-6 loss to the Chargers but they had 3 turnovers in the game and actually outgained LA by nearly 100 yards! That is why we have line value here with a respectable Jets team against a bad Raiders team. Last week's craze results are giving the Raiders more respect from the betting markets than they deserve. This Las Vegas team is still a mess and the Jets had been playing better prior to 3 fumbles proving to be their undoing last week. LV had lost 5 of 7 games prior to the win last week. The Jets had won 3 straight prior to their loss last week. The Jets have the better defense and have the better rushing attack on offense which will be able to exploit the Raiders weakness on D which is the rushing defense. Grab the road team as the Jets Wilson bounces back after the fumble problems last week. He has been better overall since his rough start to the season and has not been throwing picks like he did early on. I like the value with the road team at a great value here. The line is in the pick'em range in the -110 or -115 range. 10* NEW YORK JETS Pick -115

NFL Sunday 10* Top Play LA Chargers (+) vs Detroit Lions @ 4 ET - The Lions are 6-2 this season and have 5 wins by more than 1 point. The combined record of those 5 teams is 14-28. None of the 5 teams have a winning record this season. Now, I am certainly not saying the Chargers are a great team but they are not the ones laying 3 points here nor are they the ones who are the road for this game either. I like the home dog value here with a Chargers team that is 4-2 SU L6 games and who only has 1 loss by more than 3 points this entire season. LA is seemingly always involved in tight games when they do lose. This season they are 2-1 against NFC opponents and the lone loss was by 3 points. In fact, if you look at the last 7 times they were a dog of 2+ points against NFC opponents, they have gone a PERFECT 7-0 ATS! This non-conference match-up falls into that category (they were only +1.5 versus Cowboys) and I look for this trend to reach 8-0 ATS as the Lions come off the bye "fat and happy" and so often teams that were rolling and then had a bye can come out flat the very next game. When that game is also on the road and facing a non-conference foe, the odds of having that "flat game" are even stronger! Look for the Chargers, though on a short week and coming back from Monday night game at New York in a win over the Jets, to come out strong here. LA is only 2-2 SU at home this season but the two wins were by a combined 24 points while the two losses were by a combined 5 points! 10* LA Chargers +

NFL Sunday 10* Top Play Green Bay Packers (+) @ Pittsburgh Steelers @ 1 ET - Line as of ultra early Sunday morning is 3.5 points. Statistically when you look at the Steelers you would think you are looking at a 3-5 team (at best!) rather than a 5-3 team. No team in the NFL has won more games with "smoke and mirrors" than this over-rated Pittsburgh bunch. That said, even though I am not crazy about this Packers team, Green Bay certainly has the much better defense in this match-up. I like taking defensive dogs against over-rated home favorites. Also, note that GB is only 1-3 SU on the road but the 3 losses were by an average margin of 2 points per game! The Packers are off a 20-3 win over the Rams last week. Under coach Matt LaFleur, GB is 6-0 ATS when they are installed as an underdog when entering that game off a SU win by a double digit margin. The Steelers have the rival Browns on deck and the last 5 times in the game prior to facing the Browns, Pittsburgh has either lost the game outright or won it by 3 points or less all 5 times. In other words, at +3.5 here, we are dealing with a 5-0 ATS situation for playing against the Steelers in addition to the 6-0 ATS situation in favor of playing on the Packers. Give me the points here! 10* GREEN BAY +

Rotation #661: CBB Saturday New Mexico State Aggies (+) @ Cal-Irvine Anteaters @ 10 ET - This line is all the way up to a +9 as of about Noon ET gameday and this is too much value for the underdog. Everyone remembers the Aggies getting hammered by 40 in their opener against Kentucky but they were outclassed there just like Sul Ross State was outclassed when they were the next opponent for New Mexico State and the Aggies rolled by 35 points. The fact is many will remember the UK demolition and that is why this line is so high. Cal-Irvine is off a strong season but they shot just 2 of 12 from three point land in their season opener and lost. I don't expect the Anteaters to be as strong this season and shooting like that from deep for a Big West team is not going to lead to many wins by a double digit margin against a respectable foe. The Aggies can hang tough in this one and they certainly are focused on a much stronger effort after the debacle at Rupp Arena in Lexington, KY to open up their season. 10* NEW MEXICO STATE + points

NBA Saturday 10* Top Play Golden State Warriors (-) vs Cleveland Cavaliers @ 8:40 ET - This is a revenge game for the Warriors as they lost at Cleveland less than a week ago. They had a horrible shooting night from inside the arc in that game and I like the situation here too as the Cavaliers are 1-5 SU, other than the win over GS, ever since they won on opening night. In other words, they have struggled badly and now they face a revenge-minded Warriors team off a loss after a 6-1 SU stretch in which the only loss was the defeat to the Cavs. As you can see, value here with the home team at this very manageable number currently in the -4 range. 10* GOLDEN STATE (-)

CFL Saturday 10* Top Play BC Lions +4.5 @ Winnipeg Blue Bombers @ 6:30 ET - This is a contrarian play all the way. Everyone feels it will once again be Toronto and Winnipeg battling it out for the Grey Cup again this season. However, there is a reason the Blue Bombers are priced as a much smaller home favorite in comparison with the Argonauts today. This is the one with the upset potential right here and I am expecting that but we grab the points just in case. The fact this line is up to a 4.5 is a great value with turning the key numbers of 3 and 4 into winning numbers for us. This Lions team really believes. They are well coached and much is made of this team in terms of being unable to win this big game on the road outdoors since they are use to playing indoors at BC Place in Vancouver. However, this Lions team absolutely can do it! BC has taken it to another level this season even if their record does not show it. There is a different feel about this team and while the Blue Bombers are already thinking ahead to their rematch in the Grey Cup and a chance to get revenge on the Argos, the Lions are fully focused on the task at hand here. Watch everyone step up for this BC team and the effort and focus is going to be with the hungry road dogs! Also, by mid-November standards, the weather in Winnipeg will not be bad for this game. That is also an edge for the indoor-based Lions. 10* BC +4.5

CFB Saturday 10* Top Play Utah Utes (+) @ Washington Huskies @ 3:30 ET - The Utes are getting as many as 9 points in this one as of early gameday morning. This is a lot of value here because, even though Utah has a recent history of SU losses to the Huskies, they actually have covered 4 in a row ATS at Washington. Even though the Huskies coach is a newer head coach to the program, Utes head coach Kyle Whittingham has been with the program for two decades! He and the Utes want revenge here as they lost the most recent meeting here SU at Washington. Also, the last two meetings between these teams in Utah were both Huskies SU wins. Whittingham, as per usual, will have his guys ready here and he wants revenge. He would love nothing more than to knock off the unbeaten Huskies here. I know Washington is 9-0 but, other than the tight win over Oregon (which certainly is impressive don't get me wrong), the Huskies have faced a rather weak schedule. Also, their defensive rankings (the important one based on yardage allowed not points) shows this is overall a very weak defense. They are coming off a shootout win versus USC but they are in trouble now against a much tougher defense. This Utes defense is tough and the Utah offense also got a huge boost in morale with the blowout win versus Arizona State last week. That said, this game is going to be a much tighter battle than many are expecting and I would not be surprised to see an upset win here but am happy to grab the security of the generous points on offer for this one! Utah is 14-3 ATS last 17 as a road dog and they also are poised to make it 5 in a row ATS in games at Washington. The Utes are out for revenge here and bring an "A game" effort and I like having the much better defense on my side getting points here! Also, could be windy conditions here for this one which helps the defensive-minded big dog. 10* UTAH (+) points

CFB Saturday 10* Top Play Penn State (+) vs Michigan @ Noon ET - Line as of early gameday morning is 4.5 and I like the dog plenty in this one! Every year when Penn State is facing Michigan or Ohio State it seems to be a loss. I know the Nittany Lions already lost to the Buckeyes this season (we were on Ohio St there) but this year PSU is likely to take down the Wolverines the way I see it. First off, this game is at Penn State. Secondly, the Wolverines are dealing with a huge mess with the alleged sign-stealing scheme that has coach Harbaugh in hot water. In fact, Harbaugh likely serving a 3-game suspension beginning with this game. I know he was still coaching the team during the week and I know some will look at this and say the Wolverines are going to rally for the coach, etc. But this is different than rallying for an injured player or a coach missing a game due to illness. This is alleged cheating and it is not a good look. How does a team get fired up about that? The way I see this game, Penn State has one of its strongest teams in recent years and though they lost at Ohio State, they actually played the Buckeyes even tougher than the final score shows. This one is different than that game because the Nittany Lions are home for this one plus I don't think Michigan is as strong as Ohio State. Note that the Wolverines have proven to be a bit over-rated by the betting markets as they have only covered 4 of their 9 games this season. The Nittany Lions, on the other hand, have only 2 ATS losses and those were the aforementioned hard-fought loss versus Ohio State followed by, as expected, struggling to get by Indiana the next week after the huge game with the Buckeyes the prior week. So, in my mind, the Nittany Lions are a little under-valued in the marketplace for this game when you look at their ATS results on the season and you know PSU is very hungry for this game. Penn State is tired of always losing the big games with Ohio State and Michigan and they looked more ready than ever (in that loss to the Buckeyes) to put this streak to rest. They battle hard here and have a great shot at the outright upset here but we'll grab the points just in case. 10* PENN STATE (+) points

CFB Friday 10* Top Play Wyoming Cowboys (+) @ UNLV Rebels @ 10:45 ET - UNLV getting a lot of attention here because they have the better record and are at home. However, Wyoming has played the much tougher schedule. Also, the Cowboys are known for being a tough dog. This is part of the reason they are a solid 8-1 ATS when they are an underdog against a team that is playing with revenge. The Rebels are conference foes but these teams have not met the past two seasons but in the most recent meeting UNLV got destroyed right here in Vegas so they are well aware of this and will be looking to give a much better effort. However, the Cowboys have that great ATS record in this spot plus the Rebels are 1-7 ATS when they are at home and off a game in which they scored more than 35 points. So we are testing angles here that are a combined 15-2 ATS and I like the strength of schedule variance here and feel the Rebels get a wake-up call with the known physicality of these Cowboys giving them a reality check here. UNLV is much improved but they will struggle just to defeat (let alone cover against) this tough Cowboys team! 10* WYOMING (+)

Friday CBB 10* Top Play St Joe's Hawks (-) vs Pennsylvania Quakers @ 6:30 ET - I know Penn is off to a strong start but they have played a weak schedule. They are still loaded with a roster featuring a lot of guys playing their first college basketball. The Hawks are laying about a half dozen points in this spot and should roll big here. They return the core of last season's team and looked strong in their opener as they turned it on when they needed to. This will be 3rd game in 5 days for Penn while the Hawks have been off since Monday. Also, since they are the more veteran team, they will have an advantage if this game is tight late and they will pull away. However, I am expecting a rather comfortable win here as this is an important Big 5 game in Philly. Last season the Hawks won this meeting by 5 and it took OT. However, this season St Joe's looks stronger than last year while Penn is going to have some growing pains early on working new guys in. That has not showed yet because they faced opponents that were overmatched but it will show up now against a tough Hawks team. 10* ST JOE'S (-)

NHL Thursday 10* Top Play Edmonton Oilers Puck Line -1.5 +140 @ San Jose Sharks @ 10:37 ET - Putting goalie Jack Campbell on waivers was a sign that Edmonton knows it is put up or shut up time. The Oilers have had a very rough start to the season but truly the Sharks have been much worse. San Jose just got their first win of the season (finally) but they were truly out played by the Flyers in that game and so it is not like everything is now fine with this Sharks team. They have a lot of issues and remember they allowed 10 goals in each of their two most recent losses. San Jose started the season with 11 straight losses and the win over Philadelphia was a bit fortunate, to say the least. That said, the Oilers come in very hungry for a win and demanding a win and they will give their best effort of the season here. They are huge money line favorites on the road for a reason and the value here is with the puck line. By laying the 1.5 goals we get a reasonable line on a road team set to dominate in this one! 10* EDMONTON -1.5 -140

NHL Thursday 10* Top Play Dallas Stars -1.5 +115 @ Columbus Blue Jackets @ 7:37 ET - The Stars off B2B losses but faced two very tough teams. Now they take on a much weaker foe and considering Dallas is not in a good mood here, I look for them to crush Columbus in this one. They already beat the Blue Jackets in Dallas earlier this season 5-3 and did have a late 5-2 lead in that game. Columbus has lost 6 of 7 overall and all 3 of their regulation losses at home have been by a multiple-goal margin. Lay the puck line here for a solid plus money return in what should be a road rout. 10* Dallas -1.5 +115

CFB Thursday 10* Top Play UL Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns (-) vs Southern Miss Golden Eagles @ 7:30 ET - This line is currently 9.5 or 10 as of early game day morning but don't hesitate to lay the big points here! ULL is off a loss and Southern Miss is off a win and this is a great set up. The Golden Eagles just beat an FBS school for the very first time this season. Southern Miss had opened up the season with a win over an FCS school but this was followed by going 0-7 SU against FBS schools prior to last week's surprising win. The Golden Eagles are just not a very good football team and now they are on the road facing a Ragin' Cajuns team that still needs one more win for bowl eligibility. Not only that, ULL has a tough trip to Troy on deck so they know they want to be sure and lock things up this week and not leave things up to chance for when they face UL Monroe in their regular season finale. ULL also has plenty of motivation here as they lost last season's match-up at Southern Miss despite having a yardage edge of 100 as they were done in by turnovers. Louisiana is now in the 2nd year under coach Desormeaux and I expect continued improvement through the end of the season as the Ragin' Cajuns had gone 34-5 the last 3 seasons before last year's disappointing campaign. Look for a 7-5 regular season finish after last year's 6-7 (including bowl loss). Here UL - Lafayette bounces back off a loss and hammers a Southern Miss team that is 2-11 ATS in their last 13 road games. The Golden Eagles most recent weekday road game saw them lose 55 to 3 at South Alabama! Southern Mississippi has allowed 53 points per game on the road this season! Louisiana just beat that same S. Ala team 33-20 a few weeks ago as a double digit dog. This is a great situation for the home favorite as you can see and, though I am not normally fond of laying big numbers, the situational value here speaks for itself! 10* UL Lafayette (-)

Wednesday NBA 10* Top Philadelphia 76ers + vs Boston Celtics @ 7:10 ET - I know White is expected back for the Celtics tonight but he was away on paternity leave so how effective will he be here? Could he be distracted? Boston has a great team of course and they have owned the Sixers in recent seasons but there is something different about this Philly team this season and the chemistry they have as they have rallied around the entire Harden situation and are happy he is now with the Clippers. As a home dog, this is is a great spot to grab a team that has rattled off 5 straight wins and remember that Boston is still working some guys into their rotation early this season. As evidenced by the loss at Minnesota, this is still a process for the Celtics. The 76ers get revenge here for last spring's playoff ouster at the hands of their long-time rivals. This is a big game and it sure looks like the Sixers are finally ready to show up and knock off the C's. Grab the points with home dog here. Currently the dominant line is +2 but there is some +2.5 out there as of mid-morning gameday. 10* PHILADELPHIA +

Rotation #306531: CBB Wednesday 10* Top Play Bucknell Bison + @ Pennsylvania Quakers @ 7 ET - The Quakers are off a big win but faced a completely overmatched opponent. They also have a Philly Big 5 match-up on deck with facing St Joe's on Friday. That said, even if Penn gets up big here they might start resting guys with a bigger game on deck Friday! However, don't be surprised if Bucknell gives them a lot of trouble and keeps this one in single digits throughout. The Quakers have a lot of new faces and are lacking in guys with collegiate experience. The Bison lost some guys from last season's team but still returned a good core group of guys from last season. Certainly the Quakers are the stronger team from the Ivy League as the Bison are in the Patriot League. However, this is an intriguing match-up because Bucknell got into foul trouble against Delaware and that led to a blowout loss but I like the hustle and effort I saw from the Bison in that one and this rather short road trip down to the Philly area will do them some good after the ugly home loss in their season opener. The late morning line is in the 13.5 to 14 point range and is offering great big dog value. 10* BUCKNELL +

CFB Tuesday 10* Top Play Western Michigan (-) vs Central Michigan @ 7 ET - I love this spot because the line at -3 suggests these teams would be equal on a neutral field. That is what the average bettor sees and the fact is Central Michigan is 5-4 and Western Michigan is 3-6 so how are these teams equal? Major value on the Chippewas here, right? Actually I love this play on the Broncos here and keep in mind that Western Michigan is favored by 3 even though this series has been dominated by the road team in recent years. That also says something here because the odds makers are sharp and they are inviting Chippewas money here. My money is on the same side as the books and, that is, it is on the Broncos here! One final comment before my biggest key here is that this is a big game for each team because it is a rivalry and because each team already beat Eastern Michigan. So the winner of this one wins the "Victory Cannon" for this year in the battle among these trio of MAC teams from Michigan. This game also carries extra importance for the Broncos because they need 3 more wins for bowl eligibility. A bowl may seem out of the question when you are sitting at 3-6 on the campaign but therein lies the biggest key of all here. The Broncos have faced a very tough schedule so far and that is why their record is so bad. They are much better than their record shows. Their 3 MAC losses were to Ohio U, Miami (OH) and Toledo. Those 3 teams are a combined 21-6 this season and are considered the best teams in the MAC. As for Central Michigan, they do not have to face Miami (OH) and their final two games of the season are against Ohio U and Toledo! The point is the Chips have not been battle tested in the MAC like the Broncos have so far this season! Also, the 3 MAC wins that Central Michigan has are against teams with a combined 10-17 season. I respect the Chips and they are well-coached and have a solid QB but the Broncos are a lot better than most realize and that will show up in a big way tonight. 10* WESTERN MICHGAN (-)

CBB Tuesday 10* Top Play Drexel Dragons (-) @ La Salle Explorers @ 6:30 ET - The Big 5 or the City 6? Well it is still called the Big 5 in Philly but now Drexel has been added to the mix along with La Salle and Temple and St Joseph's and Penn and, of course Villanova. All these Philly schools battle it out every year for superiority and, trust me, it means something to these teams. This year there will even be a new tournament that takes place in early December involving the Big 5 schools which, again, are now 6 with Drexel added. That said, what a great time for the Dragons to be added. This team continues to get stronger and they look great heading into this season with most of the core group, nearly everyone returning from last season. They will be playing extremely hard in this one because of the first Philly 5 aspect of it but also because of their fallen teammate who passed away in August. You are going to see an incredible effort here from a gritty and hard-working team that is a cohesive group and well-coached and is part of a program that is continuing to grow. The Dragons are going to make some noise this season. As for La Salle, their coach Fran Dunphy is a legend in these parts and the 75 year old will have his team playing better as the season goes on but the Explorers lost too much to be a solid team right out of the gate. Look for some early struggles for LaSalle this season but look for the Dragons to be ready to rock from the opening tip here. We have to lay about 2.5 points here but I truly expect a dominating win for the team that returns a lot more of its core group than its opponent in this one. 10* DREXEL (-)

NBA Monday 10* Top Play Philadelphia 76ers (-) vs Washington Wizards @ 7:10 ET - This line is right around an 11 as of early gameday morning and I am not a huge fan of laying big points in the NBA but this 76ers team is rolling right now and has excellent team chemistry now that Harden is gone. Also, in that trade the Sixers picked up a few players and tonight Batum will make his debut while Covington already is back and contributed in the win over the Suns. Keep in mind Covington is a former Sixer that had some big seasons and he is happy to be back here. He and Batum will be role players that help this team with depth. Speaking of depth, we are only 5 games into the season but this is still a pretty amazing feat. The Sixers have 4 guys (Embiid, Maxey, Oubre, Harris) right now averaging at least 20 points per game! How amazing is that? Glad you asked! This is an NBA record. In NBA history there has never been a team with 4 guys still averaging 20+ points per game by the time they are 5 games into a new season. This is just not normal but Philly has a new free-flowing offense and everyone is contributing and they even got to rest Embiid for the entire 4th quarter against the Suns in that 12 point win. Speaking of big wins, the Sixers 4 wins have come by an average of 15.5 ppg. The 76ers have won 4 straight after a 1-point loss at Milwaukee to open the season. The Wizards 4 losses have come by an average of 14.5 ppg. I know the Sixers have the Celtics on deck but that game is not until Wednesday and Philly is enjoying a long homestand and that game is at home too. They will be ready to stay hot at home and dominate this Wizards team that just does not have the depth to keep up with Philly for 4 quarters. The Sixers pull away as this game goes on. 10* PHILADELPHIA (-)

Rotation #305014: College Hoops: Monday 10* Top Play St Joe's Hawks (-) vs Lafayette Leopards @ 7 ET - The Leopards have a new coach and they also lost 3 of the 6 guys that had the most minutes on the floor when these guys met last season and the Leopards rallied after being down double digits at the half. In that game Lafayette was down by 10 at the half but ended up making a game of it in the 63-59 loss. That will not happen again this season as St Joe's is absolutely stacked this season. They return 3 strong backcourt players in Reynolds, Greer and Brown. They also bring back a 7-footer in Fleming and also brought in another one in Essandoko. The latter has already been fantastic both offensively and defensively in preseason action. He is ready and the Hawks will make a statement here. They are deep so they can stay up big througout. They are healthy and they do not want a scare like they had last season so they will keep the pedal to the metal in this one. St Joe's has a coach here for his 5th year and he went from 11 wins two years ago to 16 wins last season and this looks like his best team yet. The Leopards have a new coach and are in a bit of a rebuild now and they are from the weaker Patriot League while the Hawks reside in the tough Atlantic Ten. Lafayette also has a big road trip out west with UCLA and Pepperdine up next. St Joseph's is home for the first two weeks of the season and I see them starting out strong and blowing the Leopards away in this one. The line at 14, as of early game day morning, is absolutely a bargain here. 10* ST JOE'S (-)

NFL Sunday 10* Top Play Philadelphia Eagles (-) vs Dallas Cowboys @ 4:25 ET - First off, the Eagles are a 3 point favorite here at home and this is a reasonable line considering many people look at the Eagles and Cowboys as roughly equal. However, there always tends to be some additional market love for the Cowboys and that seems to be the case again here as one could easily argue that this line should be higher. Philadelphia is 7-1 this season and that includes blowing out Miami. The Cowboys really do not have a signature win and they are in the same situation here that has seen them get hammered twice already this season. That is, Dallas is off a big home win and now on the road. So far this season they got hammered by the Cardinals and 49ers when in this situation. By the way, Eagles are in a great situation here with a bye on deck and, of course, will be fully prepared to go all out with a week off up ahead! Philly is 7-0 ATS the last 7 times when a bye on deck. Another perfect trend here is that Philadelphia is 8-0 ATS when they are at home with revenge and facing a team that is off a SU win. Logically this makes sense and you can use this situation as a perfect example. Cowboys played almost the perfect game in knocking off Rams (and knocking QB Stafford out of game) last week but now go on the road and face a revenge-minded opponent. The Eagles were 13-1 last season when they then went on the road and lost at Dallas. This will be payback time for that loss and Philly gets the cover here as well to improve on both those 100% perfect trends! The Eagles are so strong against the run and it will force Prescott to try and beat them through the air and he so often struggles in the big games and is on the road for this one as well. Eagles could create problems for him once again here. The recent series between these teams has been dominated by the home team and that continues here. 10* PHILADELPHIA

NFL Sunday 10* Top Play LA Rams (+) @ Green Bay Packers @ 1 ET - The Rams are on the road and just got hammered 43-20 last week at Dallas so they have no chance here, right? Actually Los Angeles, under head coach Sean McVay, has gone 7-0 ATS when they are on the road and coming off a game in which they allowed more than 35 points. An ugly loss like that is an attention getter! Yes, I know Stafford got hurt last week and likely will not play here. However, Rypien has some NFL experience and, as you guys know, there is nothing too easy in the sports wagering world. Many will be looking and thinking that the Rams are off an ugly loss and the Packers are at home and laying 3.5 points and it just looks too easy, right? How I look at this is in contrarian fashion but certainly not without reason. Rypien has had a chance to prepare all week with the first team guys and he'll be ready and, overall, the Rams are the better team. I know that LA is struggling this season but so too is Green Bay. The Packers have gone just 1-5 SU the last 6 games and the only win was by 1 point! The Packers have failed to cover 5 straight games and that 0-5 ATS run is ready for 0-6 here plus I see the Rams taking their aforementioned situational trend here to a perfect 8-0 ATS the last 8. Grab the points (currently 3.5). 10* LA Rams + points

Saturday NBA Utah Jazz +8.5 @ Minnesota Timberwolves @ 8:10 ET - Minnesota off a huge win they were waiting all summer for as they just beat the Nuggets. Not only is Denver the defending NBA champs and not only were they off to a hot start again this season, the Nuggets knocked the Wolves out of the playoffs last season. So that was a huge revenge win for the T-wolves and now they face a letdown spot here. The Jazz will not be in a good mood either as they had won their last 2 home games and now just lost most recent game by only a bucket. I am not saying they get the outright win here but they are motivated and will be hungry tonight and they stay within this inflated team that could get caught a bit flat-footed off the big win over the Nuggets. UTAH +8.5

CFB Saturday Penn State Nittany Lions (-) @ Maryland Terrapins @ 3:30 ET - The current line on this one is as low as 8.5 as of early game day morning. I like the Nittany Lions to roll here. You might remember we took the over in their game last week because they were off the hard fought loss to the Buckeyes the week before. Sure enough the defense was worn out and they had a bad game against Indiana as I predicted. You can bet (literally) that they are going to now "bring it" in this tune-up game at Maryland before the huge game hosting Michigan next week. Had PSU beaten Ohio State and if they, therefore, were coming into this game undefeated on the season then I might feel differently about this spot. However, coming off a loss to the Buckeyes followed by a lackluster defense effort against the Hoosiers, I am sure the Nittany Lions are going to bring their A Game in this one. That is bad news for a Terrapins team that has lost 3 straight games both SU and ATS! By the way, the Nittany Lions are on a perfect 6-0 ATS run when they are a road favorite of more than 6 points against a team that is coming off B2B SU/ATS losses. This trend makes perfect sense because if PSU is favored big but on the road it means they are facing a team they are expect to dominate. Couple that with the fact that the team is off B2B poor performances and that means that struggling home team likely is slumping! I like playing trends that make good sense and Maryland was actually about a 2 TD favorite in each of those last two games. Look for the trend to reach a perfect 7-0! PENN STATE (-)

CFL Saturday Hamilton Tiger-Cats +4.5 @ Montreal Alouettes @ 3 ET - Something funny with this line as Montreal is at home with the better record and on a long winning streak versus Hamilton yet the line opened up at just -3 which is the normal shading toward a home team. So these teams are equal in the eyes of the betting market? No, and that is why we step in and take advantage as now this line is a high as a 4.5 and the Ti-Cats, including a preseason loss, have actually lost 7 straight games to the Alouettes. The final two meetings in the regular season, the post-season game, then a preseason game this year, then all 3 regular season meetings this year. Don't let the line fool you here as it is priced this way for a reason and I sense an upset as the Tiger-Cats get their revenge in Montreal but we will grab the points as added insurance. 10* HAMILTON +4.5

CFB Saturday Utah Utes (-) vs Arizona State Devils @ 2 ET - This line is around 10.5 or 11 as of early gameday morning. I know that might seem like a bit much but the Utes hammered ASU last season. They are so strong in the trenches, the Utes are. Utah also punches a team in the mouth. They are physical and tough and this is particularly true when they are angry. This is a perfect set up for a blowout home win. The Utes are off a bad loss to Oregon but that Ducks team is, as usual, super strong this season. That actually ties into this play because everyone talks about the Sun Devils defense but I am not 100% sold on them. The reason is because, other than Washington, have they really played ultra strong teams with ultra potent offenses? Then the Oregon factor is that ASU caught the Huskies off their upset win over the Ducks! That remains the only loss for the Ducks this season. So Arizona State only lost 15 to 7 to Washington but they caught them off the huge upset win! The Sun Devils are facing a different animal this time around as they catch the Utes off the Ducks but, for Utah, it was an embarrassing home loss! That said, this is going to be a blowout win for the road team. I know their numbers on offense are not that great but neither are the numbers of the Sun Devils on that side of the ball. The difference in this game will be that we have the much more physical team and and the stronger defense. This will allow the Utes to pull away as this game goes on! Bryson Barnes was certainly respectable through the air and on the ground in the two games prior to struggling against the Ducks. He will bounce right back with a strong game at QB here against an over-rated Sun Devils defense. This is the Utes final home game of the season other than Thanksgiving weekend so they are sure to make this one count after getting blown out at home last week. UTAH (-)

CFB Friday Colorado State Rams + @ Wyoming Cowboys @ 8 ET - This line is nearly a TD as there are books as high as a 6.5 as of early gameday morning. The fact is that the Cowboys offensive struggles are a concern in a spot like this. The defense of Wyoming is not as much of a strength as it has been in recent seasons. As for the offense, they just do have a lot of firepower. Colorado State is by no means a stronger team than Wyoming but I would call them roughly equal. So then when you factor in that this is a rivalry game plus a double revenge spot for the Rams, the points become very attractive in this spot. Remember the other rivalry game for Colorado State against Colorado earlier this season? The Rams should have won that game outright and certainly gave the Buffaloes all they could handle in that eventual OT loss. This is going to be another game where the Rams have a great shot at the outright upset. Wyoming is 5-3 SU this season but only one win was by a double digit margin and the Cowboys enter this game off B2B losses. As for Colorado State, they had won 3 of 5 games before the loss at Air Force last week and in that 3-2 SU run one of the losses was by just 2 points. The Rams have a solid passing attack and the weather (by Laramie, WY standards) truly will not be too bad for this one. An evening game, the wind will start to lay down and is not expected to be too intense and there is no precipitation expected and temperatures in the 40s. Nice football weather really and the Rams passing attack will be the difference in this one. COLORADO STATE +

NFL Thursday 10* Top Play Tennessee Titans + @ Pittsburgh Steelers @ 8:15 ET - The Steelers are the worst 4-3 NFL team to be seen in quite some time. The odds makers know it too. That is why Pittsburgh is HOSTING a Titans team here that is 0-3 on the road this season yet the Steelers are hardly favored here. The current line is 3 points as of early Thursday morning and I am happy to be getting the full field goal here with a team I expect to win outright. It is a miracle that Pittsburgh has a winning record this season as they are one of the worst teams in the NFL statistically on BOTH sides of the ball. Granted the Titans are not a whole lot better but they are are going to ride the positive momentum of a strong performance from QB Will Levis last week while Steelers QB Mitch Trubisky certainly did not look impressive last week. Tennessee has some momentum coming off a win and remember too that one of their road losses was by just a single point. The Steelers do not have a single win by more than a TD this season and, again, they have been so fortunate in those games and yet still barely won. Statistically poor but showing the betting markets a team that was 4-2 entering last week facing a team that was 2-4 entering last week and plus they are at home so, naturally, the Steelers will be getting the attention here. I am grabbing the underdog Titans and fading a Pittsburgh team that has 3 losses by an average margin of 19 points and their wins have been by an average margin of 6 points. Over-rated Steelers as the stats YTD show. 10* TENNESSEE +

CFB Thursday 10* Top Play South Alabama Jaguars + @ Troy Trojans @ 7:30 ET - There are bigger match-ups tonight in Big 12 and ACC so why is my only wager in the SunBelt tonight? Because we go for the best spots not the biggest conferences or biggest games. That said, I love this spot because this is a revenge spot for the Jaguars and they are coming off a loss in this battle last season. These are two of the top teams in this conference but South Alabama does have a pair of conference losses already and is not happy about that and they just lost by double digits at home in a game in which they were favored by double digits! That is an attention-getter to say the least and the angry Jags will be ready here. Conversely, Troy is off a big win over Texas State and I like the hungry revenge-minded team that is coming off a loss here. Also, I know you can't just point to one game comparison for an example but one thing absolutely worth noting here is both these SBC foes faced a Big 12 team this season and the Trojans got hammered 42-13 at Kansas State while the Jaguars won 33-7 at Oklahoma State. There is a reason the home team with the better record is hardly favored here. This line is in the 4 or 4.5 range as of early gameday morning and the play here is the underdog. 10* SOUTH ALABAMA +

CFB Wednesday 10* Top Play Ball State Cardinals +5.5 @ Bowling Green Falcons @ 7 ET - We have solid underdog value here. Yes the Falcons have the better record this season but the Cardinals are off B2B ATS covers including a SU win in most recent game. That was an outright win as an underdog and followed a solid 13 to 6 loss to Toledo. The Rockets are by the far the best team in the MAC and Ball State lost to them by only 7 points in a game in which they were a 17 point dog. So the Cardinals are playing some of their best football of the season right now. The Falcons have the better record this season but they have also lost a couple of MAC games by a combined 65 to 7 score and they have not even faced Toledo yet. The Cardinals can compete here and might even spring the outright upset. Their confidence is growing and, though BG is off a big win it came against a very bad Akron team. Upset alert here. 10* BALL STATE +5.5

NBA Tuesday 10* Top Play Orlando Magic (+) @ Los Angeles Clippers @ 10:40 ET - The Magic off a tough loss to the Lakers last night but now play on the same floor tonight. Orlando had 95 shots from the field compared to just 79 for LA but they were done in by poor shooting. They will be better here tonight and all I can say about the Clippers getting Harden from the Sixers is two words: good luck! I think he will be more of a problem than a solution here in LA plus the Clips lost some bench minutes in the process with some of those guys now on the way to Philly in the trade. So tonight may not be the Clippers best effort. I also like the fact they are off a 40 point win while the Magic are off a tight loss. Look for Orlando to be very hungry team and this is one of those teams that is young but they tend to work hard at each end of the floor and I believe they will hang around in this one and eventually might even pull of the upset win late. After all, there is some extra hunger when you know you should have beat a team but you did not. That is the case here with the Magic after the tight loss to the Lakers. I am sure they will make up for that here. 10* ORLANDO (+) 

CFB Tuesday 10* Top Play Central Michigan (+) vs Northern Illinois Huskies @ 7 ET - This line is around 5.5 points and the home dog is the play here. Central Michigan is off an outright loss as a favorite. Now they are hosting a Huskies team that is 1-6 ATS the last 7 times they have faced a conference opponent that is off an upset loss as a favorite. I am sure the Chippewas are going to bring a strong effort here and note that Northern Illinois is 1-8 ATS in the last 9 meetings with Central Michigan. I remember two years ago the Huskies had a strong season but seemed to have the most fortunate season ever in terms of winning close games. Sure enough last season they went 3-9. This season they started the year 1-4 but now suddenly have won 3 straight games. However, the 3 wins included a blowout win over Akron and the Zips are 0-7 SU this season against FBS schools as their only win on the year was against an FCS team. Also, the other win for UNI in this 3-game win streak is they beat Ohio U but in that one they had a 3-0 turnover advantage and actually the Bobcats had more first downs than the Huskies in the 23-13 Ohio U defeat. Then the other win for Northern Illinois was over Eastern Michigan 10 days ago but again they benefited from a 2-0 turnover advantage! The Huskies trailed the Eagles by 10 points entering the 4th quarter of that one and they were a double digit favorite in that game! Simply put, based on all these above factors there is no justification for UNI being this big of a favorite on the road and the Chippewas lost the most recent meeting as a host here after winning 3 straight at home against them. This will be payback for the Chips and, as tough as their season has been this year, look at their home performances. They are a perfect 3-0 at home. Granted the competition in those 3 games was weak but it gives them some confidence and they can give the Huskies all they can handle here and possibly even win the game outright. Those two trends noted above are a combined 14-2 ATS in favor of the home dog here and I like those odds! 10* CENTRAL MICHIGAN (+)

NFL Monday 10* Top Play Detroit Lions (-) vs Las Vegas Raiders @ 8:15 ET - I know this line is currently a 7.5 as of early gameday morning but I feel we have the solid line value here with the home favorite. Both teams off ugly losses but the Lions have looked like the better team this season and have some solid wins to show for it and have a better chance of bouncing back. If you look at Las Vegas, their 3 wins have been over 3 bad teams that are now a combined 7-16 on the season! They are not going to be a Lions team that was 5-1 on the season prior to last week's embarrassing loss. In terms of technical support for this play, the Raiders under head coach Josh McDaniels have gone 1-7 ATS in road games against non-divisional opponents. That includes losing to the Bills and Bears this season by a combined score of 68 to 22. I do not think this one will be that much of a blowout but I do feel strongly that the Lions will bounce back at home and win this by double digits. They are the better overall team on both sides of the ball. Also, in terms of technical support, the Lions are 7-1 ATS the last 8 times they were off an ATS loss by a double digit margin. Additionally, Detroit is a fantastic 7-0 ATS when they are at home off a game in which they allowed more than 35 points! This is the perfect spot to test that perfect trend as the Lions can take advantage of home field and facing a weak Raiders team and turn this into a blowout win as the aforementioned trend reaches 8 straight winners ATS! 10* DETROIT (-)

NBA Monday 10* Top Play Oklahoma City Thunder -5.5 or -6 vs Detroit Pistons @ 8:10 ET - The Thunder just got completely embarrassed at home yesterday and that was their home opener. However, OKC had a really tough shooting night while the Nuggets were red hot from the field. Oklahoma City is sure to bounce back tonight. Remember that the Thunder are a young and up-and-coming team and are expected to do well this season. The Pistons are projected to be one of the worst teams in the league. I know Detroit is 2-1 but they beat some teams also projected to not do well this season. This is going to be the Pistons toughest test yet as they face an angry Thunder team ready to immediately respond at home. Denver shot 60% last night and 41% from three point land while OKC shot just 41% from the field and 19% from beyond the arc in an ugly game. It was a sell-out game at home against the defending champs and a home opener no-less and the Thunder got embarrassed. That is the kind of game a decent team will respond to. OKC is more than decent. They are talented and can make a move up the standings this season. They had won both games before the loss to the Champs. 10* OKLAHOMA CITY -5.5 or -6 

NFL Sunday 10* Top Play Los Angeles Chargers (-) vs Chicago Bears @ 8:20 ET - The Bears just got their 2nd win of the season after getting 3 wins last season. The significance of this is that these are the only 5 wins that Chicago has under head coach Matt Eberflus and they have gone 0-4 ATS so far when coming off a win under Eberflus. In fact, dating back to the season before he got here, fading the Bears when they are off a SU win is now a 5-0 / 100% PERFECT ATS the last 5. When the casual observer looks at this one they will wonder how a 2-win Chargers team can be laying 8 or 8.5 points against a 2-win Bears team! Well, the fact is the line could fool some folks for sure but not us! LA should roll here. The Bears now have a rookie QB from a Division II school making his first ever road start and this is after a "game management" win he notched over a bad Raiders defense last week. Now I know the Chargers defense has struggled too but they have faced quite a tough schedule so far and yet they have been quite solid against the run. That said, what happens if the Bears can't run well and are forced to rely on their rookie QB to win this game? Not much is my prediction and the strength of this Chargers team is its passing attack and the Bears weakness on D is the pass defense. This is a great set up for the home team to dominate especially with them coming off B2B SU losses. The Bears have suddenly won 2 of 3 but this is not a very good football team. Conversely, many had the Chargers pegged to challenge the Chiefs in the AFC West this season. I don't think that assessment was entirely wrong either but sometimes it takes awhile for the cream to rise to the top. Look for the aforementioned Bears "play against" angle to move to a PERFECT 6-0 ATS L6 as the home team rolls to a double digit win. 10* LA CHARGERS (-)

NFL Sunday 10* Top Play Philadelphia Eagles (-) @ Washington Commanders @ 1 ET - This line is currently a -7 as of early game day morning. Look for the Eagles to roll by much more than just a TD in this one. Philadelphia allowed Washington to score late and take them to OT in the most recent meeting. They will not make the same mistake here. The Eagles were also 3-0 SU and ATS this season in road games before the turnover-filled ugly loss in New York when they fell short against the Jets. All of the above insures proper focus from Philly here even though they do have a big home game versus the rival Cowboys on deck. The Eagles are catching the Commanders at the right time to inflict a blowout defeat upon Washington. The Commanders are struggling badly and reeling after the 14-7 loss to the division rival Giants. New York was just 1-5 on the season and self-doubt is now setting in on this Commanders team that has lost 4 of 5 including their last two home games by a combined score of 77 to 23. When Washington started this season 2-0 it was truly "smoke and mirrors" and reality is setting in. If you look at the stats of these two teams, the Eagles are one of the best in the league on both sides of the ball while Washington is one of the worst on both sides of the ball. It is truly a minor miracle that the Commanders have managed 3 wins this season and they are set up to get hammered here by a focused Philly team that will want to make sure there is no OT possible in this rematch! 10* PHILADELPHIA (-)

NBA Saturday 10* Top Play Philadelphia 76ers -3.5 @ Toronto Raptors @ 7:40 ET - It is one thing to lose in OT but it is another thing to lose that game when you led by 17 points in the 4th quarter with under 5 minutes to go! Indeed, the loss for the Raptors last night at Chicago is one that falls into the gut-wrenching category and those are the toughest to bounce back from. Toronto was still up by 7 with under a minute and a half to go in regulation. Then, in OT, the Raptors were up by 4 with about 30 seconds to go! The Bulls then got a layup and later a 3-pointer with 2 seconds left and got the 1-point win. Look for Toronto to struggle to bounce back from this and they are facing a rested 76ers team that came up just 1 point short at Milwaukee in the first game. The Bucks were a tougher opponent for Philly than either of the opponents Toronto has faced so far this season. This further adds to the value here. Though I am not nuts about laying points in the NBA this is a manageable number given the situation and I expect the Sixers to continue to work hard under a new head coach and plus they are motivated by the Harden situation looking to prove they can do all the need to without him. 10* PHILADELPHIA -3.5

CFB Saturday 10* Top Play BYU Cougars +20.5 @ Texas Longhorns @ 3:30 ET - The Cougars could surprise here. UT will be going with a back-up quarterback here because of the Ewers injury. I know the Horns have talented options at the back-up position but that does not mean these guys are going to come in and light things up at the Division 1 CFB level. There is a lack of experience for these guys. At the same time, everyone is saying the Horns can run all over BYU here due to some of the bad rushing defense numbers that the Cougars have. But if you can worry a little less about a team's passing attack and you can focus more on stopping the run, guess what happens usually? I am not saying that the Longhorns will not have success moving the ball here but I am going to challenge them to win this game by 3 touchdowns! I just do not see that happening. BYU is a respectable program and they showed last week again that this team can generate turnovers. They also have a defensive-minded head coach. This actually could be a tricky match-up for Texas as BYU has the experience edge at QB in this one and I feel the Cougars could hang around for a long time in this game just like we saw what Wyoming did in Austin earlier this season. The Longhorns have some big wins this season but they also have allowed an average of 29 points per game the past two games. The defense has regressed some and the offense has taken a brief hit with the Ewers injury and BYU has only truly been blown out in one game this season and they tend to be a consistently solid and competitive team. They will be in this one all the way the way I see it. 10* BYU +20.5

NBA Friday 10* Top Play Sacramento Kings -2.5 vs  Golden State Warriors @ 10:10 ET - The Warriors were one of the worst road teams in the NBA last season. Granted this is not much of a road trip for them but facts are facts. Golden State has really struggled to win in other team's buildings. They did not shoot well at all versus Phoenix from 3-point land in the season opener and that was at home. Now they are in an enemy's building and it is an enemy that does not like them at all and this nearby rival is likely to get a solid home win here as the Warriors will again be without Draymond Green for this one. This impacts their defense and rebounding and the Kings off a big win in their season opener and rolling with confidence entering this one. 10* SACRAMENTO -2.5

CFL Friday 10* Top Play Calgary Stampeders +3 vs Winnipeg Blue Bombers @ 9 ET - The playoff positioning is set already. This is a rather meaningless game for each team. But it carries more weight with the home team that has a little more to prove. The Stampeders are hungrier. Winnipeg already has a been there, done that mentality and this is purely a tune-up game for the Blue Bombers. The Stamps, on the other hand, will be a little more motivated here and will want to defend their home turf and go into the post-season off a win. So the home team and as an underdog too makes this a a great value. 10* CALGARY +3

CFB Friday Charlotte 49ers (+) vs Florida Atlantic Owls @ 7:30 ET - The 49ers get a little boost of confidence with the win at East Carolina. It was not easy and the Charlotte offense has not been impressive but their defense sure has. That makes the Niners a defensive-minded home dog and I like to grab teams like this when they are getting a field goal or more. In this case the dominant line is 3.5 but there is some 4 out there as well as of about 9 hours before kickoff. Charlotte had one hiccup at SMU when you look at their last 4 games but in the other 3 they allowed an average of only 14 points per game and that included facing an SEC foe when they battle Florida. FAU just got blasted by UTSA and the Owls have gone just 2-4 SU against FBS schools this season. One of those wins for Florida Atlantic was by just 3 points. Statistically FAU has the better offense even though the Owls are not great on that side of the ball. However, defensively it is the 49ers with the edge especially in the yardage allowed category. Also, FAU has blown out Charlotte each of the past two seasons and yet look at the very small number posted on this game! Do not let the small line fool you. Grab the points with the home dog as they get their revenge here. CHARLOTTE (+)

NFL Thursday 10* Top Play Buffalo Bills (-) vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers @ 8:15 ET - The Bills have underachieved so far this season but statistically remain a strong team on both sides of the ball. They have frequently been done in by turnovers and that has held them back. Now they are at home and coming off a loss and are set up well for a big bounce back. I normally do not like to lay big points but this Bucs team is not very good. They have overachieved so far this season as shown by their statistics so far on both sides of the ball. Also, all their wins have come against bad teams. They will get exposed here. Also, they are off a heart-breaking divisional loss to Atlanta. Now they are facing a non-divisional foe on Thursday night. That is a situation that has not gone well for them as, when facing a team from outside the NFC South in a Thursday game, the Buccaneers have gone 0-6 ATS. Look for that trend to reach 7 in a row here. The Bills are angry off a loss and they have won both games this season when they were off a loss. I know one of those was a non-cover but the other 3 wins that Buffalo has this season have all come by a margin of 24 or more more points! I would not be surprised to see a similar result here but definitely can sense that, at the very least, Bills do win this by a double digit margin. 10* BUFFALO (-)

CFB Thursday 10* Top Play Syracuse Orange (+) @ Virginia Tech @ 7:30 ET - Most will back the Hokies here. After all, they are at home and laying only 3 points as of gameday morning. How can this line be set like this when the Orange have lost 3 straight and the Hokies are 2-1 in ACC play plus at home for this game? Exactly! Don't let this line fool you. The Orange have played a murderer's row of competition in their ACC action that preceded their bye week. They will be ready to bounce back here off their bye week while I expect Virginia Tech could come into this one overconfident. The Hokies have won 2 of last 3 games and see the Orange coming into Blacksburg with an 0-3 ACC record! We have seen this movie before! In other words, the overconfident home team is set up well to get upset here and we'll grab the points just in case but Syracuse is coming into this one highly motivated and angry off the recent results and they will get back on track. Note that Virginia Tech is 0-5 ATS as a weekday favorite the last 5 times and this looks like the ideal spot for that streak to NOT be broken and reach 6 in a row. The Hokies have struggled in this situation. Also, taking a look at recent action overall, the road team is already 4-0 SU/ATS in this week's CFB action going 2-0 Tue and 2-0 Wed and I would not be surprised to see that trend continue Thu, at least in this ACC match-up. So often the home point spread adjustment is more of an overall factor and all it actually does is give us even more value with road teams. I know I fell short in my assessments Tue and Wed after another big Saturday but look for the CFB to get right back to winning as the road team value trend continues here given the situation and the factors noted above about this match-up. 10* SYRACUSE +

NBA Thursday 10* Top Play Philadelphia 76ers (+) @ Milwaukee Bucks @ 7:30 ET - This line is as high as a 6.5 as of about 9 hours before tipoff. I feel we have excellent underdog line value here. All you hear about the Sixers these days is the Harden situation. You here very little about the fact this team has plenty of other talent plus has added some key personnel pieces that fit well into the other big key here that few are talking about. Nick Nurse is going to end up doing a great job in Philly. He will get more out of these players and these guys, sans Harden, are a hungry group that is a great mix of young talent and veteran leadership. I am not saying they are the best team in the east but they are one of the top ones and in this match-up with the Bucks they have the coaching edge plus we have about a half-dozen points to work with. Couple that with the hungry underdog mentality and the fact that Milwaukee could have some growing pains early this season in terms of Lillard and Giannis looking to figure out how to develop synergy on the floor together - it could be choppy early in Milwaukee. The Sixers have a great shot at the outright upset and when I see a game like this plus am getting a half-dozen points to work with, I am on it! 10* PHILADELPHIA +

NBA Wednesday 10* Top Play Dallas Mavericks -4 @ San Antonio Spurs @ 9:40 ET - Of course there is a ton of hype about the Spurs and their new big man Victor Wembanyama but he is a rookie and will have some growing pains. Additionally, Spurs coach Popovich has had a remarkable career and I have plenty of respect for him but he should have hung it up a few years ago. San Antonio will again struggle this season and not get out of the 20s in win total this season. Conversely, Dallas off  a disappointing campaign but had been flying quite high prior to this and I am expecting a big bounce back year for them. They look positively re-tooled and I like this Mavs team to be very hungry early this season after the disappointment of the way last season ended. That said, covering a small number on the road against a hated division rival set for another down campaign should not be a problem. We lay it here with plenty of confidence and I look for the the Mavericks to pull away as the game goes on. The Spurs may ride some early emotion but that will take them only so far here as reality sets in as the game goes on. 10* DALLAS -4

CFB Wednesday 10* Top Play Sam Houston State Bearkats (-) vs UTEP Miners @ 8 ET - Well I am not too happy this line is up as high as a 3.5 as of early gameday morning. However, the Bearcats are absolutely the play here and should finally get that solid win they have been longing for all season long. Sam Houston is new to FBS action and they also remain the only FBS school in the nation without a SU victory yet this season. So why are the 0-7 Bearkats favored here? Exactly! Do not let the line fool you here. UTEP is a very bad team. Sam Houston has deserved better. Also, the Bearkats have the better overall defense. I know the Kats offense has struggled this season but they have been better statistically in their last 4 games and this will be their breakthrough game. The Miners are struggling and off a 28-7 loss last week. I went against them then with New Mexico State and I will do the same here! You might think UTEP should bounce back off such an ugly low-scoring loss but the trending actually shows otherwise. The Miners are actually just 1-10 ATS the last 11 times they have been a road dog and coming off a game in which they were held to single digits in scoring! Overall, in weekday road games, even though they won in that role at FIU a few weeks ago, UTEP is still just 2-9 ATS last 11 weekday road games. The Bearkats win big in this one and finally break into the win column! 10* SAM HOUSTON STATE (-)

NHL Tuesday 10* Top Play Philadelphia Flyers Puck Line +1.5 -135 @ Vegas Golden Knights @ 11 PM ET - The Flyers are off an OT loss at Dallas and there is no shame in that. The fact is Philly has been a pleasant surprise early this season. I had a feeling coming into the year that having Briere in the front office and Keith Jones in a hockey operations role and another season in the Tortorella system was going to get this Flyers team going. They will not be great this season but the point is they are improving and they are competitive and that is why they are already 3-1-1 on the season and actually at the top of the Metro Division. This team is already starting to believe in itself and they can give Vegas all they can handle here. I am not saying they win outright, though this would not shock me. What I am saying though is this game could ultimately be decided by just a 1-goal margin. Vegas has allowed 3 goals in each of the last 2 wins and they never should have won the game before that either - it was a fortunate SO win for the Golden Knights in which they rallied late. Don't be surprised when this one also goes to the wire. 10* PHILADELPHIA FLYERS +1.5 -135

NBA Tuesday 10* Top Play Phoenix Suns (+) @ Golden State Warriors @ 10 ET - The line is as high as +1.5 on the Suns here but some books even have the Suns as a 1 point favorite in this one as of early gameday morning. Essentially this line is in the pick'em range. This sets up perfectly for me as a contrarian play and I love contrarian plays in the NBA. Last season Golden State was 33-8 at home while the Suns were 17-24 on the road. You think the odds makers are unaware of this home/road dichotomy? Of course not. That said, this line has been set this way with good reason and Phoenix is projected to be the stronger team this season and I am going to ride them right away here in Game 1 of the new season as they get the road win against this over-rated Warriors bunch. Look for the absence of Draymond Green to hurt Golden State as they sure could use his defense in a match-up like this. 10* PHOENIX (+)

CFB Tuesday 10* Top Play Western Kentucky Hilltoppers (+) vs Liberty Flames @ 7:30 ET - Something fishy here with this line. It opened even lower than the current number which, as of early gameday morning, is in the 5.5 range. Love the home dog value here. Liberty is undefeated on the season but they just allowed 35 points last week and have played a very weak schedule. This could be the week the Flames finally lose but, even if the Hilltoppers fall short, I expect them to do enough for the ATS win. The key here is that Western Kentucky is only 4-3 on the season but their overall season stats are impacted by a blowout loss to Ohio State. Note that their other two defeats, including one last week at Jacksonville State, have each come by just a field goal. That said, Western Kentucky is a tougher opponent than one might think from just looking at their record and comparing it to Liberty here. In their most recent weekday home game, the Toppers blew out MTSU by a 31-10 count. That brings their current run to 7-0 ATS in weekday home games! Look for that ATS streak to reach 8 in a row here. 10* WESTERN KENTUCKY (+)

NFL Monday 10* Top Play San Francisco 49ers (-) @ Minnesota Vikings @ 8:15 ET - Generally speaking I like playing strong teams off losses and fading mediocre or bad teams off wins. That said, this one already sets up perfectly with the Niners off their first loss of the season in an upset defeat at Cleveland plus the Vikes off the divisional win over the Bears last week. The big key though that has me pulling the trigger with a top play here is that there also is strong historical ATS data that adds to the strength factor here. In other words, we have a good situation already as we know we have the better team angry off a loss and we are fading a team off a key win that also has, by the way, alternated ATS wins and losses all season long. However, what really strengthens this one is the fact that the Vikings have failed to cover 8 in a row when they are a dog on Monday Night Football. Also, San Francisco has covered 11 times in a row when they are off an outright upset loss as a road favorite and now facing a team that is off a SU win. The 49ers also have covered 6 straight times when they are on the road on Monday night. As the saying goes, good teams win but great teams cover and I like taking a good team when the are in a spot when they should bring their top effort. That usually ends up being one of their games with a great result! In other words, I am happy to test the triple perfect ATS angles here and we'll lay the points which is currently less than 7 at 6.5 in some spots as of early gameday morning! 10* SAN FRANCISCO (-) 

MLB Monday 10* Top Play Philadelphia Phillies -1.5 +115 vs Arizona Diamondbacks @ 5:07 ET - The money line for this one is just a little too high for me from a risk standpoint. I look for the Phillies to close out this series with a win here and will turn to the run line for the better value in this one. Here is the key in regards to this...the Phillies last 9 wins have all come by at least a 2-run margin and that includes all 8 in this post-season. Also, those 9 wins have come by an average margin of 5 runs per game and there is nothing average about that! Certainly I have respect for the Dbacks Kelly but the Phillies got to him for 3 homers in the first meeting in this series and they are so strong here at home. Nola gets the start for Philadelphia here and has been vintage Nola in this post-season. He has held opponents to a .182 batting average and has not allowed any homers in his 18.2 innings in this post-season. The Diamondbacks have not a had one-run loss on the road since early August! So, again, if you like the Phillies to win here at home you can rest a little easier in terms of laying the run line when you consider numbers like this. Arizona's last 16 road losses have all come by a multi-run margin! Hats off to the Dbacks for those wins in Game 3 and Game 4 at home but then losing Game 5 at home completely reversed all that momentum and Philly will be rocking tonight for this one. The Phillies also have the post-season experience edge and appear destined to get back to the World Series. How confident can we be in that assessment? Well the Phillies are now a PERFECT 11-0 in home games against NL teams the past two post-seasons. 10 of those 11 have come by at least a 2-run margin including all 6 in this post-season! Look for this home team multi-run win streak to reach a perfect 7-0 in this post-season right here for the Phillies. 10* PHILADELPHIA -1.5 +115

NFL Sunday 10* Philadelphia Eagles (-) vs Miami Dolphins @ 8:20 ET - This is a great spot for a play on the Eagles at a bargain price. As of early gameday morning the line on this one is -2.5 or -3 and Philly is at home here. Their last 4 games were against teams that all now have reached 3 wins on the season. What does that matter here? Well, the Dolphins have 4 games this season against teams that are now a combined 3-21 SU on the season! That is not a mistype. 4 teams now sitting all at 1-5 SU or worse on the season. Miami has faced two teams with a pulse. They allowed 34 points and 48 points in those 2 games. One was a 2-point win and the other was a 28-point loss. I am not sold on this Miami team just yet. I am sold on grabbing the Eagles off a loss when they are coming off a Super Bowl season and have faced the tougher schedule than their opponent and are at home and laying only a field goal. This is a great value. Philly has the much better defense in this match-up. They also are at home and they are coming off a loss. I do not see them losing two straight in a situation like this and their offense is also statistically better than their point total shows. That said, they are capable of trading scores with this high-powered Dolphins team. However, I do think their defense will get enough stops to slow this game down and not let Miami get the kind of game they want this to be. 10* PHILADELPHIA (-)

NFL Sunday 10* Top Play Los Angeles Rams (-) vs Pittsburgh Steelers @ 4:05 ET - There is much more than a revenge angle to this game but first off it is worth noting the last meeting between these teams ultimately cost the Rams a playoff spot. The coaches were the same and Sean McVay will be out for payback over Mike Tomlin in this one. Prior to last season's surprising disappointment for the Rams after winning the Super Bowl the year before, the Rams had only missed the playoffs one time after McVay's rookie season with the team. The year was 2019 and the Rams lost as a favorite in a game that would have improved them to 6-3 on the season had they won. LA never lost another game they were favored in the rest of the way but ultimately ended the season 9-7 and needing that 10th win for a playoff spot. The Rams ended the 2019 season as the only NFC team with a winning record to NOT make the post-season. Losing that game to the Steelers (you need to win the games you are favored in) ultimately proved to be the difference! The set up entering this one is great because the Steelers, though off a bye week, got an upset win over the Ravens the week before. Los Angeles is a PERFECT 7-0 ATS the last 7 times when they are favored by less than 7 points and facing a team that is off an outright upset winner as an underdog! The Rams are catching the Steelers off a key divisional upset win and the timing is perfect for LA to take that run to 8-0 ATS! I am looking for a blowout home win here and taking advantage of the line value. The Steelers have won games with smoke and mirrors this season. They rank horribly from a yardage perspective both on offense and defense this season! It is truly a miracle that they have a winning record this season. We take advantage with exceptional line value here as the Rams have faced a very tough schedule with games against the NFC best 49ers and Eagles already this season and yet LA has survived to at least be 3-3 so far this season and that is despite a 1-2 record in home games because of having faced Philly and SF here. I feel the Rams are a bit under-rated right now as a result and, also, this Steelers team is absolutely over-rated right now! We take advantage. Lay the points (currently -3 as of early game day morning) with the home team in this one. The Steelers have won the recent meetings between these teams but McVay and Company get revenge for the most recent one right here right now with a dominating win. 10* LOS ANGELES RAMS (-)

CFB Saturday 10* Top Play Utah Utes (+) @ USC Trojans @ 8 ET - Now the Trojans are sure to bounce back, right? After all, they were on a huge roll before getting destroyed by Notre Dame last week. However, there is a key to that hot run they were on! USC played 4 teams that currently have a combined record of 5-20 SU on the season! Surely the Trojans must have faced some tough teams before the Fighting Irish though, right? Nope! They barely hung on to beat Colorado by 7 and the Buffaloes have been proven to be a fraud and have one of the worst defenses in the league and they are very weak in the trenches. The other match-up in the Trojans 6-0 start was a 3-OT win over Arizona and the Wildcats are nothing special this season. So the point is USC had not really been challenged until they faced Notre Dame and we all saw how that went. Now they face a Utah team that is tough in the trenches and is willing to punch teams in the mouth. That is part of the reason the Utes got the wins over Southern Cal last season too. They are a scrappy, hard-nosed, well-coached team and they are catching a full TD in this match-up because QB is the high-profile position everyone pays attention to. Keep in mind, the Utes QB played well last week and we saw the Trojans QB struggle as he finally faced a tougher team and threw 3 interceptions. Based on the line movement in this one, everyone is backing the revenge-minded Trojans and the line is now up to a 7 as of early gameday morning. I love fading the popular choices and will gladly grab the gritty Utes here who just have to play a clean football game without a bunch of turnovers and they could even get the upset here. Either way I certainly like this tough defense at a full +7 and feel the Trojans could be suffering a case of unbeaten letdown this week! 10* UTAH (+)

CFL Saturday 10* Top Play Saskatchewan Roughriders +9.5 vs Toronto Argonauts @ 4 ET - Certainly it has been a rough run for the Roughriders but they need this game to keep their playoff hopes alive and force Calgary to win next week's game. That said, I am not saying they will win this week's game but I am saying Saskatchewan will at least keep this a one score game. This game means nothing for the Argonauts. They have already wrapped up the East division. Sure they want to stay tuned up for the post-season but they also do not want to risk injury here either. I would not be surprised to see quite a few back ups for the Argos in this one. That said, there is a ton of value here with the Riders as a home dog catching nearly a dozen points. Of course if you look at YTD records and YTD stats this line seems about right. But again, this one is all about the situation! The Argos will struggle to win this game, let alone cover, against a very determined home side that is playing for their post-season life here! 10* SASKATCHEWAN +9.5

CFB Saturday 10* Top Play Ohio State Buckeyes (-) vs Penn State Nittany Lions @ Noon ET - The line opened at nearly a TD but is down to the 4.5 range and I love fading movement like this. The Nittany Lions are 6-0 SU and ATS this season while the Buckeyes are also 6-0 SU but do have some ATS losses and I like that factor here as I feel Penn State is a bit over-valued here. Both defenses have been great this season. However, there is a key here in that the Nittany Lions have not faced anyone in terms of a threat offensively. The 3 Big Ten teams they have faced are Illinois, Iowa and Northwestern. All 3 have been horrible on offense. In non-conference action, PSU has also faced some really bad teams offensively. At least Ohio State had to battle a strong Notre Dame team this season plus they did face a respectable offense in non-conference action when they took on Western Kentucky. The point is I feel the Buckeyes have the better defense and are more battle-tested no matter what the stats say. Also, OSU is at home for this one and their QB already engineered a key win over the Fighting Irish in a pressure-packed situation. Conversely, though Lions QB Allard has been great this season, this will be his first real test and he is on the road and his team is facing an opponent that has been dominating them in recent seasons. I look for another solid home win here as Penn State is getting close but they are just not quite there yet and they get exposed here and the Buckeyes pull away to win this game by double digits. 10* OHIO STATE (-)

CFL Friday 10* Top Play Calgary Stampeders (+) @ BC Lions @ 10 ET - This game is much more important to Calgary - an 8.5 dog as of early game day morning - than it is to BC. Yes, the Lions still have some motivation to win but they know it is a longshot that they can catch Winnipeg for the top spot out West. That said, the Stampeders are going to be the more motivated team. With a win here they can still control their own destiny in terms of earning a post-season spot. The Stamps also have "triple revenge" here, if you will. Calgary has been hammered by BC in both regular season games this year plus they lost in the post-season to the Lions last year! This is a great spot for a respectable Stampeders team that is better than their record shows. Adding to the solid edges here is the fact that a key WR, Begelton, has been practicing all week and is expected to be back on the field for this one as well. When a team has a solid shot at an outright upset and is the more motivated team and yet they are an underdog by more than a 1-score margin, that is something worthy of elevating a play to a strong one every time. Now certainly this is not a trap line or phony line either because BC is at home and has the much better record and has dominated this series of late. So the odds makers have set the "right number" from that perspective but, from a situational perspective, the Stamps are the very strong value here the way I see it! 10* CALGARY (+) 

CFB Friday 10* Temple Owls (+) vs SMU Mustangs @ 7 ET - As of about 7 hours before kickoff the Owls are as much as a 24 point dog here. I waited for the line to jump because of the fact the Owls starting QB may not play again this week. The key difference though is last week it was announced 20 minutes prior to kickoff. This week the Owls have been preparing all week knowing that they may be going with the #2 guy. The back-up will be much better this week and we are getting a truckload of points to work with. Yes, the Mustangs are much better than the Owls but this is a rare standalone national TV game for Temple. This is the only thing going Friday night. In other words, these guys might be approaching this game as their super bowl when you consider how their season is going. Of course that does not mean they have the talent level to win this game but I do expect Temple to really step here and the Owls will keep this game a lot closer than most are expecting. Look for it to be decided by a 2-score margin as the Owls are not as bad as their record shows and will certainly be looking to put forward a strong effort at Lincoln Field in Philly. This is a rare primetime showcase for the Owls and they will make the most of it. SMU is the stronger team by far but the Mustangs also are on a 2-11 ATS run when playing the 2nd of B2B road conference games! That is not an easy thing to do and this their only such occurrence of that this season and we step in to take advantage! 10* TEMPLE (+)

CFB Thursday 10* Top Play Rice Owls (+) @ Tulsa Golden Hurricane @ 7 ET - Current line 3.5 at time of posting late morning game day. Both teams are off a bye and both are off losses before their bye week. However, Rice actually had a huge yardage edge against Connecticut and that was a turnover-fueled loss that is helping to give us line value now this week. I say that because these Owls have been moving the ball quite well and getting decent QB play. The same can not be said for Tulsa and they also have some inconsistency issues at QB as well. I just can not trust the Golden Hurricane with the QB play they have been getting and also their 3 wins are against an FCS school and a pair of FBS schools that each have losing records this season. The Owls defense has improved some in recent weeks too. I know the Owls are still searching for their first road win but this looks like a great spot to get it and I definitely do not trust this Tulsa offense. It has not matter who is at QB for them. The Golden Hurricane had a blowout win over a bad Temple team and an FCS school but in their other 4 games against FBS foes this season, they have averaged just 16.5 ppg this season. The Owls also have more consistency in terms of their head coach in his 5th season here while Tulsa under a new coach this season. Grab the road dog here to get it done in this one. If they do fall short look for it to be a field goal at most and the current line on this as of late morning on game day is 3.5 points. 10* RICE (+)

CFB Wednesday 10* Top Play New Mexico State Aggies -3 @ UTEP Miners @ 9 ET - I know UTEP is coming off a win but that was against a bad FIU team. Also, the only other Miners win this season was against an FCS team. Since that win over Incarnate Word, UTEP had proceeded to lose 4 straight games and all the losses were by at least a 2 TD margin. The Miners coming off the win over the Panthers last week simply increases the line value here on the Aggies. UTEP might be hungrier off a loss but, off their first win over an FBS team this season, the Miners are lined up well to get hammered here. As for the Aggies, they have won 4 of 6 games and all 4 victories were by a double digit margin. Their defense is at least as good, if not better than the Miners and certainly the Aggies have the edge over this UTEP offense. The NM State offense actually has been better than we've seen in the past and I look for them to pull away for a comfortable road win in this one. Remember their season opening loss to UMass was a turnover driven defeat in which they won the yardage battle by 100 yards. They have responded ever since because one of their only 2 other losses was to a strong Liberty team. The Aggies are the better team and we get line value here because they are on the road. Lay it! 10* New Mexico State -3

CFB Tuesday 10* Top Play Western Kentucky Hilltoppers (-) @ Jacksonville State Gamecocks @ 7:30 ET - This line is right around a 7.5 as of mid-morning on gameday and I am laying it! The Gamecocks got hammered at home versus Liberty last week and this followed some fortunate come from behind wins against weaker competition than the Flames. The point is that the Gamecocks are still overrated as they played a weak schedule and are very fortunate to be 5-2 SU on the season. So the Hilltoppers are only 4-2 on the season and on the road here but they are favored by a TD plus the hook? Seems like a headscratcher, right? Do not let the line fool you! Western Kentucky has played the tougher schedule and they are coming off a bye week and they are the overall better team that also has done a great job of creating turnovers this season. Jacksonville State having a 5-2 record this season will insure that the Toppers have the proper focus entering this one and I look for the road team to roll as a result.  Also, this play falls into a 100% system for WKU as they have won 6 in a row ATS when they enter game off of B2B wins SU+ATS and are now facing a team with a winning record. All this makes good sense as it means when the Toppers are rolling and now facing a team with a solid record (which helps keep the line reasonable) they have stayed hot. Look for coach Tyson Helton to again have his team ready to roll here! That streak reaches 7-0 ATS! Lay it! 10* WESTERN KENTUCKY (-)

NFL Monday 10* Top Play Los Angeles Chargers + vs Dallas Cowboys @ 8:15 ET - This line is as high as a +2 on the Chargers as of early gameday morning and this is a great spot for the home dog. Los Angeles is coming off a bye. LA has been in their home state ever since a win 3 weeks ago at Minnesota when they knocked off the Vikings. They are now off B2B wins plus expected to get stud RB Austin Ekeler back for this one. He has been out since Week 1 and he is a helluva player! That is when he put up 164 yards of offense, including 117 on the ground on just 16 carries, and he scored a touchdown. He essentially ran roughshod over a Dolphins team that is now 5-1 on the season. Speaking of facing tough opposition, it is something these Cowboys had not done until facing the Niners last week and we all know what happened then. Dallas looked like a high school team trying to take on a college team. Yes, it was that bad. Here is the thing. Dallas is not that good. They are overrated. Look at their skill position players. Look at how they perform against better teams. Prescott always seems to struggle against the better teams as he showed again last week. So the Cowboys stats on the season are quite irrelevant because what really matters is who they have played and then how they perform against better teams. So heading into this week, the 4 teams Dallas had faced entered this week with a combined record of 5-15. Do you really care what stats Dallas put up against such bad teams when they now face a team that is expected to be in the playoffs this season? Also, of the 5 teams Dallas has faced so far this season 4 of them then lost AGAIN this week! Now the Cowboys are on the road AGAIN and they are favored AGAIN and I am going to sit back and happily watch them again disappoint the legion of Boys fans all over the globe. This team is just not strong against the better teams in the league. Year after year they give their fans false hope by annihilating bad teams (which pads their inflated stats) and then struggling against better teams. As I said, last week when we had the Niners over the Cowboys, "Jerry Jones still has too much say so in this Cowboys organization and that is why they continue to be good but not great!" and also as I alluded to last week I am not a fan of McCarthy as a coach and think he again will get out-coached this week. Give me the home team to make it 3 straight wins. Note their 2 losses were by 2 points to a now 5-1 Miami team and the other loss in OT by a FG. So I will grab the points being offered here but I do not expect to need them. 10* LOS ANGELES CHARGERS (+) points

NFL Sunday 10* Top Play Philadelphia Eagles (-) points @ New York Jets @ 4:25 ET - For those of you that did not know, the Jets win at Denver last week was practically like New York winning their Super Bowl for this season. I am kidding but only partially kidding as the fact is there had been a major war of words between Broncos coach Payton and Jets offensive coordinator Hackett. The later had preceded him at Denver as the head coach and Payton made the mistake of criticizing him badly. Hackett, though only the OC, got the game ball after the Jets win over a bad Broncos team in which New York had over 400 yards of offense and scored 31 points. On that note, this is a big-time flat spot for what is still not a good Jets team and we have some 100% angles here that support 5-0 Philadelphia in this spot. The Jets are 0-5 ATS when they are a home dog after a game in which they scored at least 28 points. Also, in terms of historical data, the Eagles are a perfect 7-0 ATS when they face an AFC East opponent that is coming off a win. So this is a double perfect spot favoring the Eagles with those TWO 100% PERFECT trends. Statistically the Jets are not good on either side of the ball yet they have managed B2B covers and have a couple of SU wins on the season. The Eagles are one of the best teams in the league on both sides of the ball and this is a value line at less than a TD. Currently the dominant number is 6.5 as of early gameday morning. Lay it! 10* PHILADELPHIA (-) points 

NFL Sunday 10* Top Play Carolina Panthers (+) points @ Miami Dolphins @ 1 ET - This line has moved to as high as 14.5 as of 7 hours before kick-off. This has me in play here because it is not easy to cover big spreads in the NFL. These guys are professionals and they are paid to play the game for a reason. This Panthers defense is actually statistically better than the Dolphins defense on the season when looking at yards. I know the problem in this match-up for Carolina backers is that the offense is certainly worlds better for Miami that it is for the Panthers. However, the Panthers need to protect the ball, play solid defense, create some turnovers, and catch the Dolphins looking ahead to a match-up with 5-0 Philly that is on deck. The fact is if all those things happened we even could see the biggest upset of the season here. I am not banking on that but I honestly do fully expect this game will be decided by a one-score margin. Even if I am wrong, but not by too much, a 2-TD margin here still gets us the cash. I love the big dog in this match-up as the set-up is perfect. The Giants team the Dolphins just beat is decimated by injuries. The Panthers are off another ugly loss but they played better than the final score indicated. Then when you factor in Miami's trip to Philadelphia is on deck while Carolina can go all out with a bye on deck, this is a fantastic match-up for a big dog cover. The Panthers are 14-2 ATS when they are off a road loss to an NFC opponent by a double digit margin. Trust me, that loss at Detroit got Carolina and Frank Reich's attention as they look to right the ship before the bye week. 10* CAROLINA + points

CFB Saturday CFB 10* UMass Minutemen + points @ Penn State Nittany Lions @ 3:30 ET - I know it may seem tough to take one of the worst teams in FBS football against one of the best in the nation but, as of early game day morning the line on this one is as high as 42 points! There are some keys here that have led to big value here in a game in which I feel the Lions will call off the dogs before running up the score. One of the big keys here that I think people may be overlooking is that rain is in the forecast all day long in State College today. Beaver Stadium in PA will still be packed with fans but the field conditions could get sloppy here. I mean we are not just talking about drizzle or mist, this is supposed to a significant and persistent rainfall. I love having big dogs in ugly weather games and you will rarely see lines bigger than this one. I know UMass is a bad football team but they won their season opener on the road and also have a 2 point road loss under their belts, a 3 point home loss in OT as well, and they had as many first downs as Toledo in their loss to the Rockets last week that was a bit of a "phony" final score. Of course, the Minutemen are nowhere near on the level of Penn State but they have been a bit more competitive this season than what I have seen from them in the past. Also, they have a bye week on deck and certainly will leave it all on the field for this one in terms of their best effort. Speaking of byes, the Nittany Lions are off a bye week after a Big Ten road win at Northwestern and they have a huge game on deck at Ohio State. This is the perfect spot for the Nittany Lions to be a bit complacent early on in this game plus then start thinking about the Buckeyes once they do get up big in this game. They will likely rest their first stringers as this game goes on plus the expected ugly weather conditions will likely make the right choice to be a conservative grind it out second half with a heavy dose of the ground game and just running clock. Note that PSU is 0-4 ATS when they are playing with rest and facing an opponent with a winning percentage of less than .666 and this is another one of those perfect spots for the Lions to be a bit complacent. Also, Penn State has covered just 20% of the time when coming off a game against Northwestern. I like all the edges here, including the weather, to help this game end up being decided in the 20s or maybe 30s at most. 10* MASSACHUSETTS + points

Saturday CFB 10* Top Play Oklahoma State Cowboys + points vs Kansas Jayhawks @ 3:30 ET - In Lance Leipold's first season at Kansas the Jayhawks came to Stillwater, OK and got annihilated 55 to 3. They got major payback last season when they hosted the Cowboys and won 37 to 16. So the home team in the Mike Gundy vs Lance Leipold match-ups is 92 to 19 so far. This one, of course, is not going to be that easy for the hosts but I do think the home team wins and I love the fact we are getting 3 points to work with as home dog OSU is catching a full field goal as of early game day morning. Quick...when is the last time Kansas was a Big 12 road favorite? Stumped? Don't feel bad as it has been more than a DECADE as you have to go back about 14 years to find it! Sure, Kansas is improved and Oklahoma State is down from where they use to be but their ugly home loss to South Alabama was the wake-up call this team needed. The Cowboys have been undervalued since then and got an outright win last week as a double digit home dog to Kansas State! Just like knocking off the Wildcats they can now knock off the same-state Jayhawks as well. Kansas did not win last week's game as easily as the final score would lead you to believe. At least from a stats perspective. Also, their road game before that was an annihilation loss at Texas. Kansas has wins against a lot of bad teams this season. The last two games they have been without their starting QB and he is not expected to start this game either. As for the Cowboys, they seem to have things settling down at the QB position and have added confidence of the much needed win last week. Now they look to get some revenge and this spot is also supported by an 11-0 ATS angle. The last 11 times that OSU has been a dog of less than 7 points against a team that is coming in off a SU win, they have covered the spread all 11 times! This one should make it 12 straight as the Cowboys get revenge for last year's embarrassing loss at Kansas. Gundy has his guys ready and they protect their home turf in this one! 10* OKLAHOMA STATE + points

CFB Friday 10* Top Play Stanford Cardinal (+) @ Colorado Buffaloes @ 10 ET - This line is around a dozen points as of early gameday morning and I feel it will prove to be too much. Stanford has a new head coach this season and is having some growing pains as expected. However, now they enter this game off a bye week and having had a chance to evaluate everything and make some changes and get ready to attack the rest of the season refreshed a bit both mentally and physically. Colorado, on the other hand, has a bye on deck and they enter this game off a tight win at Arizona State where they won the game by 3 points plus were outgained by 100 yards! The Buffaloes are over-rated because of all the Coach Prime hype. I am not saying they will not win this game but I do not expect them to cover. Note that 3 of the 4 wins Colorado has have come by a margin of 8 points or less and the one by 8 points was a very fortunate OT win over Colorado State. The other key about the Buffs wins is that none of them have come against a team that currently has a winning record this season. Now, as noted above, Stanford has certainly struggled. But one could argue (and rightly so) that the Buffaloes could easily be a 1-win team so far this season just like Stanford. Also, this situation is set up well with the Cardinal coming in off a bye week and catching double digits in points. I know Stanford has been bad this season but the Buffaloes are over-valued and the Cardinal view this game as a big one to jump-start their 2nd half of the season and the lion's share portion of their Pac-12 schedule which remains. The Buffaloes will overlook the Cardinal and this big road dog comes into this one fully ready. An outright upset would not shock me but of course that is still asking a bit much. I will happily grab the big points! 10* STANFORD (+)

CFL Friday 10* Top Play Saskatchewan Roughriders (+) @ Calgary Stampeders @ 9:30 ET - Current line on this one is 3.5 points as of early gameday morning. Both teams have struggled but the Stampeders are going to be without their leading WR and leading rusher for this game. Also, I like the fact Saskatchewan is off an ugly home loss to a surging Hamilton team. That has led to line value here. The Roughriders had some meetings heading into this week's contest and the veteran leadership on this team is stepping up for this game. This is a revenge game too. Both match-ups this season have been tight but the Roughriders lost the most recent one at home by 2 points. This will be payback here. Both teams motivated to win as Calgary must win to keep their playoff hopes alive but it is the Riders who can secure a playoff berth with victory here. Even if Saskatchewan falls short of the outright win here, look for the loss to be by 3 or less points. This one could go down to the wire but, in the end, the couple of key guys being out for this game for the Stamps are going to be the difference maker. 10* SASKATCHEWAN + points

NFL Thursday 10* Top Play Denver Broncos (+) @ Kansas City Chiefs @ 8:15 ET - Current line range is 10.5 points and is too much the way I see it! Game on short rest for both teams of course but this favors Denver in my opinion. Chiefs off win but were up in Minnesota and so not only a satisfying but coming off a week that involved travel. Yes the Broncos had to travel to get here of course but is a very short trip from Denver to KC and the Broncos mentality is much different entering this one. Denver is angry off embarrassing home loss to the Jets last week. Denver is now 1-4 this season and they lost 3 fumbles last week in a frustrating defeat. The Broncos will be the ugly dog here that no one wants to back but note that Sean Payton as a head coach has gone 9-3 ATS as a road dog and the last time they were in this role they were blasted by 50 points at Miami so I am quite confident Payton will have his troops ready this go around. Also, Payton's teams have gone 13-3 ATS as a divisional dog. Also, worth noting here is that the Chiefs have the Chargers up next. LA is the only real threat to KC for the division title this season. Could they get caught looking ahead? Keep in mind, the Chiefs are only 1-6 ATS last 7 in divisional games. The Chiefs also have covered just 2 of 8 when facing a team with a winning percentage under .400 so the lookahead theory is evident there too. Additionally, Kansas City has covered just 2 of 13 when coming off a non-conference road game and that was a hard-fought win over the Vikings last week. There is even more ATS stuff on this one from a situational standpoint but I will not bore you with the details. The simple fact is this is too many points to lay on a short week and facing an angry underdog that wants to play much better football this week. The Chiefs still the much better team of course and they find a way to win but I look for this game to be decided by just a 1-score margin as the Broncos put up a helluva fight! 10* DENVER (+)

CFB Thursday 10* Top Play Houston Cougars (+) vs West Virginia Mountaineers @ 7 ET - When Dana Holgorsen was coaching West Virginia he left because he could not get the contract he wanted. The Mountaineers certainly could afford to pay him but they just did not want to. They felt he was not worth it and Holgorsen ended up in Houston while Neal Brown took over at West Virginia. The result was that Brown ended up on the hot seat with struggles with the Mountaineers whereas Holgorsen built up to the level of an 11-2 season and bowl win just 2 years ago. They then won their bowl game again last season but it was overall a lackluster campaign compared to the year prior. Now, having struggled some early this season too, this first game after a bye week and first chance against his former team has Holgorsen and his team fired up. They want this game badly. Sometimes bye weeks come at a great time for a team and other times it is bad timing. In this case, the Cougars had been struggling with 3 losses in 4 games since winning their season opener versus UTSA. Conversely, the Mountaineers had surprisingly been rolling with 4 straight wins. That makes this a perfect set up because Houston needed the bye but it was the last thing West Virginia wanted. Think about it too...why is a team that has won 4 straight laying just 3 points against a team that has gone 1-3 last 4 games and struggled in their Big 12 games? Don't fall for the trap here! The Cougars are hungry and at home and their coach will have them ready for this, perhaps, "do or die" game in the eyes of Holgorsen! 10* HOUSTON (+)

CFB Wednesday Sam Houston State Bearkats (+) @ New Mexico State Aggies @ 9 ET - Handicapping lesson 101. When you see a home team that is 3-3 laying only about a field goal to a team that is 0-5 on the season, it is time to take a close look. In this case, I would almost never play a favorite but would look at that winless dog. In this case, everything checks out for being worthy of a bet. I certainly respect coach Jerry Kill and his Aggies are decent, especially on defense. However, this Bearkats team has played the tougher overall schedule. There is a good reason this game is priced this way. Do not let the line fool you. The Bearkats nearly upset Liberty last week and they should have beaten Jacksonville State the week prior when they led by 8 with under 20 seconds to go! The point is that this team is much better than their 0-5 record would lead you to believe. The Bearkats have been double digit dogs in 4 of their 5 games so that tells you just how tough their schedule has been. Prior to a win over a bad FIU team last week in which the Aggies did not even pull away until the 4th quarter, New Mexico State was just 1-3 SU this season against FBS teams and Sam Houston has had just 1 home game this season while this will be the 4th home game this season for NM St. The point is that there is contrarian line value here with this 0-5 team that is catching 3 points plus the hook as of late morning game day. I am expecting an outright upset here but grabbing the points just in case. SAM HOUSTON STATE (+) 

CFB Tuesday Liberty Flames (-) vs Jacksonville State Gamecocks @ 7:30 ET - Two weeks ago the Gamecocks pulled a rabbit out of the hat as -6.5 point favorites on the road at Sam Houston State. Ironically this line also is currently a 6.5 as of late morning Tuesday but this time Jacksonville State is on the other side of it as a home dog. I am laying the points with the road team here. The Gamecocks -6.5 were down 8 to the Bearkats but then scored a TD and 2 point conversion with just seconds left in regulation to force OT. They then got the ball first in OT and scored to take a 7 point lead and, you guessed it, Sam Houston could not answer. Was a miracle cover for the Gamecocks. Then last week they were down 23 to 7 at the half against Middle Tennessee State. Unbelievably Jacksonville State did it again. Not only rallying for the win they made it look even easier than it was as they won 45 to 30. All this has done is given us exceptional line value here because both those teams the Gamecocks beat are nowhere close to the level of this Liberty team. The Flames are undefeated this season and have the much better offense in comparison with the Gamecocks. I know Liberty did not dominate the Bearkats like they should have last week but they were up 21 to 10 at half and started looking ahead to this game. By the way, a few weeks ago Liberty caught FIU off an outright upset win at Connecticut. The Flames proceeded to blast Florida International in a 38 to 6 win. That makes Liberty 5-0 ATS when catching an opponent off an outright upset win as an underdog! They now catch Jacksonville State in that same situation with the Gamecocks off an outright upset win at Middle Tennessee! Look for this system to improve to 6-0 ATS as J-St gets blasted! The Flames are on a 31-11 SU run at the FBS level while the Gamecocks are still quite new to this level of football. Do not let the line scare you. The road team should take this in a rout! Lay it! LIBERTY (-) 

CFL Monday Ottawa Redblacks (+) @ Montreal Alouettes @ 1 ET - Rivalry game. Great value here with the big points on Thanksgiving Day in Canada. Ottawa just lost badly to Montreal at home last week but look at the stats from that game and you will quickly realize the loss was a turnover-fueled defeat. The Redblacks actually outgained the Alouettes by a substantial margin in that game. Also, Ottawa still has hopes of a post-season berth so they will still being going hard here. The Als already clinched their post-season berth and are only in a battle now with Hamilton for positioning but that is not a key motivator. I believe the road dog will prove to be the much hungrier team and will be out for revenge after the embarrassing loss in last week's meeting at home. Payback time here and an outright upset would not surprise me in the last. Current line as of 6 hours before kickoff is in the 6.5 range and that is a great value. OTTAWA (+)

NFL Sunday 10* Top Play San Francisco 49ers vs Dallas Cowboys @ 8:20 ET - The NFL is the most publicly bet sport worldwide. When public money is involved the public teams get more attention. There are many Cowboys fans out there and they love their 'Boys. That serves us well in cases like this. Take a look at this current line being very nearly just a field goal as of game day morning. That implies that on a neutral field this would be anybody's game. I completely disagree with that assessment. Dallas finally won a road playoff game last season for the first time in a very long time. The fact is the Cowboys often are great at hammering bad teams and inflating their stats in those games but then struggling against quality opponents. It has been this way for many years and has not really shown any signs of changing. Consider this also when assessing whether these teams are equal. Who would you rather have coaching your team? Shanahan or McCarthy? How about QB? Big-game mistake prone Prescott or up and coming Purdy who is off to a phenomenal start this season. The Niners are arguably the best run NFL organization. This team has done things the right way and is running a solid ship. Jerry Jones still has too much say so in this Cowboys organization and that is why they continue to be good but not great! The Niners are built to be a much better big-game team and, in fact, there is another key stat that supports that as well as supporting our play here. The Niners are 7-0 ATS in last 7 home games against an NFC opponent with a winning record. Keep in mind the 3-1 Cowboys have revenge here but they had that last year too when they faced the Niners in the playoffs after losing to them in the post-season before that too. Yes, that was the 2nd straight season that ended for Dallas in the post-season at San Francisco. Revenge is often over-played and the Cowboys could not get their revenge then and they will not get it now. Dallas overlooked Arizona two weeks ago and lost there. The Cowboys 3 wins are against teams that currently have a combined 3-9 record this season. At least the Niners have beaten a couple teams that have a .500 record so far this season plus they hammered the same Cardinals team the Cowboys overlooked. This is the difference of a well-run professional organization compared to a team that does not have the same leadership from top to bottom. This is a value line for the home team in my opinion. Lay it! 10* SAN FRANCISCO (-)

NFL Sunday 10* Top Play Philadelphia Eagles (-) @ Los Angeles Rams @ 4:05 ET - The Rams won the Super Bowl in February of 2022. Then they went 5-12 in the 2022 season that followed that. Which team is LA this season? Well it is still a little too early to tell for sure but Los Angeles certainly is not at the level of the Super Bowl team. I know Cooper Kupp is back this week for the Rams but he may not be performing at his typical elite level in his first game back. Both teams have some injury issues but Rams hip injuries to Matthew Stafford plus their starting RB could keep those guys from being as strong as usual. If you look at the week 1 stats when the Rams beat the Seahawks you will know that the result was not commensurate with the stats. Other than LA has two losses, including to a struggling Bengals team, and an OT win last week over the Colts in which the Rams blew a huge lead. I just do not think this Rams team is on the level this Eagles team is. Philly is on a mission to get back to the Super Bowl and to win it this time. They have a road game on deck in New York but against the Jets rather than the long-time rival (but struggling) Giants. That said, there is clearly no lookahead here and I expect a very focused Eagles team to come out and dominate in the trenches in this one. Yes I know Fletcher Cox is out for Philly but they have more defensive line depth than they use to. Eagles off an OT win versus Washington in which they gave up a late score to the Commanders that forced OT. That was only a 3-point win but 16 of 18 wins before that came by 5 or more points for the Eagles. In other words, if you like them to win here you can also see why you can feel comfortable laying the current number of 4 points too. 10* PHILADELPHIA (-)

NFL Sunday 10* Top Play Baltimore Ravens -4.5 @ Pittsburgh Steelers @ 1 ET - We get some line value here because the Steelers have won 5 of the last 6 meetings but this year Pittsburgh is way down in my opinion. I know they are 2-2 on the year but their stats tell the real story. The Steelers do not run or throw well. They also do not defend the pass well and do not stop the run. The Ravens have edges all over the field in this one. They also have revenge on their minds from losing the most recent meeting late last season. Remember that Lamar Jackson was hurt last season and missed BOTH meetings with the Steelers. Look for the  Pittsburgh defense to struggle with him in this one! The Ravens have great numbers on defense so far this season and big rushing numbers on offense. That is a combination that can win plenty of road games and especially when Harbaugh is your coach and your QB is healthy! The Steelers were very fortunate to beat the Browns (just look at the stats from that one) and their other win was against a dysfunctional Raiders team. Now they face a Ravens team with which coach Harbaugh has produced only one losing season in his 15-year tenure! Steelers QB Pickett expected to play but could be running for his life with this one and they are still without a starting WR plus now lost their starting TE to injury! 10* BALTIMORE -4.5

NFL Sunday 10* Top Play Buffalo Bills (-) vs Jacksonville Jaguars @ 9:30 AM ET in London, UK -Current line as of about 4 hours before kick-off is a 4.5 and this is a great value. Buffalo got their wake up call early this season as they already got knocked off in that OT opener loss to the Jets and they took out their frustration on the Raiders the next week in a 38-10 blowout win. They are not looking back and certainly showing they are not done yet because they have now won 3 straight games and scored more than 35 points in each win! Buffalo did it again last week with a huge victory over Miami and the Bills will not rest here just because they won big last week at home. This team will be on a mission again here on the road in London. In fact, note that coach Sean McDermott's teams have won eight in a row ATS when they are off a game in which they scored at least 35 points. That trend continues here as Jacksonville is over-rated in my opinion. Yes they have an edge here in that they were already in London for this games as the knocked off the Falcons here last week. However, the yardage was roughly equal in that game and Atlanta actually had more first downs in the game but were done in by a 3-0 turnover deficit. We get line value here because of the scheduling situation seeming to so strongly favor the Jags. I might argue that Jacksonville having now been in London for so long that it could even be a distraction for them in preparations for this game. Plus the Bills have been one of the top teams in the NFL in recent seasons. The Jaguars had some good fortune last season but this team is still not on the Bills level and that 8-0 ATS situation I mentioned above will turn into 9-0 ATS here! 10* BUFFALO (-)

NCAAF Saturday 10* Top Play Georgia Bulldogs (-) vs Kentucky Wildcats @ 7 ET - Kentucky just beat Florida and they are 5-0 SU this season and 4-0 ATS against FBS foes as their only non-cover was against an FCS school. Also, the Wildcats 4-0 ATS last 4 against Georgia. The Bulldogs enter this game 0-4-1 ATS on the season. So all of these perfect angles favor a play on the big dog Cats in this one and yet I am on the Dawgs! The fact is this line is 14.5 (as of game day morning) for a reason! Why would a game involving two ranked teams have one team laying more than 2 touchdowns? Exactly! The odds makers know what they are doing folks and I am expecting an absolute blowout home win here. Georgia has not been as impressive early this season and that is why they are still seeking first ATS win. However, this does not change the fact they are undefeated SU and national champs, etc. Also, the only team that Kentucky has faced this season that had a winning record last season was the FCS school Eastern Kentucky and they were only 7-5 this season. Yes beating Florida last week was big for the Wildcats but the Gators are not what they were a few years back. Also, Kentucky ran all over the Gators but the Bulldogs won't allow that here in their house. This will force the Wildcats to pass and their passing attack is still suspect. There are a number of injury concerns for Kentucky entering this one as well. So, analyzing all the variables here, I am fully expecting a blowout win and have no hesitation in facing the triple perfect trends ATS that are noted above. 10* GEORGIA (-)

MLB Saturday 10* Top Play Philadelphia Phillies Run Line +1.5 -115 @ Atlanta Braves @ 6:05 ET - Strider has been great for the Braves and there is no questioning that. However, just like last season, there is something special going on in Philly and they really believe they can again go all the way to the World Series. Suarez is under-rated as he is a pitcher that is much better than his record shows. That said, getting 1.5 runs here at a pick'em price is a solid bargain. It is not that this game is priced wrong, it is just that this what the markets demand and the fact is that means line value with the Phillies. Philadelphia won their two wild card games against Miami by a combined score of 11 to 2. They have won 13 of 19 games and only 2 of their last 19 games have resulted in a loss by a margin of 2 or more runs. Strider has allowed at least 3 earned runs in 4 of his last 5 starts and allowed an average of 4 earned runs in those 4 outings! Suarez had a bad final outing of the season but had been running solid prior to that including entering this start having allowed a total of only 4 earned runs in last 3 road starts. Phillies hang around in this one and might even steal Game one of this series this evening. 10* PHILADELPHIA +1.5 -115

NCAAF Saturday 10* Top Play Oklahoma Sooners (+) vs Texas Longhorns @ Noon ET @ Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas - Current line, as of about 6 hours before kick off is a solid 5.5 and this is a huge revenge game for the Sooners. I know revenge is overplayed but this is not just any revenge game. That's because these teams have been meeting for over 100 years! You read that right, they meet each other every year in the Red River Rivalry in the Cotton Bowl in Dallas and this neutral site game is a big deal for these two schools. Before last year's shellacking, each of the most recent 4 meetings had been decided by 8 or less points. I expect another tighter game here in this year's match-up but sense an upset. We'll grab the points as added insurance but Oklahoma and Texas off to great starts this season but the Sooners - unlike in their first year under Venable last season - are a very confident bunch this time around. Texas won 49 to 0 last season! You read that right...49 to 0 and it was complete domination. Yes, Ewers has been great at QB for the Longhorns but Gabriel (missed last season's game due to injury) has also been fantastic this season for the Sooners. Gabriel will make up for missing last year's game and OU will make up for getting blown out. Texas has not won B2B games in the Red River Rivalry since 2008/2009 and that win in '09 was by just 3 points. The last time the Longhorns won B2B games in the RRR and would have covered a spread of 5.5 was when they won the 2005/2006 match-ups. So yes it has been over 15 years! I like the odds when you consider those facts and though I think UT deserves the hype they are getting early this season, I also feel that OU is on a mission this year and they are much better than the markets are giving them credit for here. Give me the big points! 10* OKLAHOMA (+) points

CFL Friday 10* Top Play Winnipeg Blue Bombers (+) @ BC Lions @ 10 PM ET - If you took the home team in Winnipeg's last 8 games you are a PERFECT 8-0 ATS! So why am I taking the road team here? Well, for starters I am a contrarian. However, the big key here is that I like the way the Winnipeg defense has played as the season has worn on compared to the Lions defense. The BC defense started the season strong but has faded. Also, the Blue Bombers have a fantastic offensive line. So Winnipeg should be able to get their strong ground game going here which opens up the passing attack on offense. Also, the Bombers defense is a strength so, even though BC certainly has a solid offense, Winnipeg can get enough stops here to win this game on the road. There is a reason that a revenge-minded home favorite is practically a pick here (current line of 2 or 2.5 at best here) even though the host has lost only 1 game at home this season and the road team has gone just 4-3 SU away from home this season. Don't let the line fool you. That 8-0 ATS run I mentioned above comes to an end here. This is a battle for first place in the division and we are nearing the post-season so this game is critical. Grab any points you can with the road dog here! 10* WINNIPEG (+)

CFB Friday 10* Top Play Illinois Illini (-) vs Nebraska Cornhuskers @ 8 ET - I was on Nebraska earlier this season when they scored just 14 points at Colorado. Yes that is the over-hyped Buffaloes that are not very good defensively. In the Buffs other 4 games against teams not named Nebraska they allowed an average of 42 points per game! Again, the Cornhuskers put up a measly 14 points. Here lies the problem with this 2-3 Huskers team is that they only scored decently in two wins over two very bad teams. Louisiana Tech lost again last night and only had 3 wins in each of the last two seasons. Also, Northern Illinois is just 1-4 this season. Those are the Huskers two wins. In their other 3 games this season they have scored an average of just 10 points. Yes one of those games was Michigan (last week) but what the hell happened in the other games? Exactly! Not a whole helluva lot! I am not big on Illinois this year but they are home laying just 3.5 points (as of early game day morning) and this is as much a play against the Huskers as it is a play on the Illini. Note that Illinois has faced Penn State and Kansas this season and those two teams are a combined 9-1 on the year with the Jayhawks only loss coming to undefeated Texas. So the point is that the Illini might be a little better than their record shows and they are 2-1 in their other games. The Illini are coming off an ugly loss to Purdue on the scoreboard but the yardage in that game was about equal. The Illini will bounce back here at home and though Matt Rhule will eventually get things going at Nebraska it will take time. His first year at Temple he was 2-10 SU and his first year at Baylor he was 1-11 SU. This is his first year at Nebraska and he has 2 wins so far but against very bad teams and when you look at his remaining schedule it will be tough to get wins for sure. Unlike Rhule, Brett Bielema is in his 3rd year at Illinois and the Illini had gone 2-6 the covid year before he got here and then went 5-7 and then 8-4 last season. So the Bielema project is much further along than the Rhule project at this point in time. Also, taking a look at the Illini, again their other 2 losses this season they were a dog and those 2 teams they lost to are a combined 9-1 this season. The loss to Purdue is the one outlier for Illinois and that just happened. Teams often bounce back off embarrassing losses like that and I expect the Illini will do just that here. 10* ILLINOIS (-)

NFL Thursday 10* Top Play Chicago Bears +6 @ Washington Commanders @ 8:15 ET - Both teams off tough losses last week but the Commanders was even tougher the way I see it. They lost in OT at Philly and that is a divisional match-up for Washington and was a physical battle that took a lot out of them. The Bears, on the other hand, are coming off a non-conference battle versus the Broncos. Though it is still sickening to Chicago that they blew a huge lead against Denver and lost, I also think they will be better set physically and mentally for this match-up at DC. Note that Chicago has lost 14 straight games SU and is on the road here yet getting less than TD. Must be a mistake, right? Long-time followers know how I feel about purported "odds maker mistakes" and this is particularly true in the NFL. In other words, grab the points with the team on a 14-game losing streak. Chicago is 0-6 ATS last 6 road games but the road team is a perfect 4-0 ATS in Commanders games this season. The latter of those two trends is the one I see continuing here. The Bears dominated their game statistically but were done in by turnovers last week. Conversely, Washington was outgained by Philly and keep in mind that even includes all the yardage the Commanders picked up at the end of regulation with a game-tying drive when Eagles went in to prevent defense. I like the fact the Bears showed improvement on both sides of the ball last week and they will build off that here and actually have a good shot at finally getting back into the win column. At the very least, they get the road cover here the way I see it! 10* CHICAGO +6

CFB Thursday 10* Top Play Western Kentucky Hilltoppers -6 @ Louisiana Tech Bulldogs @ 8 ET - One could argue that Louisiana Tech's best player on offense is QB Hank Bachmeier. He might be out again this week but even if he does play he will not be 100% due to shoulder injury. One could also argue that the Bulldogs best player on defense is senior linebacker Brevin Randle and he will not play in this game as he has been suspended for a head stomp in the win at UTEP. Louisiana Tech was actually outgained by the Miners in that victory and UTEP is not a good football team. Yes the Hilltoppers overall stats are not great this season but they also played Ohio State and, as expected, were thoroughly dominated by the Buckeyes. That is certainly impacting their stats. Keep in mind, they went 3-1 SU in their other 4 games and the lone WKU loss was by just 3 points while each of the 3 wins was by a margin of at least 17 points! Louisiana Tech's only other FBS win, besides the unimpressive win over UTEP last week, was a 5-point win over a bad FIU team. The Bulldogs have 3 losses this season and 2 of those have been by at least 14 points and I expect this one will be too! QB Austin Reed is solid for the Toppers and he is the healthier of the QBs here and overall the road favorite has big edges over a home dog that is simply a bad football team. They have won just 3 games each of the past two seasons and their win at UTEP last week was their first road win in 17 tries dating back to the 2020 season. Yes they are now back home for this one but a streak of 16 straight road losses prior to last week shows just how bad this team really is. I like the road team to get the win here and love the fact the line has dropped down some and is below a TD. The value is with the road favorite against a wounded home dog dealing with some issues on both sides of the ball. 10* WESTERN KENTUCKY -6

CFB Wednesday 10* Top Play Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders (-) vs Jacksonville State Gamecocks @ 8 ET - This line is around a 3.5 as of very early gameday morning and I am expecting a solid win and cover for MTSU here. They are at home and coming off a turnover-fueled loss at Western Kentucky last week. The game against WKU is a big one for the Blue Raiders and so I did some research on this and they have lost a few in a row when facing the Hilltoppers and the result has been a big bounce back effort the following week. In fact, MTSU is now a perfect 6-0 ATS the last 6 times when off a game against Western Kentucky. Look for that trend to continue here as they catch Jacksonville State off a last-gasp fortunate win and cover at Sam Houston. They rallied late against the Bearkats for a game-tying touchdown with the necessary two point conversion as well! Then the Gamecocks got the win in overtime. Not only that, this big comeback OT win was on the road. I feel that will have taken a lot out of Jacksonville State and they did give up 300 yards of passing offense to a Sam Houston team that had been very weak on offense this season. Now the Gamecocks face a Middle Tennessee State team angry off a loss and, keep in mind, turnovers played a key role in that defeat at Western Kentucky! MTSU has faced the much tougher schedule and that is offering huge line value here! Trust me, there is a reason this 1-4 Blue Raiders team is favored over this 4-1 Jacksonville State team and the line is no mistake! Lay it! 10* MIDDLE TENNESSEE STATE (-)

NFL Monday 10* Top Play New York Giants (+) vs Seattle Seahawks @ 8:15 ET - Under head coach Brian Daboll, the Giants have been strong off a loss. They won at Arizona in Week 2 after ugly home loss to Dallas the week before. Now, off an ugly road loss against a strong 49ers team, the Giants are at home and ready to respond. Not only are they 12-2 ATS when coming off a Thursday night game, they also went 4-0 ATS last season when they were at home and coming off a loss. That means that, under coach Daboll, the Giants are a perfect 4-0 ATS when at home and off a loss. I know they are 1-2 SU this season and have some ugly stats but, keep in mind, the Giants two losses were to a pair of the best teams in the NFL and the Cowboys and Niners are now a combined 7-1 SU on the season. Yes, the Seahawks are 2-1 SU this season but 2 of their 3 games have been against teams that are combined 2-6 SU on the season! Early in the season you can get some extra line value based on early market perception influenced by a lack of factoring for the schedules. By the way, so far this season, the Chiefs and Eagles failed to cover on the Thursday night games and each covered their very next game. Look for the Giants, after the ATS beatdown at San Francisco, to continue that trend. I love the fact that the Giants have yet to get an ATS cover this season as that has led to line value here. We step in and take advantage. The Seahawks are off B2B covers but this followed a 1-9 ATS stretch dating back to last season and I feel Seattle is very over-valued here on the road. The Giants have the rest edge here. Again, consider the strength of schedule too. The Seahawks have faced 3 non-playoff teams from last season that went a combined 21-30 SU. The Giants have a win in the game they were supposed to win and a pair of losses in games against teams that went, including post-season, a combined 28-11 SU last season and are also now 7-1 SU this season so far. The home dog is the play here and, though 1.5 is the dominant number, there is some 2 out there as well. 10* NEW YORK GIANTS + points

NFL Sunday 10* Kansas City Chiefs (-) @ New York Jets @ 8:20 ET - I am not a big fan of laying big points in the NFL but this Jets team is really bad right now. Currently this line is in the 8.5 range but there is some 8 out there and I am expecting a double digit road win here. Even though the NYJ defense can be solid and will do their best here, this offense just can not be trusted at all. They have been so bad as many are questioning the entire QB situation of course ever since Rodgers went down with injury right away in week 1. That game in week 1 was a bit of a miracle win for New York and now reality has quickly set in. The same holds true for the Chiefs. They had a shocking loss in week 1 but their reality has set in now as they are off B2B wins and really dominated the Bears last week. I know it was just "da Bears" but the defending champs are a confident group that really has their offense clicking now on all cylinders. The Jets had 171 yards last week and the Chiefs had over 450 yards of offense last week. This will be a blowout. KC will have some extra focus here and will really bring an A game effort here. Even though they are the defending champs, the primetime games still carry extra weight. Having lost the first one this season is something the Chiefs have not forgotten and they want to make amends for that right here right now in New York. I look for them to do just that. The last 6 times on MNF that they were facing a team off a SU loss they showed no mercy to say the least. KC went 6-0 ATS in that situation and they do it again here as the Jets struggles on offense will be the key culprit here. 10* KANSAS CITY (-) points

NFL Sunday 10* Top Play Washington Commanders +9 @ Philadelphia Eagles @ 1 ET - First off some technical stuff here. The Commanders just got throttled at home by the Bills last week - we were on Buffalo in easy win - but Washington is in a perfect 7-0 ATS spot here. Generally I like decent teams off horrible losses and the Commanders have a great divisional angle here. When they are playing a divisional foe and Washington is off a double digit ATS loss and the team they are playing is on a winning streak of at least 2 games plus playing with revenge, the Commanders have covered 7 times in a row. Sometimes revenge is overplayed and I know Washington won at Philly the last time these teams met and it ended the Eagles unbeaten start to last season. That said, Philly wants this game but they are on short rest off a MNF Game plus still have been dealing with some injury issues. I am not saying they won't get revenge and at least win this game but I think asking them to win this by double digits is asking too much. Eagles are 3-0 this season but statistically have not been that dominant. They will look to pound the ground game and grind out a win here but Washington has enough firepower to keep this one close. The last 5 times Philly entered a game off a SU road win they have gone 3-2 SU but all 3 wins were by 7 or less points. I look for a very tight game here as the Commanders respond off an embarrassing loss. Look for the above trend I mentioned to improve to 8-0 ATS as the dog gets the cover here. 10* WASHINGTON +9

NFL Sunday 10* Top Play Atlanta Falcons (+) vs Jacksonville Jaguars @ 9:30 AM ET - The dominant number as of about 5 hours before kickoff on this one is a 3 but there is some 3.5 out there and I would recommend jumping on that now if you can. The Jaguars are off B2B losses and the Falcons have the better defense and are off their first loss of the season. I could see Atlanta bouncing back huge here off a defeat in which they scored just 6 points. They will take advantage of a weak Jaguars defense. Much is made of the travel here and that Jacksonville is use to it and the Falcons are not - in terms of London games. But to put this in proper perspective, the USA is so big that went teams go East to West they are sometimes traveling 5 to 6 hours in the air just to get to the West Coast and it is a 3-hour time difference to adjust the body clocks. The point is that going Atlanta to London is about 7 hours in the air on a non-stop flight and when you land there it is a 5-hour difference on the body clock. So the point is that going to London for an NFL team in the Eastern Time Zone is not much different than going to a West Coast NFL city. Speaking from experience as I live in Europe right now, the travel going back to USA is tougher for sure. It is longer and more difficult to adjust the body clocks. That said Jaguars being used to this trip is not relevant in my book. Both teams coming off ugly losses and I trust the better defense getting points! Very quietly these Falcons have allowed an average of only 18 ppg their last 9 games as they finished last season strong too on the defensive side of the ball. The Jaguars have a long-term history of struggles against NFC opposition and, within that, they have actually lost 10 in a row ATS when facing a team from NFC South. I look for that play-against situation to reach 11-0 ATS here as Falcons have great shot at outright win but should at least get the cover. 10* ATLANTA + points

CFB Saturday 10* Top Play Baylor Bears (+) vs Central Florida @ 3:30 ET - Current line is in the 9 or 9.5 range here and I am going to challenge the big favorite to win this by double digits. Baylor is expected to Shapen back at QB for this one while Central Florida is still without Plumlee. I know the Bears are 1-3 this season but their 3 losses this season were to an improved Texas State team and to Utah and Texas! These are all solid teams that entered this week's action with a combined 11-1 record on the season! I don't think Baylor is what they use to be BUT they are also much better than their record shows and Shapen is a very strong QB that will give this team a huge boost this week. UCF is also not what they use to be and, though they have been surviving without Plumlee in recent weeks they will struggle more without him in a tougher game like this. The Bears feel their backs are to the wall and they get their starting QB back and there is a feeling of "now or never" for Baylor. I think they will come out strong and this Knights team is not what they use to be. UCF is 3-1 this season but 2 of the wins against FCS schools and one of those was against Boise State and the Broncos are not as strong as in the past. Also, coming off a loss against Kansas State last week that ended their unbeaten start to the season, the Knights may be thinking they just come home and all is well again because they are in the Bounce House. However, this Bears team is going to come to play and an outright win would not surprise me. At the very least I expect the road dog to lose this one by only a one score margin if they even lose. 10* BAYLOR (+) points

CFB Friday 10* Top Play BYU Cougars (+) vs Cincinnati Bearcats @ 10:15 ET - I like the underdog line value after the line move. This line has swung toward the Bearcats and currently we can get home dog BYU at +1 or +1.5 as of very early gameday morning. The fact is that Cincinnati had a lot of coaching changes heading into the season and even the assistant coaches that Scott Satterfield had ended up taking "better" opportunities elsewhere. Of course former head coach Luke Fickell moved onto Wisconsin. The point is that this one, for me, is as much a play against Cincy as it is a play on BYU. This is a tough spot for the Bearcats the way I see it. Yes they knew that beating Oklahoma last week was a lot to ask and sure enough they lost by two TDs. Still, the Cats did want that home game badly and now they are traveling on the road on a short week and in the thin air of Provo in Utah. This Brigham Young team is off a loss but they faced a tough Kansas team that is now 4-0 on the season. The Jayhawks are a different team under head coach Lance Leipold and there is no real shame in that loss for BYU. Still, that was the first loss of the Cougars on the season and I look for them to bounce back here at home and though the competition was weaker it is still worth noting something here. Brigham Young won first two home games this season by a combined score of 55 to 16 and they will make the most of this spot as it is their first home game in 3 weeks. Both teams have a bye on deck but I like the fact Bearcats are on the road here. Cougars will take advantage. The Cats lost at home to Miami-Ohio which is bad news for sure about the current state of this program. The fact that is their only ATS loss in 4 games this season while BYU is 1-3 ATS this season is also helping to give us line value here. Lets take advantage. 10* BYU + points

CFL Friday 10* Top Play Winnipeg Blue Bombers -7.5 vs Toronto Argonauts @ 8 ET - The Blue Bombers are 3-0 this season when off a loss and they also enter this game off a bye week! Also, all 3 of those wins after a loss were by at least 14 points. So this is a situation that is PERFECT on the season. Winnipeg off a loss is 3-0 with all 3 wins by at least 14 points and the line here is 7.5 and also note that the Argos have won 6 in a row and they also started the season 6-0 and then lost their next game by 13. So, from that aspect, this is also testing a perfect situation that should become a perfect 2-0 here. This Blue Bombers lost the Grey Cup to the Argos in November so this is finally their chance at revenge and they are at home and Toronto is on short rest while Winnipeg has extra rest coming off a bye week. Situations just do not get much better than this! We take advantage and look for a blowout home win by double digits here. Look for the Blue Bombers to improve to 4-0 ATS on the season when in this situation which again, is absolutely ideal for a win by 14 or more again! 10* WINNIPEG -7.5

CFB Thursday 10* Top Play Western Kentucky Hilltoppers (-) vs Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders @ 7:30 ET - The dominant line here as of early game day morning is 6.5 but there is some 6 out there and I am laying it. I am going to start here by talking about Colorado State which may surprise you but it is with good reason. What does Colorado State have to do with this game? Plenty! The Rams had the memorable devastating double-OT loss to Colorado two weeks ago. They never should have blown the big lead and lost that game and it was heartbreaking. Following the gut-wrenching loss they were going on the road to Middle Tennessee State. Situations from the scheduling gods don't get much better than that for the Blue Raiders. They were catching a team playing B2B games away from home and they were catching them off a soul-crushing loss. How did MTSU handle it? Like the very weak team they are. The Blue Raiders lost outright even though they were favored in that one. Now they face a Western Kentucky team that has dominated them in recent meetings and also comes in angry off B2B losses. The Hilltoppers are going to roll here at home. Not only have they won big in the last two meetings, they are also on a 6-0 ATS run in weeknight home games. You know the Toppers are fired up with this primetime weeknight opportunity on their home field and they will pull away as this one goes along! WKU improves to 7-0 ATS in this spot! 10* WESTERN KENTUCKY (-)

NFL Monday 10* Top Play Philadelphia Eagles (-) @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers @ 7:15 ET - The current dominant number on this one is 5 though you might find a stray 4.5 out there - at least as of very early game day morning. This is a battle of early season unbeatens and the Eagles have started at least 3-0 (last season started 8-0), 3 times in the past 9 seasons. Tampa Bay, on the other hand, has not gone 3-0 in nearly TWO decades as you have to go all the way back to 2005. The Bucs have been around since 1976 - nearly a HALF century - and yet they only have started a season 3-0 THREE times! As you can see with historical odds like this, the Eagles certainly are the likely team to win this SU but what about the all-important cover? Well, Philly has 9 straight wins by 5 or more points and 15 of last 17 by 5 or more points. So 5 may not seem like a key number but it has been for the Eagles and, either way, look for a win by at least a TD in this one. Tampa Bay's last 7 SU losses have all come by 6 or more. The Eagles are so strong in the trenches on both sides of the ball and that will be key here. Also, imagine you are starting a team would you rather have Jalen Hurts at QB or Baker Mayfield? That is no disrespect to the latter but I have a feeling he is going to get a reality check this week against a tough Eagles defensive line that will pressure the hell out of him. Also, Sirianni is now 25-11 SU in regular season NFL as a head coach while Bowles is 36-50 SU as a head coach. The Eagles also have the rest edge after playing on Thursday last week so they have had extra time off compared to TB as the Bucs beat the Bears Sunday. The Eagles and Buccaneers have each played the Vikings this season. The Bucs were outgained 369 to 242 by Minny. Philly outgained Minnesota 430 to 374. In other words, the D numbers were similar but the Eagles offense put up nearly 200 yards more than TB. The Bucs are a decent team but they are over-rated right now. Philly is a Super Bowl contender. Lay it! 10* PHILADELPHIA (-) the points

NFL Sunday 10* Top Play Las Vegas Raiders (-) vs Pittsburgh Steelers @ 8:20 ET - This is more of a play against the Steelers than a play on the Raiders but either way I do like this spot for laying the points with Las Vegas. The line is available at a 2.5 as of early game day morning and the Steelers are on a short week and traveling west and their off a key divisional win. They were heavily outgained by the Browns and so it is a deceiving win for the Black and Gold. This Pittsburgh team is just not that good as I have written before about them heading into this season. The Steelers have been continuing a downward trajectory and I faded them when they were destroyed by the Niners in Week 1. I know that they got the win last week but that was a gift-wrapped game from the Browns and the stats show that Pittsburgh has really struggled early this season. The Raiders are off an ugly loss but they faced an angry Bills team that is one of the best teams in the league. Buffalo was playing its home opener and was off a loss and the Raiders were in the wrong place at the wrong time. From the start of the season until October 9th, this is the only home game for Las Vegas and so they will make the most of this home opener. Also, under coach McDaniels they covered five of six times ATS when facing a team that was off a SU/ATS win like the Steelers are here. Pittsburgh started last season 1-4 and the year before 1-3 and Tomlin is in for another slow start this season and they will not be so lucky again this week like they were hosting Cleveland. First road game of the season for the Steelers and the Raiders have the rest edge and situational edge and roll huge at home. 10* LAS VEGAS (-)