Early Ugly Underdog - Rickenbach NFL Game #261 Sunday - 8* San Francisco 49'ers (+) @ Miami Dolphins @ 1 ET - Only the Browns have been worse than the 49'ers this season but I see significant line value in this spot in Week 12 given the situation. Miami has won 5 straight games and they are off of back to back wins on the West Coast at Los Angeles and San Diego. Now the Dolphins come all the way back east to return home for just a single game as they have a road trip to a tougher foe (Baltimore) on deck. I just can't see Miami being fully focused in this spot and note that each of their last 4 wins have come by 7 points or less. The Dolphins have averaged only 283.7 yards of offense per game in their last 3 games and they'll have trouble getting much of a margin against a Niners team that has started to move the ball better as QB Colin Kaepernick has started to get in rhythm after the bye week. San Francisco's D is certainly still an issue but Miami's offense has not been impressive of late. The Dolphins are known for overlooking weaker opponents at this time of year as they have gone 2-8 ATS when facing teams with a losing record in the second half of a season. Miami is also 0-7 ATS as a non-conference home favorite of more than 4 points. Also, the Fish have gone 1-9 ATS when, in games 9 through 12 of a season, they have a winning record and are off of a SU win as an underdog and are now a home favorite. This truly is a classic flat spot. As for San Francisco, the 49'ers are 10-2 ATS as a non-divisional road dog of more than 3 points when they are off of a non-divisional game. Taking all of the above into consideration, that means we have combined systems of 34-5 (87%) ATS in favor of the Niners in this one. I'll take it. 8* SAN FRANCISCO plus the big points in early Sunday NFL action

#1 CFB SIDE - Rickenbach CFB Game #193 Saturday - 10* Top Play Utah Utes (+) @ Colorado Buffaloes @ 7:30 ET - The Utes are off of a home upset loss versus Oregon but clearly got caught looking ahead to this game. Conversely, Colorado is actually off of a big win over Washington State last week as they continue to be a 'covering machine' this season. The Buffaloes also have been a 'covering machine' in this series as they are 5-0 ATS against the Utes. However, there are two keys with where the value lies in this match-up. All 5 of the meetings have been decided by 7 points or less AND Utah has been the straight-up winner in 4 of the 5 meetings. With that said, there is clearly value with the Utes as a double digit dog in this match-up. Colorado must win this game to secure a spot in the PAC-12 Championship game while the Utes clearly would love nothing more than to play the role of spoiler here. Utah is 8-3 ATS the past three seasons (including 2-0 ATS this season) as an underdog. Also, looking at long-term numbers, the Utes are an incredible 9-2 ATS when they are a road dog of 7.5 to 10 points! While it has been an incredible season for the Buffaloes, only 4 of their last 9 games have been wins by more than 10 points. Hence, you can see the value here with the double digit dog Utes whom, statistically, are certainly not far behind the Buffs. Also, Colorado is still only 5-13 ATS their last 18 games as a favorite against PAC-12 foes. The Utes are 6-0, 100% PERFECT ATS when they are off of a SU loss which was also an ATS loss and now facing a team that is off of a SU win that was also an ATS win. Look for that system to go to 7-0 in what is going to be a fiercely contested PAC-12 battle. 10* Top Play UTAH UTES plus the BIG points on Saturday evening

NBA TV Top Play - Rickenbach NBA Game #504 Saturday - 10* Top Play Washington Wizards (+) vs San Antonio Spurs @ 7:05 ET - Even though this is a back to back for both teams, the Wizards actually had 3 full off days before knocking off Orlando yesterday. For the Spurs, it's been quite a different story as this will be their 4th game in 6 days. Look for fatigue to be a factor in this one. Also, even though the Spurs are on a winning streak, they had covered only 4 of their 11 November games prior to yesterday's win at cover at Boston. San Antonio had to rally back from an early deficit to get the 6-point road win over the Celtics and it will be interesting to see how much they have left in the tank after that "big push" yesterday to get the road win. The Spurs have lost SU and ATS in each of their past two visits to D.C. Also, the Wizards have gone 4-1 ATS as a home dog of 3.5 to 6 points and now this line has crept up even higher which is giving even more line value to the home team in this one. Washington has won 3 of its past 4 games and the Wizards last 6 losses have been by an average of just 7 points. They're in this one all the way and the points should be enough to get the all-important cover. 10* Top Play WASHINGTON WIZARDS plus the points early Saturday evening

Top Play Crusher - Rickenbach CBB Game #531 Saturday - 10* Top Play UT-Arlington Mavericks (+) @ Fordham Rams @ 5 ET - This line has moved from UT-Arlington being the 2.5 point favorite to Fordham now being the 2.5 point choice. Of course this 5 point move has opened up phenomenal value on the Mavericks. UT-Arlington does not have the record that the Rams have so far on this young season but the Mavs have played the tougher schedule. Even though Fordham is from the Atlantic Ten and UT-Arlington is from the SunBelt, the Rams are expected to finish near the bottom of the A-10 as they lost their top two scorers from last season while the Mavericks are the clear choice for the #1 spot in the SBC as virtually everyone is back (including all 5 starters and key reserves) from last season's team. The Mavericks are on a 14-6 ATS run in non-conference game and are 9-2 ATS the last 11 times they have been a road dog of 3 points or less. Fordham is on a 19-36 ATS run in November games. 10* Top Play UT-Arlington plus the points on Saturday in very early evening action

Underdog Shocker - Rickenbach CFB Game #179 Saturday - 8* Nevada Wolf Pack (+) @ UNLV Rebels @ 4 ET - The Rebels are down three starting wide receivers as they lost Devonte Boyd a few weeks ago. Of course that has made UNLV rather one-dimensional as they have to run the ball. Granted, that looks like a huge edge in this match-up because Nevada struggles to stop the run but, keep in mind, this is a big rivalry game and the Wolf Pack are likely to bring their best defensive effort of the season. That said, if Nevada is able to focus on the run that could make this a tough spot for the Rebels to get any kind of margin in this game. Another factor is that UNLV also struggles against the run and Nevada got their run game going with over 200 yards last week. The road team has won and covered each of the last 3 meetings in this rivalry series and that makes this a revenge spot for the Wolf Pack who lost at home to UNLV last year. Nevada has won 9 of the 11 meetings and this line is truly inflated on the Rebels as it has gone from less than a touchdown to very nearly a double digit spread as of early game day morning. I'll grab the corresponding line value with the revenging dog here. Nevada is on a 7-3 ATS run in November games. The Rebels have a long-term reputation for struggling as a favorite - 24-40 ATS! The Wolf Pack are off of an outright upset win as a TD underdog versus Utah State last week and the Pack has gone 5-0 ATS when they are on the road off of a SU win as an underdog. The Rebels are 0-5 SU the last 5 times they have hosted the Wolf Pack and, of course, if they don't win this game they don't cover and that means we're testing systems that are a combined 10-0, 100% ATS for this rivalry match-up. 8* NEVADA WOLF PACK plus the big points Saturday afternoon 

Earliest Cash - Rickenbach CFB Game #155 Saturday - 8* Illinois Illini (+) @ Northwestern Wildcats @ Noon ET - Of course the 2-9 Illini are not a very good football team. However, here you have a Wildcats team laying 17 points even though they are only averaging 24 points per game on the season. Also, Northwestern has been held to 24 points or less in 8 of their 12 games this season. While it is true that the Wildcats need this win for bowl eligibility, it is also true that Illinois is seeking revenge for a 24-14 loss to Northwestern last season. The Illini averaged 26 points per game in their first 6 games this season but they've faced 5 straight tough defenses since then and have struggled. Look for Illinois to now take advantage of facing a Wildcats defense that has shown some holes at times this season and only ranks 60th (out of 128) in the nation for yards allowed per game. This game will be much closer than many are expecting as the Illini give it their all in a game they know will be their season finale. Certainly Illinois would love nothing more than to also make sure it's rival Northwestern's season finale as well as the Illini could play spoiler and end the Wildcats bowl hopes. Illinois is 7-3 ATS when they enter a game on a losing streak of 2 or more games. Northwestern is 1-3 ATS as a favorite in a range of 10.5 to 21 points. The Wildcats are also 2-6 ATS when off of an outright loss as a favorite and 2-14 ATS when they are a double digit home favorite and facing a team that is off of a SU loss by double digits. The above systems combine for a powerful 30-8 (79%) ATS mark which I'll gladly put to the test here. 8* ILLINOIS ILLINI plus the BIG points early at Noon ET Saturday

BLACK FRIDAY Best Bet - Rickenbach CBB Game #735 Friday - 10* Top Play Southern Illinois Salukis (+) @ Minnesota Golden Gophers @ 8 ET - Minnesota is off to a 5-0 start this season and I like the direction the Golden Gophers are headed. I already used them once this season (as a Free Pick) and cashed in easily. However, Minnesota seems to have an over-inflated pointspread here. This is not a good situational spot for them. The Golden Gophers are off of a hard-fought win over an SEC foe (Arkansas) and they have a tough ACC foe (Florida State) on deck followed by another SEC foe (Vanderbilt). With that said, the Salukis are not exactly commanding a lot of Minnesota's attention and I like what Southern Illinois is doing early this season. They did lose some key talent from last year's team but Rodriguez, Fletcher, and Vincent are all returning players and they have combined to give the Salukis solid backcourt play. The frontcourt was a big concern outside of the 6'7 senior forward O'Brien. However, not only is O'Brien off to a big start both with scoring and rebounding, the addition of junior college transfer Thik Bol has proven to be a huge addition to the frontcourt. Though he is "only" 6'8 he is a proven shot-blocking machine (102 blocks last year and averaged 4.9 blocks per game the prior season) and Bol has come in and averaged 9 rebounds and 2.8 blocks per game so far this season. This means the Salukis are a little more "complete" than expected early this season and couple that with the fact that they have shot the ball very well (51.2%) early this season and I expect Southern Illinois to stay within single digits of Minnesota throughout this game. In games with a posted total in the 150 to 159.5 range, the Salukis are on a long-term 5-1 ATS run. The Golden Gophers are only 17-30 SU (and 19-28 ATS) in their last 47 games against teams with a winning record. Yes, the Big Ten is tougher than the Missouri Valley Conference but this line is simply "too much" as Barry Hinson is the reigning MVC Coach of the Year last year and has his team ready to compete and make up for a loss to Arkansas on the 14th that was the Salukis only ugly loss so far this season. They know this is a "big game" opportunity for them while the Golden Gophers simply aren't highly motivated here. That keeps this one much closer than many are expecting and yes I know Minny has been playing solid defense early this season but I expect them to be flat here. 10* Top Play SOUTHERN ILLINOIS Friday evening

Daytime Dominator - Rickenbach CFB Game #121 Friday - 8* Nebraska Cornhuskers (+) @ Iowa Hawkeyes @ 3:30 ET - Though it would take a big upset (Minnesota over Wisconsin Saturday), the fact is that the Cornhuskers are still alive for having a shot at the Big Ten title game. That said, look for another big effort from the Huskers here after they dominated Minnesota last week. This week Nebraska gets a boost with the expected return of QB Tommy Armstrong too. We are getting line value here because of Iowa's win over Michigan a few weeks back. If you look at the rest of the Hawkeyes results this season they only went 2-3 in their other 5 home games. Overall, Iowa doesn't have any other wins against quality opponents and they even lost to North Dakota State and Northwestern this season. Now the Hawkeyes face a revenge-minded Nebraska team that has played a tougher schedule than Iowa has this season. The Huskers are looking to avenge last season's 28-20 home loss to the Hawkeyes. Iowa is off of back to back strong efforts on defense but prior to that they had allowed 508.7 yards per game in their 3 prior games! The D will be a difference-maker here because Nebraska has given up 337 yards or less in 6 of their last 7 games! The Cornhuskers are on an 8-3 ATS run as an underdog while Iowa is on a 7-13 ATS run in home games. The Big Red get their revenge here and stay alive for a shot at the Big Ten West division. 8* NEBRASKA plus the points Friday

TNF Top Play - Rickenbach NFL Game #112 Thursday - 10* Top Play Indianapolis Colts (+) vs Pittsburgh Steelers @ 8:30 ET - No one wants the Colts here and everyone is lining up on the Steelers because of the Andrew Luck situation at QB. Of course having Scott Tolzien at QB is a huge stepdown from having Luck under center but, as a contrarian, I love fading the line move in situations like this. The Colts are now very nearly a double digit home dog in this game and they are going to bring a huge effort as they try to rally around the absence of Luck tonight. So many times, in the first game without a star player, you will see the rest of the team step up and other individuals tend to play their best games of the year in situations like this. Look for the Colts to indeed "rally the troops" for this one and they certainly have plenty of motivation. Not only is this the Thanksgiving Day primetime game under the lights, the Colts were demolished at Pittsburgh each of the past two seasons so Indianapolis is very happy to have this game at home and have a shot at home revenge after getting embarrassed by the Steelers each of the past two seasons. Also, in Sunday's win over the Titans, the Colts defense hung tough (and their D has improved in recent games) and coupling that with the Texas loss to Oakland Monday Night and Indianapolis is rejuvenated by their current positioning in the AFC South. The Colts have a fantastic long-term history in Thursday games with a 13-1 SU mark and 11-1 ATS mark. Also, the Steelers are off of a divisional win (albeit against the lowly Browns) and Pittsburgh is only 3-6 SU and 1-5 ATS when off of a win over a divisional foe. The highly motivated Colts will be flying all over the field in this one and I see this game being a one-possession game all the way through which means huge value with the big points. 10* Top Play INDIANAPOLIS

Turkey Day CFB Smash Pass - Rickenbach CFB Game #113 Thursday - 8* LSU Tigers (-) @ Texas A & M Aggies @ 7:30 ET - The Aggies want this game badly as the Tigers have held the upper hand in this series ever since Texas A & M entered the SEC. However, this is not a good spot for the Aggies to finally "break through" against the Tigers because LSU is fired up off of a loss and interim head coach Orgeron has his team ready to go. The Tigers are fired up after the loss to Florida last week. Against the Gators, LSU was simply done in by a couple of turnovers because they did actually outgain Florida by over 150 yards in that game! The Tigers have a fantastic defense and that gives them a huge edge over the Aggies who are not the same team without Trevor Knight at QB. Now word is that Knight may start Thursday but how much of that is due to him being ready and how much is due to Jake Hubenak also injuring his shoulder in his most recent game? Keep that in mind because the Aggies are going up against a tremendous defense that will inflict some big hits in this game! Even though RB Leonard Fournette is out for LSU in this one, the Tigers still have plenty of firepower to get the job done against A & M in this one. The Tigers are off of their 4th loss of the season. After their first three they responded with a win all 3 times going 3-0 and winning the games by at least 21 points all 3 times. The Aggies are in an 0-7 ATS tailspin and the Tigers are on a 7-3 ATS run as a favorite in a range of 3.5 to 10 points. Texas A & M is also on a 4-12 ATS run in their games against teams with a winning record. LSU is 5-0 ATS in the last 5 in this series and the Aggies come in on that overall 0-7 ATS run so we have a 12-0 ATS advantage for the Tigers in this one! In each of the last 5 meetings with A & M, the Tigers were coming in off of an ATS loss and they have responded all 5 times with a win and cover. Thes situation is again set up perfectly here in this season's match-up. 8* LSU

Daytime Dominator - Rickenbach NFL Game #109 Thursday - 8* Washington Redskins (+) @ Dallas Cowboys @ 4:30 ET - The Cowboys amazing streak has continued but this is the perfect spot for it to end. The Dallas streak actually started all the way back in Week 2 of the season when they went into Washington and stole a win from the Redskins. Or, you could say, the Skins gave it to them. Either way, I haven't forgotten that game and the Redskins surely haven't either as they had the lead in the 4th quarter and had a 1st and goal situation and were getting ready to go up two scores and basically salt the game away. Instead, Washington QB Kirk Cousins made a rare mistake in a crucial spot and threw a pick in the end zone. That changed everything and the rest is now history. Now we get a case where we have a revenging dog getting a full TD against a Dallas team that has performed poorly on Thanksgiving Day each of the past two seasons. This is a great spot for a hungry Washington team as they seek to avenge that loss. The Redskins do a great job with their pass rush while the Cowboys don't be surprised if that ends up being a difference maker here. The Redskins have a road trip to Arizona on deck and that is significant in that this is the first of back to back road games for Washington and the Skins are 9-0 ATS when they are a dog of more than 3 points in the first of back to back road games. The Redskins are also 9-0 ATS when they are on the road and facing a divisional opponent that has a .666 or better winning percentage on the season. These systems combine for an 18-0, 100% ATS mark and I'll gladly grab the generous points here with the revenging road dog. 8* WASHINGTON

CBB Game of the Month - Rickenbach CBB Game #759 Wednesday - 10* Top Play Old Dominion Monarchs (+) vs Louisville Cardinals @ in Battle 4 Atlantis @ Imperial Arena in Nassau, Bahamas @ 9:30 ET - Louisville is a top ten team in the nation and the Cardinals have absolutely dominated their first three games of the season. That really helps us here in terms of line value because this is not a good spot for the Cardinals to run up a big score. The Monarchs like to play a methodical style on offense and they rely on their "length" on defense and they also crash the boards well. As you can see from the low total posted on this game, not a lot of points are expected in this one and I look for Old Dominion to keep this game much closer than many are expecting. The Monarchs did suffer a pair of key losses (Trey Freeman and Aaron Bacote) from last season's team but they've got some solid newcomers in the mix for this season and have good size in both the frontcourt and backcourt. Keep in mind this was a 25-win team last season and Jeff Jones is a veteran coach (entered this season 427-326 in 24 years!) and he is now 72-39 at Old Dominion as he works into his 4th season there. Louisville, of course, is well-coached under Rick Pitino. However, this will be the first game they get forced into really having to score significant points in the half-court game because Old Dominion certainly is not going to let them run wild in transition. This is a key because the Cardinals lost their top three scorers from last season's team. The Cards are 0-4 ATS L4 against Conference USA opponents while the Monarchs are 3-0 ATS L3 as a neutral court dog of 12.5 to 15 points. That's a combined 7-0 ATS mark that favored Old Dominion based on the opening number on this game. Now that the spread has moved even higher, there is even more value with a team that truly is a "dangerous dog" in a situation like this. One final note on this, both teams have had significant time off since their most recent game but that favors the underdog as, if shots aren't falling due to the layoff and each team has some rust, it also helps to keep this game closer than the inflated number. 10* OLD DOMINION

Earliest Cash - Rickenbach NBA Game #709 Wednesday - 8* Memphis Grizzlies (-) @ Philadelphia 76'ers @ 7:05 ET - The Sixers have been playing well at home but that is helping to keep this line lower than it should be. Keep in mind, the Grizzlies are a solid team and they are a defensive-minded team. That strong D of Memphis is going to be the difference-maker here. The Grizzlies have won and covered 5 straight games and they've allowed an average of only 75 points per game in their last 3 games! The Sixers are off of a 101-94 win over Miami and that marked the first time this entire season that Philadelphia has allowed less than 102 points in a game! As you can see, there is a big difference in the defensive prowess of these two clubs. Also, the 76'ers are only 1-5 ATS this season against teams with a winning record. Also, I want to mention a couple of straight-up records here because the line is rather small on this game. The Sixers are an unbelievably bad 3-83 SU in their last 86 games against teams with a winning record. The Grizzlies are 80-27 SU in the last 107 games where they were the favorite. In other words, the road fave has great odds (163-30, 85%) of winning this game and, that said, I'll gladly lay the small number with the Grizzlies. 8* MEMPHIS

Contrarian Crusher - Rickenbach CBB Game #757 Wednesday - 8* St John's Red Storm vs Michigan State Spartans in Battle 4 Atlantis @ Imperial Arena in Nassau, Bahamas @ 7 ET - The Red Storm went 8-24 last year. The Spartans, as usual, are ranked as one of the top basketball teams in the country. That said, this opening line of 6.5 had to look funny to most casual observers. Of course the key here is that you and I aren't "casual observers" and truly there is value in grabbing the points in this match-up as it has already moved up to 7.5 - no surprise there. The Spartans are a quality team (of course) but, even with a 6 for 6 performance from downtown for Eron Harris (scored 31 points) they only snuck by Florida Gulf Coast by a single point and that says a lot right there! St John's is in their 2nd year under head coach (and former Red Storm star) Chris Mullin. There can be a lot of improvement in year 2 under a new coach and with the strong newcomers they have brought in, this Red Storm team is likely on a faster than expected upward trajectory. The fact they are off of their first loss of the season is giving us even more value here as St John's is very hungry for this shot to knock off a highly ranked foe on a neutral floor. The biggest issue for the Red Storm is depth but they truly are very talented and got a big boost with newcomers Marcus LoVett and Shamorie Ponds. The depth won't be such an issue here as it's early in the season and they are playing for just the 2nd time in 10 days. Michigan State is actually the team that could be a little "stretched out" here as this their 3rd game in 5 days. Grab the points and look for the Red Storm to be in this one all the way. A lot of talent and Mullin is making believers out of this team. 8* ST JOHN'S 

Earliest Cash - Rickenbach NBA Game #501 Tuesday - 8* New Orleans Pelicans (+) @ Atlanta Hawks @ 7:35 ET - Many will be looking at the Hawks here since they are back home where they've played well and they are looking to respond off of back to back losses. However, part of the problem for Atlanta has been poor point guard play. It has gotten so bad in fact that Hawks PG Dennis Schroder was benched in the third quarter of Atlanta's most recent game after missing all eight of his shots. The Hawks are going to have an issue in terms of matching up at the point guard position for this one because the Pelicans Jrue Holiday has been fantastic on both ends of the floor since he returned to the team two games ago. The New Orleans point man had been tending to a family matter but certainly has come back fully focused and ready to go as he has helped lead the Pelicans to victory in each of his first two games back. Look for Holiday to again be a difference-maker tonight and the Hawks could get caught looking ahead to a match-up with an Eastern Conference foe tomorrow as they will be traveling to Indiana to face the Pacers and begin a lengthy road trip. Atlanta has had a bad habit of overlooking "lesser" teams this season and has gone 2-4 ATS against teams with a losing record. Conversely, the Pelicans have been at their best against "quality" foes and have gone 5-2 ATS against teams with a winning record. Big value with the big points in this one. 8* NEW ORLEANS PELICANS Tuesday evening 

Contrarian Crusher Tuesday - Rickenbach CBB Game #520 Tuesday - 8* Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders (-) vs Toledo Rockets @ 7:30 ET - The Rockets have burned me twice early this season as they beat the spread against me by a point and a half the first time and a single point the 2nd time. The third time will be the charm as they are on the road to face a Middle Tennessee State team that beat them by 8 points last season on a neutral floor. The Rockets are a MAC team that really hasn't improved from last season while the Blue Raiders are a C-USA team that will battle UAB for the top spot in the 14-team conference this season. The key to the Raiders further improvement this season (won 25 games last season) is how quickly Arkansas transfer 6'8 Jacorey Williams "fit in" with the team. Surprisingly, Williams has already proven to be a great addition and he combines with guard Giddy Potts and senior forward Reggie Upshaw to give Middle Tennessee State a "Big Three" that is tough on the opposition. The Blue Raiders are in a great spot here to come up big as they are at home and off of an embarrassing loss. They lost to Tennessee State as MTSU simply "slipped up" and did not shoot the ball well nor did they defend well in that game. You can bet they will now bring a huge effort tonight and, keep in mind, the Blue Raiders had scored an average of 94.5 points per game in their first two games plus they held the opposition to under 43% from the field in each of their first two games. Middle Tennessee State is 10-4 ATS their last 14 games against teams averaging 77 points or more per game. Toledo, given those same parameters, is an ugly 2-8 ATS in recent seasons and a poor 24-43 ATS long-term. The point is, the Rockets won't be able to keep with the Blue Raiders in this one as MTSU bounces back with a huge scoring night at home. 8* Middle Tennessee State Tuesday evening

Tuesday Rivalry Rout - Rickenbach CFB Game #104 Tuesday - 8* Miami, Ohio Redhawks (-) vs Ball State Cardinals @ 7 ET - Even though Ball State plays in the West Division of the MAC and Miami, Ohio is in the East Division, this is still a rivalry as these universities are separated by only 70 miles. In fact, for next season, these two rivals will resume playing every year under the MAC’s new “rivalry status” designation. This new ruling allows teams from the East to play a team from the West annually as rivals and certainly this is good to see as this rivalry gets going again. The Redhawks have revenge on their minds in this one as the most recent meeting saw them lose badly at Ball State in 2013 by a final score of 55-14. Revenge is certainly not the only motivating factor here either as Miami has their eyes on securing their 6th win for bowl eligibility. It would be a great accomplishment considering the Redhawks started the season 0-6 but have since rattled off 5 straight wins and gone 5-0 ATS in the process. While the Hawks are "up" for this game I look for Ball State to have a tough game here as first-year Cardinals coach Mike Neu is trying to "rally the troops" but their ugly loss at Toledo (37-19) last week ended their chances at bowl eligibility. The Cardinals defense is struggling and has allowed 534.6 yards per game in MAC games while the Redhawks D has been fantastic in conference action and allowed only 319.6 yards per game. Miami QB Gus Ragland has filled in as Billy Bahl tries to come from injury and Ragland has 12 TDs against 0 picks! In fact, turnovers are a key when looking at how this match-up is likely to play out tonight. The Redhawks have won the turnover battle by a combined 11-4 during their five game winning streak while the Cardinals have lost the turnover battle by a combined 15-5 in their last 6 games! Ball State is 1-8 ATS in November games the past 3 seasons combined while Miami is 8-2 ATS over that same period of time in their games against teams with a losing record. When on a winning streak of 2 games or more, the Redhawks have gone a perfect 3-0 ATS while the Cardinals are on an 0-4 ATS run in Tuesday games. In their 3rd year under coach Chuck Martin the Redhawks have finally hit their stride and they also have a big rest edge here as this is just their third game this month and they've been off since the 12th. The Cards just played on Wednesday and this will be their 4th game in 22 days this month. The Cardinals are ready for the season to end while the Redhawks are geared up to qualify for a bowl as, should they make one, it would be their first since the 2010 season. 8* MIAMI-OHIO Tuesday

MNF 100% Never Lost System Smash - Rickenbach NFL Game #475 Monday - 8* Houston Texans (+) vs Oakland Raiders @ Estadio Azteca in Mexico City, MX @ 8:30 ET - The Raiders are off of a bye week but they had been rolling and, a lot of times, the last thing a team wants is a bye week when they are in a good rhythm like Oakland was. Here's the 'kicker' to this though: Raiders had covered each of their 3 games prior to the bye and the last 13+ seasons (dating all the way back to the start of the 2003 season) when Oakland enters a game on a 3-0 ATS run they have failed to cover their next game every single time. There have been 10 such occurrences and the Raiders are 0-10 ATS. The 2002 season was the year the Raiders made it to the Super Bowl (and, interestingly, also their most recent year in the post-season) and that was also the Texans first year in the NFL. With that said, once that inaugural Texans season went into the books with the Raiders losing in that year's Super Bowl, since that time, this system is a 10-0, 100% perfect ATS play against the Raiders. Certainly in looking at this match-up, Oakland has the better offense but there is also no argument that the Texans have the better defense. Houston has allowed an average of only 317.4 yards per game and that ranks them among the top teams in the NFL. The Texans offense has been able to get the ground game going of late as they have run for at least 140 yards in 3 of their last 4 games and that will make the Raiders D have to respect the run. Even though Houston QB Brock Osweiler is certainly one of the weaker QBs in the NFL, he'll have opportunities to attack downfield through the air against a Raiders pass defense that ranks as one of the worst in the league as they are allowing 283.2 passing yards per game this season. We're getting some significant points here with a solid defensive-minded team and I look for that aforementioned record for Oakland to drop to 0-11 ATS as they once again fail to get a 4th straight cover. A couple of more ATS notes here. This is essentially an away game for both teams since its being played in Mexico City and the Raiders are 1-9 ATS when they are away from home and off of back-to-back SU wins. Oakland is also 0-6 ATS in Monday Night games against non-divisional opponents. As for the Texans, with their win last week at Jacksonville, they are now 7-2 SU and ATS in their last 9 November games. 8* HOUSTON TEXANS Monday Night

TV Blowout Smash - Rickenbach CBB Game #762 Monday - 8* Georgia Bulldogs (-) vs George Washington Colonials @ CBE Hall of Fame Classic @ Spring Center in Kansas City, MO @ 7 ET - The Bulldogs already have a loss this season as they lost their season opener (against Clemson) while the Colonials are a perfect 3-0 this season. However, George Washington seriously hasn't played "anybody" yet this season and the fact that the Colonials have only made 41.1% of their shots from the field (considering the teams they've faced) is scary when you consider they're finally stepping up in class for this game. The Bulldogs are a team on the rise under head coach Mark Fox and even though they are off of a game where they faced an over-matched foe, it is still good news that they shot 52.8% from the field in that game. Note that the Colonials also faced an over-matched foe but they only shot 35.6% from the field and that was against Arkansas-Pine Bluff! That team is projected to be one of the worst teams in one of the worst conferences (Southwestern Athletic) in all of Division I college basketball. Look for the Bulldogs to shoot the ball much better than the Colonials in this one and they also have the added edge of already being battle-tested early this season. The fact that Georgia already has a loss (to Clemson) under their belt is a good thing here. George Washington is 3-7 SU (and 2-8 ATS) in their last 10 against SEC competition. The past two seasons, the Bulldogs are 9-4 (SU and ATS) when they are off of a game in which they scored 80 points or more. Off of an 84-78 win, the offense stays hot here for the Dawgs. 8* GEORGIA early Monday evening

Primetime Punisher - Rickenbach NFL Game #473 Sunday - 8* Green Bay Packers (+) @ Washington Redskins @ 8:30 ET - When a team has seemingly hit rock bottom and then gets a marquee match-up under the national TV primetime lights, it is often the best time to make a play on them. Not only are the Packers getting the Sunday night TV game this week but they've got the big Monday night TV game next week. That is noteworthy here because I love backing a team off of an embarrassing loss as a fave (GB lost 47-25 at Tenn LW) and the Packers are a perfect 8-0 ATS their last 8 before a MNF game. The Packers are also 8-1-1 ATS their last 10 against the Redskins and that includes a big 35-18 win in the Wild Card round of last season's playoffs. Certainly that makes this a revenge spot for Washington but the Redskins are catching an angry Packers team off of 3 straight losses. The last time that GB entered a game off of 3 straight losses they were at Minnesota last season and they crushed the Vikings 30 to 13. Washington may also get caught peeking ahead here. Yes, this is a revenge game so that would seem impossible but the fact is the Redskins have their most hated rival, the Cowboys, on deck in just a few days on Thanksgiving Day. In games 9 through 12 of a season, Washington has gone 1-12 ATS when they are a home favorite and off of a win (SU and ATS) in their prior game. Overall, the Redskins are also 1-6 ATS when in the 2nd of back to back home games. Combining all the ATS trends noted above we have a combined 34-3-1 (92%) ATS mark favoring the road dog in this one. I'll take it! 8* GREEN BAY PACKERS Sunday Night

Contrarian Crusher - Rickenbach NBA Game #505 Sunday - 8* Indiana Pacers (+) @ Oklahoma City Thunder @ 7:05 ET - With Paul George still dealing with an ankle injury it is no surprise that this line is double digits. However, the Thunder (in my opinion) continue to be over-rated and they're facing an Indiana team that is going to bring a huge effort Sunday evening no matter who is on the floor. The Pacers are off of an embarrassing home loss to the Suns and it was their 4th loss by 17 points or more on the season. What happened after their first 3? The Pacers got the win every single time. Now, I am not saying they're going to get the outright win here but I am saying that Indiana is going to give a tremendous effort here and I expect that to be enough to keep them "hanging around" in this game all the way through before eventually coming up just short and losing by single digits. The Thunder are off of an easy home win over Brooklyn so I would not be surprised to see a let up here and, keep in mind, OKC had failed to cover 4 of their 5 prior games. Oklahoma City is on a 6-14 ATS run and could easily get caught looking ahead to a Western road swing that starts Tuesday for OKC. The road team won both meetings last season and this looks like another dangerous spot for the Thunder as the road team gets it done once again. 8* INDIANA PACERS Sunday

NFC Game of the Month - Rickenbach NFL Game #471 Sunday - 10* Top Play Philadelphia Eagles (+) @ Seattle Seahawks @ 4:25 ET - The Seahawks are off of a huge revenging win at New England in the Sunday night game. Keep in mind that wasn't just "any revenge" either as it was Super Bowl revenge from the 2015 Super Bowl loss to the Patriots! Not only that but Seattle had to go coast to coast to get it. After that huge win and with another road trip to the East Coast on deck, this is a tough spot for the Seahawks. There is big value with the points as Seattle has only two wins by more than 7 points out of their 9 games this season. Also, the Eagles have not lost a game by more than 7 points this entire season. Philadelphia did, however, accomplish something last week that they haven't done all season and that is they won a game by single digits. That was a tight game and Philly got the win over a good Falcons team. The Eagles defense continues to be dominating as they've allowed 303 yards or less in 6 of their last 8 games! Statistically these teams are very nearly equal so Seattle should be about a field goal favorite at home but instead they're laying around a TD in this one and, given the situational disadvantages to the Seahawks, the big line is certainly not warranted. In other words, big value with the dog in this one. In games 9 through 12 of a season, Philadelphia has gone 12-2 ATS when they are on the road and playing with revenge against a non-divisional opponent. The Eagles lost to the Hawks in Philly in 2014. Philadelphia has also covered 14 in a row (14-0, 100% ATS!) as a road dog of more than 4 points when playing with revenge against an NFC opponent. In games 9 through 12 of a season, Seattle has gone 1-7 ATS when off of an outright win as a underdog and facing a non-divisional opponent. That means we have edges of 33-3 (92%) ATS favoring the Eagles in this spot which truly is an excellent situation. 10* PHILADELPHIA

CFL Finals VALUE Smash - Rickenbach CFL Game #480 - 10* Top Play Calgary Stampeders (-) vs BC Lions @ 4:30 ET - With barely getting by Winnipeg last week, the Lions showed they're likely to be in trouble this week against the rested Stampeders. Calgary is coming off of an absolutely dominating CFL season and the fact that this line opened up at 8.5 and then dropped to 7 has me liking this play even more. Yes, the points are significant here but the edges are off the charts as you don't dominate the way Calgary did in the regular season by accident. This Stampeders team is firing on all cylinders and they beat the Lions 37 to 9 in their most recent meeting and that was in British Columbia! The Stampeders are 6-0 SU and 5-0 ATS when off of a bye week! The Lions are 4-9 SU (and 3-10 ATS) when they are off of two or more consecutive wins. Also, BC is 1-6 ATS in their last 7 November games. This one gets ugly in a hurry! 10* CALGARY Sunday afternoon

Early Contrarian - Rickenbach NFL Game #463 Sunday - 8* Baltimore Ravens (+) @ Dallas Cowboys @ 1 ET - The Cowboys have had an incredible run but now face arguably the best defense in the NFL. The Ravens also have extra rest as they last played on Thursday and that was a blowout win over the hapless Browns. Baltimore is on a 7-1 ATS run when off of a win over a division rival. The Ravens are also on a 7-1 ATS run when off of facing the Browns. Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett has a 4-11 ATS mark as a home favorite when facing a team off of a SU win. Garrett also has a 2-7 ATS mark as a favorite of more than 3 points when facing a team with a winning record. The Cowboys are only 1-5 ATS when facing a team off of back to back SU and ATS wins. The combined ATS records above in favor of Baltimore in this match-up per the above: 37-9 (80%). The Ravens have won big and covered the past two weeks against the Steelers and Browns and they stay hot here to finally shut up "America's Team" in "Jerry's World" as the Cowboys get caught looking ahead to their Thanksgiving showdown with the division rival Redskins that is just days away. 8* BALTIMORE

Early Underdog Shocker - Rickenbach NFL Game #457 Sunday - 8* Chicago Bears (+) @ New York Giants @ 1 ET - The Bears are off of an embarrassing 36 to 10 loss at Tampa Bay while the Giants are off of a tight Monday night win over the Bengals by just a single point. In other words, the set up is perfect here for the ugly dog! Chicago's John Fox is 10-2 ATS away from home when his team is off of a straight-up loss by double digits in a game in which they were favored. The Bears did defeat the Giants in Chicago in 2013 in their most recent meeting. That makes this a revenge spot for New York and, in games 9 through 12 of a season, when playing with revenge versus an opponent who is off of an ATS loss by a double digit margin, the Giants have gone 1-10 ATS. Chicago, in games 9 through 12 of a season, have gone 7-1 ATS when off of a SU loss and facing an opponent who is off of back to back SU and ATS wins. Statistically these teams are truly not different at all when you look at yardage stats but the Giants have simply "found a way" and that is why they are 6-3 on the season while the Bears are 2-7 both SU and ATS. The result here when you consider just how equal these teams are is that we're getting extra line value based on market perception. The Giants should perhaps be a 3 point choice based on home field but instead they're laying 7 or 7.5 in this one and that's value for the dog. Based on the angles above we also are testing a combined 27-4 (87%) ATS mark! I'll gladly take that "test"! 8* CHICAGO

PAC-12 Game of the Year - Rickenbach CFB Game #406 Saturday - 10* Top Play UCLA Bruins (+) vs USC Trojans @ 10:30 ET - Huge rivalry game of course and the Bruins have some added confidence after getting back into the win column with a big win over Oregon State last week. This week UCLA catches the Trojans off of their big upset win at Washington last week as a TD+ underdog. Give USC credit as that was a very impressive performance but of course it is difficult to come out and have your "A game" in back to back weeks and, in my opinion, it would take another "A game" from the Trojans to be able to cover this large spread Saturday night. Yes, QB Josh Rosen is out for the season for the Bruins but starting in his place is a 5th year senior, Mike Fafaul, who completed 25 of 47 passes for 281 yards last week. Of course it will be a much tougher task for Fafaul and Company against the USC defense BUT how much will the Trojans have left in the tank after that huge upset win last week? Also, lets not forget that the Bruins defense has been fantastic this season as only one team (Utah) has scored more than 27 points against this defense (not including overtime points). Sure USC has put up big points against bad Pac 12 defenses and against an overmatched Utah State team in non-conference action. However, in the Trojans other 5 games (against quality defenses) they were held to an average of only 18 points per game. I just don't see USC getting enough against this quality Bruins defense to blow UCLA away. Simply put, this game will go down to the wire as the 4-6 Bruins would love nothing more than to eliminate their hated rival from PAC-12 South contention. The Trojans are a long-term 5-10 ATS as road favorites of 10.5 to 14 points. In games played in weeks 10 through 13 of a season, the Bruins are 7-2 ATS their last 9. The home team is on a 14-5 ATS run in this series and, overall, USC is on a 11-22 ATS run as a road favorite. The Bruins had won 3 straight in this series (all by double digits) before last seasons embarrassing 40-21 loss to the Trojans. It is time for a little payback here. 10* UCLA Bruins plus the big points Saturday

Contrarian Smash - Rickenbach CFB Game #391 Saturday - 8* Tulsa Golden Hurricane (+) @ Central Florida Knights @ 8 ET - The Knights have bounced back from an insane 0-12 season to go 6-4 so far this season. However, their 6 wins included one against an FCS school and 5 against FBS schools that each have at least 7 losses on the season! The point is that I am not sold on the UCF turnaround and Tulsa comes into this game angry off of a tight loss at Navy last week. The Golden Hurricane are averaging 518.5 yards of offense per game and this will prove to be too much for a Central Florida offense that is averaging only 361.5 yards per game. Tulsa is playing the 2nd of back to back road games for the only time this season but this is a situation that has seen them go 7-1 ATS their last 8 and I like backing them off of a loss as they now look to get back on track with a win. They are a perfect 5-0 ATS their last 5 games. Also, Tulsa is an incredible 27-7 SU (and ATS!) when they score 30 points or more in a conference game. So far this season the Golden Hurricane have scored at least 31 points in every single game except for when they faced Ohio State. Look for the Tulsa offense to stay red hot and Central Florida gets exposed here! I'll gladly fade a line move that has seen the Golden Hurricane go from being as high as a 4 point favorite to now being a 1 point dog in this one. 8* TULSA Saturday

No Doubt Blowout Rout - Rickenbach CBB Game #726 Saturday - 8* Wright State Raiders (+) vs Toledo Rockets @ 7 ET - Toledo is coming off a non-covering win against Youngstown State. That is the same Penguins team that went 6-12 in the Horizon League last season and is projected to be dead last in the 10-team league this season. That said, a 5-point win over the Pens even though the game was in Toledo, doesn't bode well for the Rockets as they now are on the road to face a Wright State team that went 13-5 in Horizon League action last season and tied for 2nd place. The Raiders have a new coach in Scott Nagy and I already like what he's doing with this team that has some key go-to scorers as they already had Mark Alstork in place but Justin Mitchell and Grant Benzinger also have put up double digits in points early this season. The Raiders also got a big boost with the return of 6'8 senior Steven Davis. He missed last season but is already averaging 21 points this season! Coach Nagy had a great pedigree with his results at South Dakota State as he helped make them a Division 1 team and they made it to the NCAA Tourney 3 of the last 5 seasons and the NIT Tourney in one of the other two seasons. With the line move on this from a pick'em to now being able to get the Raiders at +3 on their home floor, there was no question about me pulling the trigger in this home dog spot. Wright State is 19-10 SU at home the past 2+ seasons and the Raiders are 7-3 SU after a game in which they scored 80 or more points. The Rockets are 4-8 ATS when off of a game where they allowed 80 points or more. Toledo was also very fortunate to get the cash in their opener against St Joe's as they were down 5 points very late in that game. The point is there is great line value with this home dog. 8* WRIGHT STATE RAIDERS Saturday

The Big Game - Rickenbach CFB Game #376 Saturday - 8* California Golden Bears (+) vs Stanford Cardinal @ 5:30 ET - Of course this literally is "The Big Game" and Stanford has won 6 straight match-ups. However, this could be "the year" for Cal as an upset here would not surprise me given the situation but, either way, the fact is that the points are too much here. Without a doubt the Cardinal possess the much better defense but there also is no doubt that California has the much more explosive offense. That said, I feel this is a rather "even match-up" and yet we're able to get double digit points with the home dog! Keep in mind, Cal has to have this game to keep bowl eligibility hopes alive and also, of course, the added motivational edge of the players on this California team wanting to finally have "The Stanford Axe" that remains with the team who wins this annual battle. None of these players have ever had it since they haven't beaten Stanford since 2009. Note that the Cardinal finally had an offensive explosion last week but this was a team that previously had averaged only 19.9 points per game in their first 9 games of this season. It's hard to cover a spread like this one when you struggle to put points on the board and I am not "sold" on the Stanford offense after just one game. It's also doubly hard to cover a big spread like this when you're facing a team that averages nearly 40 points and over 500 yards per game! Even though the Bears have lost bad the past three weeks, they have averaged 454 yards of offense per game and they will have some success against the Cardinal D as this is one of the top offenses in the nation. Cal did recently have an ugly home loss to Washington but they are 3-0 in their other 3 home games this season with wins over Oregon, Utah, and Texas. They also won their neutral site opener in Australia vs Hawaii back in August. The point is that Utah and Texas are certainly not horrible teams and Cal not only beat them but they have won every single non-road game this season other than the one against the Huskies. Keep in mind that's the same Washington team that blasted Stanford 44-6 earlier this season. Simply put, the Cardinal don't belong in this price range against a home dog that has the offense to rise up and keep up the Golden Bears in this one all the way. 8* CALIFORNIA Saturday

Earliest Cash - Rickenbach CFB Game #396 Saturday - 8* Michigan State Spartans (+) vs Ohio State Buckeyes @ Noon ET - Spartans coach Dantonio has a knack for being a cash cow as an underdog. Dantonio is on an 11-2 ATS run as an underdog and 8 of those 11 victories have been outright wins. Though they are unlikely to upset Ohio State here, the spread is far too big. The Spartans lost to rival Michigan here in East Lansing by only 9 points three weeks ago. Also, the weather will be very cold and windy today with temperatures in the 30s and winds of 20 to 30 mph with gusts up to 40. It is not going to be a day that is conducive for offenses to put up many points. Of course that favors a big underdog like the Spartans are here as they are catching more than 3 TDs in this one. Ohio State has "The Game" on deck as they face the Wolverines next week. That makes this the perfect spot to back a Michigan State team that was able to get some confidence back thanks to annihilating Rutgers 49-0 last week. The Spartans needed that win as it has been a very tough season for them. That makes games like this ultra important to them. It is their home finale and a chance at pulling off a shocker. Though I don't expect that I do expect the Spartans to keep this one much closer than many are expecting. Michigan State is a perfect 13-0 ATS when they are a home dog of more than 4 points and they are coming off of a SU win. Ohio State is a winless 0-9 ATS when they are a road favorite of less than 25 points and they are coming off of a SU win by double digits and now facing a team with a sub.-500 record. With the Spartans only 3-7 on the season that system fits here and that means that by playing the big home dog we are testing angles that are a combined 22-0, 100%! 8* MICHIGAN STATE Saturday

NBA Game of the Week - Rickenbach NBA Game #501 Friday - 10* Top Play Phoenix Suns (+) @ Indiana Pacers @ 7:05 ET - The Suns have lost three straight games and allowed 120 points or more in all three defeats. The Phoenix players, of course, are well aware of this and fully focused on bouncing back on Friday and they are in the right place at the right time. The Suns have actually won 8 of their last 11 visits to Indiana and they catch the Pacers off of a huge win over the defending NBA champion Cavaliers. The Pacers caught a break as LeBron James sat out the game for Cleveland for rest. Speaking of breaks, the Indiana strength of schedule has not been as strong as what the Suns have faced so far this season and that also is leading to line value in this spot for Phoenix. The Suns have shot at least 49.4% from the field in 3 straight road games. The Pacers had shot only 41.7% from the field in their 3 games prior to a strong effort against the Cavaliers. After that big win, look for Indiana to fall flat here in what is anticipated to be a high scoring game. Note that the Pacers are 0-7 ATS this season in games with a posted total of 210 or more. The Suns are 4-1 ATS this season after a loss by 10 points or more in their prior game. The road team responds in this one and catches the home team in a flat spot. 10* PHOENIX SUNS Friday

Big Ten Network Smash - Rickenbach CBB Game #521 Friday - 8* Georgia State Panthers (+) @ Purdue Boilermakers @ 7 ET - Georgia State has a lot of connections to basketball in Indiana. Panthers head coach Ron Hunter was a coach at IUPUI for many years. Also, star senior forward Jeremy Hollowell was heavily recruited in the Indiana area. The 6'8 low-post player will be a key to "evening out" the match-up inside against the Purdue big men. The biggest key to this play is the way the Panthers mix up defenses and keep opponents off-balance with a mix of full-court pressure and match-up zones. Yes, I know that Georgia State just got walloped at Auburn but they were only down by 5 at the half in that game and the biggest issue for the Panthers in that game is that they simply had a poor shooting game. Look for coach Hunter to have his team ready to respond here in s a game that means an awful lot to him with his Indiana connections. Though Purdue is looking to bounce back off of a loss, keep in mind that the Boilermakers just lost to the defending national champs. Purdue put an awful lot (physically and mentally) into that game and though they should have enough left-over to get the win here, I certainly don't see it being enough for the cover. Look for the Panthers to "hang around" in this one before ultimately losing the game by no more than a dozen points. 8* GEORGIA STATE Friday

Primetime Punisher - Rickenbach NFL Game #309 Thursday - 8* New Orleans Saints (+) @ Carolina Panthers @ 8:25 ET - Both teams are looking to bounce back off of tough losses this past Sunday. That said, the value here is with the Saints even though it is the Panthers who are seeking revenge for a loss at New Orleans earlier this season. The fact is that Carolina just isn't the same team it once was. They have faded this season and it hasn't been a fluke. The statistics back it up. With their loss versus Kansas City Sunday, the Panthers have now been held under 350 yards of offense in 3 straight games. It is not just the offense that is having problems either. In their 5 games prior to blowing a huge lead and losing to the Chiefs, the Carolina pass defense was completely exposed as they allowed an average of 347.8 yards per game through the air. The Panthers aren't going to stop a Saints offense that has the #1 aerial attack in the league on a clear night with calm winds in Carolina. The Saints have gone 13-3 ATS in their last 16 games as an underdog including a perfect 5-0 ATS this season. Also, New Orleans is on a solid 6-2 ATS run in divisional games. The Panthers only 2 ATS wins this season have come with extra rest (once after a Monday night game and once after their bye week). Carolina is 0-6-1 ATS in their other 7 games this season and now the Panthers comes into this Thursday game on short rest. Coincidentally, the other time Carolina entered a game on short rest this season was when they faced the Saints in October after a Monday night game. That didn't go so well as the Panthers gave up 523 yards in a game that Carolina only lost by 3 but that easily could have been decided by much more than that. The Saints just have too much offense for a "scuffling" Panthers team this season and, additionally, the New Orleans defense has shown some improvement as the Saints have held 4 of their last 6 opponents to 359 yards or less. 8* NEW ORLEANS Thursday

ESPN ATS Crusher - Rickenbach CFB Game #311 Thursday - 8* Louisville Cardinals (-) @ Houston Cougars @ 8 ET - The Cougars have not been the same team since all the head coaching rumors started flying around about Tom Herman's future as he is one of the more sought after coaches in the nation. This started right before Houston got upset at Navy and that began a horrible decline for the Cougars that has seen them lose 5 straight ATS. Certainly the Cougars would like nothing more than to play the role of spoiler and step up big-time on ESPN Thursday night and upset one of the top teams in the nation. However, Houston star QB Greg Ward is dealing with a bad shoulder and a bad ankle and, overall, this Cougars team is simply no match for a revenge-minded Cardinals team. Louisville suffered a home loss to the Cougars last season and that ensures that they once they get up huge in this game they will keep the pedal to the metal so I have no qualms about laying the 2 TD spread plus even more on Thursday night. The Cardinals are better on both sides of the ball than the Cougars are. Keep in mind, Houston has been held to an average of 329.7 yards of offense per game in their last 3 games and those were against SMU, UCF, and Tulane! There is no way the Cougars are going to keep up with QB Lamar Jackson and the Cardinals in this one. Jackson and Company are averaging 50 points per game this season and their defense has held their last 3 opponents to 322 yards or less in all 5 games. This is clearly a case of two teams going in opposite directions. The Cardinals are on a 13-3 ATS run when they are on the road and facing a team with a winning percentage of .666 or better. Look for Houston's run to reach 0-6 ATS in their last 6 games as the Cards get their payback in a big way tonight. 8* LOUISVILLE Thursday

Top Insider - Rickenbach CBB Game #715 Thursday - 10* Top Play Temple Owls (+) @ Massachusetts Minutemen @ 7 ET - These are former Atlantic Ten rivals and though the players have changed the coaches can certainly remember the last time they met. Fran Dunphy is now in his 11th season as head coach at Temple and Derek Kellogg is entering his 9th season at Massachusetts. The Owls lost to the Minutemen in an A-10 Quarterfinals game in March of 2013 the last time these two coaches squared off. It is time for a little payback for Dunphy and his team comes in "fighting mad" off of their loss to New Hampshire on Monday. Certainly UMass comes into this game hungry as well since they are off of a loss to Ole Miss. However, as is typically the case with Massachusetts, they are all about the offense and still not getting the job done on the defensive end. The Owls allowed only 67.6 points per game last season and was good enough for 4th in the AAC last season. UMass allowed 75.8 points per game last season and that ranked them very near rock bottom in the Atlantic 10. This season the Minutemen have already allowed 83 points per game whereas the Owls got involved in a wild first game that did go to OT but in their 2nd game they held a good New Hampshire team (one of the best in America East) to only 57 points. Though 1-1 on the season (with one good offensive showing and one good defensive showing), Temple is expected to put it all together in this revenge spot. The Owls defense and their size advantage in the frontcourt (with more depth too) to be the difference maker in this one. After a game where Temple has allowed 60 points or less they've gone 21-6 straight-up and, after a game where they've scored 60 points or less, the Owls have gone 13-4 straight-up. That's a combined 34-10 angle in play here as they are actually getting a few points in this match-up since it's at UMass. The Minutemen are 6-12 SU (and 5-10 ATS) when off of a game where they allowed 80 points or more and, once again, their defense does them in at home tonight. 10* TEMPLE Thursday

Daytime Dominator - Rickenbach CBB Game #745 Thursday - 8* Northern Iowa Panthers (+) vs Arizona State Sun Devils at the San Juan Tipoff in Orlando, FL @ 4:30 ET - This line has gone from Arizona State -1 all the way to a -4 as of gameday morning. This is offering significant line value on Northern Iowa. Keep in mind that, even though the Panthers had some significant personnel losses from last season's team, the Sun Devils lost five players (Atwood, Blakes, Goodman, Jacobsen, and Spight) that combined for 43.3 points per game. Also 4 of those 5 averaged at least 4 rebounds per game as well. The big key here is that head coach Bobby Hurley is only in his 2nd year with the Sun Devils whiereas the Panthers Ben Jacobson has been at Northern Iowa now for more than a decade. Though they lost three starters, the Panthers do return a couple of key starters, a couple of key reserves, and they also added to the roster with four freshmen who redshirted last season plus added four others who are not true freshmen. This is a quality program that won 23 games last season and truly is not in a rebuild mode whereas Arizona State is only in the 2nd season under Hurley and has quite a ways to go yet. Also, the Sun Devils are 1-5 SU (and 1-4 ATS in neutral court games) while the Panthers are 13-3 SU (and 12-4 ATS) in neutral court games. 8* NORTHERN IOWA Thursday afternoon

Contrarian Crusher - Rickenbach CBB Game #530 Wednesday - 8* Illinois-Chicago Flames (-) vs UTSA Roadrunners @ 8 ET - UTSA lost a top scorer and leading assist man when Christian Wilson was arrested (again) and got suspended before this season started. Amazingly the Roadrunners have come up with a couple of road covers to begin their season but they've shot the ball very poorly and it catches up with them here against an Illinois-Chicago team hungry for a win after a tight loss began their season. UTSA has made just 34.6% of their shots from the field in their first two games this season and now is on the road for a third straight game. They won't be able to keep up with a Flames team that shot the ball very well (but came up just short by a bucket on the scoreboard) in their season-opening loss at San Francisco. The Flames will have the fresher legs for this match-up while the Roadrunners are playing their 3rd game in 6 nights away from home and could get caught looking ahead to their home opener. For UIC, this is their home opener and they will make the most of it. Both of these teams are off of poor seasons last year but the Flames have more continuity with more returning starters than the Roadrunners plus more continuity in coaching as UTSA has a new coach (Steve Henson) this season (rest in peace Brooks Thompson my friend) while Illinois-Chicago has Steve McClain now in his 2nd year at the helm. The Flames played a sloppy first game and shot poorly from the free throw line. You can bet (literally!) that they'll have all that cleaned up as they've had 5 days between games to get ready for this home opener. 8* Illinois-Chicago Wednesday

Earliest Cash Top Play - Rickenbach NBA Game #502 Wednesday - 10* Top Play Indiana Pacers (+) vs Cleveland Cavaliers @ 7:05 ET - Tough spot for the Cavaliers after surviving a "war" with the Raptors last night and hanging on for the four point win. Cleveland, now in a back to back situation, has to face a tough Pacers team that has always given them trouble in Indiana. Yes, the Pacers have an ugly ATS mark early this season but a lot of that has to do with Indy being 0-5 ATS on the road. At home, the Pacers have a straight-up record of 5-1 on the young season. They're catching Cleveland at a great time as the Cavaliers big three played some significant minutes last night with LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, and Kevin Love all logging at least 34 minutes in yesterday's non-covering win over the Raptors. Cleveland not only made nearly 40% of their three pointers last night, the Cavs also made 31 of 50 (62%) of their shots from inside the arc. Even with all the hot shooting Cleveland barely got by the Raptors and that says a lot right here. Now, on the road and in a back to back spot, the hot shooting is unlikely to continue and the Cavs will be in a battle just to try and win (let alone cover!) this tough road match-up. The Pacers have covered each of the last four meetings between these teams in Indiana. Overall, Indy is 7-1 ATS in their last 8 meetings with the Cavs. The Cavaliers are on a 7-16 ATS run as a road favorite of 3.5 to 6 points. The Pacers are on a 22-12 ATS run in divisional games and will build off a confidence building effort against Orlando Monday where they held the Magic to just 69 points! It's always big to be welcoming the defending NBA champs to town and the Pacers want this game badly and are catching their division rivals at the perfect time - a tough scheduling spot for Cleveland. 10* Top Play INDIANA PACERS Wednesday

Contrarian Crusher - Rickenbach CBB Game #743 Tuesday - 10* Top Play Kansas Jayhawks (+) vs Duke Blue Devils in New York, NY @ 9:30 ET - The Jayhawks lost in OT on Friday in Hawaii as four players fouled out and they didn't play "Kansas D" in that game either. The Jayhawks allowed Indiana to connect on 48.4% of their three pointers and ended up losing the game by 4 points in the extra session. Kansas is going to respond in a HUGE way Tuesday night as coach Bill Self's Jayhawks had not lost a season opener in his 14 years with the team! They are fired up and ready to go here and what better opportunity for response than facing the #1 team in the nation? As usual, Duke is stacked this season but they faced a pair of weak foes to begin their season and now they will get truly tested tonight. The Blue Devils will be playing their 3rd game in 5 nights and they're facing a Jayhawks team that went 5-0 SU (and 4-1 ATS) the past two seasons when they are off of a game where they allowed 80 points or more. Long-term Kansas has a record of 66-13 SU (and 48-24, 67% ATS!) when off of a game where they gave up 80 points or more. Keep in mind that as "stacked" as Duke is, the Blue Devils are without three highly-touted newcomers for tonight's game. Missing Harry Giles, Jayson Tatum, and Marques Bolden was not a problem against the likes of Marist and Grand Canyon but the Jayhawks are an elite team. 10* Top Play KANSAS Tuesday

NBA TV Top Play - Rickenbach NBA Game #701 Monday - 10* Top Play Toronto Raptors (+) @ Cleveland Cavaliers @ 7:05 ET - The Cavaliers continue to be over-valued. Since a blowout win over the Knicks in their season opener, Cleveland has covered only once in their last eight games. They're facing a Raptors team with revenge on its mind as Toronto lost a tight one to the Cavs early this season plus got knocked out of last year's post-season by the eventual NBA champions. The Raptors loss to the Cavaliers was one of just two losses Toronto has on the season and it's no coincidence that those two games are the only two games in which the Raptors have shot under 44% from the field. Amazingly, the Cavaliers have been at the other end of the spectrum as they have been held under 42.5% from the field in 6 of their last 8 games. The Cavs have shot well from three point range and that is what has saved them. In their win at Toronto earlier this season the Cavaliers outscored the Raptors by 24 points from beyond the arc and yet they only won the game by 3 points. Toronto will get some payback tonight and, while the Cavaliers are playing for the 4th time in 6 nights, the Raptors have had two days off heading into this game. Toronto is 3-0 SU and ATS in road games this season while the Cavaliers are on an 0-5 ATS run in home games. Also, the Raptors are 4-0 ATS in games against teams averaging 99 points or more per game this season. That means we have combined systems of 12-0 ATS that are in favor of the road dog in this one. I'll take that any day of the week! 10* Top Play TORONTO RAPTORS Tuesday

ESPN2 Smash Pass - Rickenbach CFB Game #304 Tuesday - 8* Central Michigan Chippewas (+) vs Ohio University Bobcats @ 7 ET - Senior night in Mount Pleasant, Michigan and one of those seniors is QB Cooper Rush who has been projected as high as a 4th round draft pick in the NFL draft next spring. Look for him to lead the way against a Ohio University team that has won three straight games but that has allowed passing yards of 308 or more in 3 of their last 4 games. In fact, in those 3 games the Bobcats allowed an average of 364.3 passing yards. The Chippewas have lost three straight games and they are hungry to get back on track and make sure they get to a bowl game. The last time they faced Ohio U. the Chips dominated them by a final score of 28-10 two seasons ago. A similar result here would not be a total shock. Central Michigan is very hungry for this game and they have played a tougher schedule than the Bobcats have. Also, the Chippewas are on a perfect 6-0 ATS run in home games where they are off of back to back losses and they are hosting an opponent who is off of back to back wins. In this case, the Chips are coming in on a 3-game losing streak while the Cats are on a 3-game winning streak. Perfect set-up! Adding to the value here is the fact that Ohio U. had two MAC opponents they were facing this year that they lost to last year. One was Bowling Green and the other was Buffalo. After a revenging win over the Falcons earlier this season the Bobcats then lost as a 7 point favorite at home versus Eastern Michigan. Now, after a revenging win over the Bulls last week, look for a similar result here as Ohio University follows up a revenging win with a loss in their next game. 8* CENTRAL MICHIGAN Tuesday

ESPN Primetime Punisher - Rickenbach CBB Game #741 Tuesday - 8* Michigan State Spartans (+) vs Kentucky Wildcats in New York, NY @ 7 ET - Apparently the Spartans don't even need to show up for this game. The very first numbers to show up on this one had the Wildcats as a 4 point choice. They have since doubled to where Kentucky is now an 8 point favorite in this game. I am not buying it. Sure the Spartans were in Hawaii Friday and Manhattan is a long way from Honolulu! However, Michigan State has had plenty of time for travel and to adjust their body clocks. Both of these teams are rather young but Kentucky particularly is inexperienced on the floor and now playing at Madison Square Garden. Also, this situation isn't very favorable for the Wildcats from a scheduling standpoint either. They're already playing their 3rd game in 5 days and what is also concerning for Kentucky is they've made only 26.5% of their three pointers even though they've played two weak teams to start the season. Also, the Wildcats have allowed their foes to connect on 43% of their shots from the field while the Spartans held Arizona to just 38.5% from the floor in their season opening loss. That was a tough defeat for multiple reasons as Michigan State had jumped out to a 17-2 lead in the game plus they eventually lost it on a late coast to coast drive for the winning bucket. The point is that the Spartans, known for playing tough D and crashing the boards, are going to play with an extra edginess and grittiness for coach Tom Izzo tonight as they look to shake off that opening night loss. That makes the big points well worth grabbing in this spot. Kentucky is 1-5 SU and ATS in a neutral court game with a posted total between 150 and 154.5 points while the Spartans have a 9-2 SU record in those game. Sparty for the cover in this one! 8* MICHIGAN STATE Tuesday

NBA TV Smash Pass - Rickenbach NBA Game #509 Monday - 8* Philadelphia 76'ers (+) @ Houston Rockets @ 8:05 ET - The Rockets are still without point guard Patrick Beverley. His absence has severely hurt the defense of Houston as he his their best perimeter defender. The Rockets are allowing 106.7 ppg this season and that is only 1.5 points per game less than the Sixers allow. Of course Houston, even without Beverley, is a far better team than Philadelphia is but this is not a good spot for the Rockets. It is a "sandwich spot" as it is a meaningless game for the Rockets stuck between match-ups with two of their biggest rivals as Houston hosted San Antonio Saturday and has a big game on deck at Oklahoma City Wednesday. That is one big key to the value here but the other keys include the fact that the Rockets have only one win by more than 8 points this season. As for the Sixers, they've had some ugly losses but one pattern that has already emerged with the 76'ers early this season is that they don't have bad games back to back. When the Sixers are off of a loss by 7 points or more they've responded with a loss of 7 points or less every single time. This "system" is already a perfect 4-0 this season and one of those games was an outright win for Philly and two of them were defeats by only 2 point and 1 point, respectively. The Sixers enter this game off of an ugly loss at Atlanta and I look for them to improve to 5-0 ATS this season when off of a loss by a margin of 7 points or more. The Rockets are 14-26 (35%) ATS when off of a divisional game. Bad spot for Houston here and the 76'ers will "hang around" in this one which makes the big points a strong play here. 8* PHILADELPHIA Monday night

Contrarian Crusher - Rickenbach CBB Game #534 Monday - 8* St Joseph's Hawks (-) vs Columbia Lions @ 7 ET - Both teams are off of wins in their season openers but the Hawks win was more impressive even though I got burned by it in the non-covering win. I had St Joseph's but they blew a late 76-71 lead to settle for a 77-76 win as a 2.5 point choice. The reason it was more impressive than the Columbia victory is because the Hawks faced a MAC team (Toledo) while the Lions opened up with an America East foe (Stony Brook). Even though the Seawolves were off of a strong season they suffered huge player losses coming into this year and are expected to drop into the middle of the pack in the AEC. In other words, don't put a lot of stock into that win and keep in mind that Columbia is actually expected to finish near the bottom of the Ivy League this season. The Lions are going through a coaching transition (from Kyle Smith) to Jim Engles and Columbia also lost a senior group from last season that was the strength of this team. The Lions are having to replace their entire backcourt and that's never a good sign for early season success. With this line dropping from an opener of 7.5 in some shops to as low as a 6 now in some shops as of late morning Monday, I love backing the stronger team from the stronger conference at home as there is no reason the Hawks shouldn't win this game by double digits. The backcourt of the home fave will be the difference-maker here as, though they lost some key talent from last season's squad, the Hawks are still strong (particularly at the guard spot). 8* ST JOSEPH'S Monday

Game of the Week - Rickenbach NBA Game #709 Sunday - 10* Top Play Denver Nuggets (+) @ Portland Trail Blazers @ 9:05 ET - Even though this is a back to back spot for the Nuggets, it also is a revenge spot for Denver and I expect a huge effort from them here. The Nuggets lost at home to the Trail Blazers by a bucket on October 29th and that ruined Denver's home opener. Now it is time for payback in this spot and I'll gladly take advantage of a line that opened up as low as a 4 but is now all the way up to a 7 on gameday morning. Portland is 6-4 on the season but they're average margin of victory in the 6 wins is only 5.3 points per game and only twice out of all ten games this season have the Blazers won by more than 6 points. The Nuggets are a big value in this price range because in their 9 games this season they only have 3 losses by more than 3 points. In other words, as you can see from the above, the likelihood is that Denver is "in this one" all the way especially given the revenge angle here too. The Nuggets have been strong on the road this season with a 5-1 ATS mark while Portland has struggled in games projected to be high scoring as they are 1-5 ATS in games with a posted total of 210 or greater. Overall, the Trail Blazers are only 1-4 ATS in home games. Even though this is a back to back for the Nuggets they have two straight off days coming up after tonight's game so they will definitely leave it all on the floor tonight as they go for revenge. Blazers playing for 4th time in 6 nights so they are not exactly at their freshest either. 10* DENVER NUGGETS Sunday

Primetime Punisher - Rickenbach NFL Game #273 Sunday - 8* Seattle Seahawks (+) @ New England Patriots @ 8:30 PM ET - The Patriots seem to be head and shoulders above the rest of the league since Tom Brady returned but a closer look shows that, even though they are off of their bye week and have won 4 straight, this could be the week they get tripped up. The Pats have not faced a team that currently has a winning record since Brady returned. The combined record of the 4 teams is currently 11-23-1. The teams included Cleveland, Cincinnati, and Buffalo. The only team they faced that currently is at .500 on the season is Pittsburgh and the Patriots were lucky as they caught the Steelers sans Ben Roethlisberger! Now Sunday night New England will finally get a test as they face a 5-2-1 Seahawks team. Sure Seattle did not impress on Monday night against the Bills but, of course, they were looking ahead to this game! This is a Super Bowl rematch! The Seahawks lost to the Patriots on February 1, 2015 and they've been waiting for this shot at redemption for nearly two full years now! I look for the highly motivated Hawks to make the most of it and, if they do fall short, it should be 7 or less. Seattle has a strong defense and also is getting their passing game back into high gear as Russell Wilson has gotten healthier. Head coach Pete Carroll has led his team to an incredible 13-1 ATS mark when they are an underdog playing with revenge. Also, in weeks 10 through 13 the past two seasons, the Patriots only covered 2 of 7 games. New England is on a long-term run of only 14-21 ATS when playing 2 weeks or more of rest. In other words, the "benefit" of a bye week hasn't been enough to overcome the big spreads that the Pats often are involved with in a situation like this. The Sunday night game looks like another one of those "inflated" spots and I expect the upset here or a loss to come by only a single possession. The Seahawks are so hungry for this opportunity and the Patriots finally are facing a true challenge for the first time since Brady came back. This should be a fantastic, tight, Super Bowl rematch! 8* SEATTLE SEAHAWKS Sunday night

Contrarian Crusher - Rickenbach CBB Game #725 Sunday - 8* Yale Bulldogs (+) @ Washington Huskies @ 7 ET - The last time I checked under any rocks I didn't find any odds makers. All kidding aside, the point is that odds makers don't live under rocks. It's not like they don't know what is going on with these teams when they set the lines. That said, this line on Washington has jumped like crazy on Sunday morning because of Makai Mason being out for the season with a bad foot injury. This news about Mason has been out since early in the week so it was factored into the opening number on this game. That opening number was -9 on the Huskies but it has since moved to -15. So what the markets are saying here is that the odds makers missed the mark by a ton with this one. That is rarely the case (odds makers missing badly just doesn't happen that often) and I am siding with the big dog in this match-up. Oftentimes in the first game after a star player gets hurt, the rest of the team rallies around his absence and many of the supporting cast tend to have their biggest games in situations like this. Though he was their best player, Mason was not the captain of the team and I look for senior guard Anthony Dallier, team captain, to rally the troops for this one. Coach James Jones has been at Yale for 17 years and he'll have his team ready to go in this one. Even though the Bulldogs lost a lot of talent from last year's team it is important to note that the Huskies also suffered three key player losses as Andrew Andrews, Dejounte Murray, and Marquese Chriss combined for 51 points and 17 rebounds per game last season! The Huskies get the win here but I am leaning with the odds makers in this one as this game should be decided by single digits. 8* YALE BULLDOGS Sunday

Non-Conf Game of the Year - Rickenbach NFL Game #272 Sunday - 10* Top Play Pittsburgh Steelers (-) vs Dallas Cowboys @ 4:25 PM ET - Beautiful set-up here and one that I have had my eyes on for quite some time. The Cowboys have now won and covered 7 straight games while the Steelers have now lost and failed to cover 3 straight games. The key in looking at these two teams is that Pittsburgh is very hungry, at home, and has Ben Roethlisberger ready to go in his 2nd game back with the rust shaken off last week. Dallas has been fortunate with playing a much easier schedule in comparison with the Steelers. The Cowboys have gone 2-1 in the NFC East games (but easily could (should!) be 0-3 in those games. Outside of their division they have gone 5-0 but not a single one of those teams has a winning record and 3 of the games have come against the 3 worst teams in the league (Cleveland, San Francisco, Chicago). The combined record of the 5 teams Dallas has played outside of their division is 10-31-1 and, again, I reiterate they easily could be 0-3 in their division. They did lose to the Giants but got very lucky to beat Redskins (Washington was going into the end zone to make it a two possession game in 4th quarter when disaster struck) and also lucky to beat Eagles (Philly had huge lead and made questionable coaching decisions in game eventually won by Dallas in OT). This is the beginning of a tough stretch in the schedule for the Cowboys and with the Tony Romo/Dak Prescott controversy about to reach a fever pitch, you are about to see Dallas implode over the remainder of this season. Just look at their remaining schedule and you'll see what I am talking about. But here his is our opportunity to get in on the "ground floor" of this implosion because it starts today with having to travel to face a fired up Steelers team that was considered a prime Super Bowl contender before this season started. Keep in mind, the Roethlisberger injury certainly hurt them as they were 4-1 on the year going into the game in which he got hurt. Look for him to have a big game today as the Cowboys pass defense has been susceptible at times this season. They allowed an average of 320.3 passing yards per game against Green Bay, Chicago, and Washington. Dallas is only 10-12 ATS in games where the line is between +3 and -3 and the Cowboys are also on a long-term 10-17 ATS run in games against the AFC North. The Steelers are 6-1 SU and ATS when they are a home favorite of 3 points or less. Also, Pittsburgh is 5-0 SU (and 4-1 ATS) when they are off of a loss against a division rival. Off of a tough loss at Baltimore last week (outgained Ravens) look for the Steelers to bounce back as they improve on their 12-4 record in games against teams with a winning record. The home team will be at its best for this game while you see the Cowboys finally get knocked off of their perch as they're exposed for their fortunate schedule and lucky early-season bounces of the ball. 10* Top Play PITTSBURGH STEELERS Sunday

CFL Top Play - Rickenbach CFL Game #280 Sunday - 10* Top Play BC Lions (-) vs Winnipeg Blue Bombers @ 4:30 ET - Just like in the NFL when divisional foes end up matching up in the post-season following a regular season sweep, it is so difficult to beat a team 3 times in the same season. BC has revenge on their minds in a big way here because they not only lost both regular season match-ups this season, they also lost both of them last season as well. However, what could be any sweeter than playoff revenge? The fact is that the Lions have lost these recent match-ups because of turnovers. Statistically, BC has fared just fine against the Blue Bombers but they've lost the turnover count by a ridiculous count as Winnipeg has just 2 turnovers compared to 15 for the Lions in the last 4 games. Even with this very unusual turnover ratio, the last 3 wins for the Blue Bombers have ALL come by 3 points or less. Of course Winnipeg should have won huge given those turnover numbers. You see my point? BC is the superior team and they'll take care of the football Sunday and they'll get the sweetest revenge of all - playoff revenge - as they send the Blue Bombers packing. When the Lions are off of a divisional game this season they are 9-1 ATS. When Winnipeg is playing a team with a winning record, they have lost 18 of 23 games the past three seasons combined. 10* BC Lions Sunday afternoon

Earliest Cash - Rickenbach NFL Game #255 Sunday - 8* Denver Broncos (+) @ New Orleans Saints @ 1 PM ET - Of course, without a shadow of a doubt, the Saints have the better offense in this match-up. However, defense can certainly win football games and the Broncos have long proven that to be the case. Also, the fact is, New Orleans has one of the worst defenses in the league so don't be surprised if Denver enjoys plenty of success on offense in this one. The Broncos come into this game very hungry after losing badly at Oakland on Sunday night. Denver, even after losing that game as a 1 point road dog, is still 8-2 ATS their last 10 games as an underdog. As for the Saints, they are off of a blowout win over the 49'ers but it was fueled by turnovers. The Niners turned the ball over 4 times and New Orleans managed to win the game by 18 points despite allowing San Francisco to gain nearly 500 yards of offense. The Broncos are on a 14-6 ATS run in non-conference action. Also, Denver has a bye week on deck so they certainly are going to "leave it all on the field" at New Orleans Sunday as the defending Super Bowl champs don't want to go into the bye week on an 0-2 skid. The Saints are on a 7-16 ATS run as a favorite. Also, when the Saints enter a game off of 2 or more consecutive wins, they've lost 3 of the last 4. New Orleans has a big game on deck Thursday with division rival (and defending NFC champ) Carolina. The Saints are only 4-5 SU their last 9 in the game before facing the Panthers but the bigger story there is only 1 of those 4 wins came by more than 3 points. Look for New Orleans to struggle to get past the Broncos in this one and, if they do win, expect it to be by a field goal or less although certainly I am making this play with expectation of an outright upset. 8* DENVER BRONCOS Sunday

Contrarian Crusher - Rickenbach NBA Game #511 Saturday - 8* Los Angeles Clippers (-) @ Minnesota Timberwolves @ 8:05 ET - This line opened up at a -5.5 and it has already moved down to a -4 which is not a big surprise because the Clips are in a back to back spot and coming off of a revenging win at Oklahoma City last night. It was a non-covering win for the Clippers last night and I got burned by that game but I won't hesitate to take advantage of the line value (after the move this morning) and take advantage of backing an 8-1 Los Angeles team for whom no one played more than 36 minutes last night. The only reason the Clippers didn't cover in last night's win at Oklahoma City is because the Thunder hit a ridiculous 16 of 28 three pointers. The Clips continue to be one of the top teams in the league on defense early this season and they held OKC to just 22 of 60 from inside the arc last night! The Timberwolves are 2-5 on the season, a young team, and they are off of a rare win. Unlike the Clippers, the T-wolves aren't known for playing defense. That will be the difference in this match-up and the Clips have a home game on deck with Brooklyn so there certainly is no look-ahead here. Even after last night's tough loss (ATS), the Clippers are still 14-4 ATS (and 47-18 ATS long-term) when they are a road fave in a range of 3.5 to 6 points. The Timberwolves are 3-10 ATS (and 0-13 SU!) when they are off of a win by a double digit margin. With Minnesota off of a win by 16 points at Orlando Wednesday, look for them to add another L to that 3-10 ATS mark tonight. 8* LA Clippers Saturday

Contrarian Game of the Week - Rickenbach CFB Game #202 Saturday - 10* Top Play Nebraska Cornhuskers (-) vs Minnesota Golden Gophers @ 7:30 ET - This line has dropped from a -8 down to a -6 and, of course, much of this has to do with the uncertainty of Tommy Armstrong, Jr being cleared to play for Saturday's game. The key here in my mind is that, even if he does not play and it ends up being senior QB Ryker Fyfe that gets the call, the Cornhuskers are still going to annihilate the Golden Gophers here. Minnesota has a nice-looking record but look at who they've beaten! Minny has wins over an FCS school, 2 non-conf FBS schools that are a combined 7-11 this season, and then their 4 Big Ten wins have come against teams that are a combined 5-19 in the conference. Nebraska's Big Ten wins at least include a pair of teams (Indiana and Northwestern) who at least are at .500 in conference action this season. Also, in non-conf action they absolutely blasted a Wyoming team that is now 7-2 on the season. The Huskers have played a much tougher schedule and will be stronger for it in this game. After back to back losses at Wisconsin and Ohio State, the Cornhuskers are happy to be back home and this is a night game at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln which means the atmosphere will be insane! Nebraska also has revenge from a rare home loss to Minny when the Gophers visited 2 years ago. That means it is payback time in this rematch at home. It was some measure of revenge for the Huskers when they blasted the Golden Gophers by 23 in Minnesota last season but now they want a taste of that in Lincoln too! Minny is 3-7 ATS when they enter a game off of back to back wins. Also, Minnesota is 0-7 ATS in their next game after facing Purdue (big rivalry). Also, the Gophers are 0-5 ATS as road dogs of less than 20 points or less when they're off of a game where they scored more than 35 points. That system fits as well here and that means we've got a 15-0 ATS combined mark in favor of the Huskers here because Nebraska is also 3-0 ATS when they enter a game off of back to back losses. They are the better team, they're at home, and Ryker Fyfe did throw for over 400 yards in a rare start last season (against Purdue). The Huskers are rallying around this situation with Tommy Armstrong Jr and, no matter who ends up under center, the Cornhuskers are ready to respond after last week's embarrassing loss. 10* NEBRASKA Saturday

THE Game of the Year - Rickenbach CFB Game #169 Saturday - 10* Top Play LSU Tigers (-) @ Arkansas @ 7 ET - Other than Alabama, clearly a team in a class of their own, teams just don't beat LSU in Baton Rouge. It is a rare occurrence and, when it does happen, the Tigers almost always get their revenge in the next meeting. Last week's loss to Alabama for LSU was the first time they've lost at home since Arkansas beat them last season. The Razorbacks beat the Tigers by 17 in Baton Rouge last year to hand LSU its worst home loss since Ole Miss beat them by 18 back in 2008. Needless to say, that makes this a huge revenge spot for LSU and the situation is set up perfectly. The Tigers are off of a 10-0 home shutout versus the Crimson Tide last week while Arkansas is off of a huge revenging 31-10 win versus Florida last week. The Hogs wanted that game badly as they were off of a thorough embarrassment in their prior game (at Auburn) and they had lost to the Gators by 20 points in their most recent game (in coach Bret Bielema's first year in Arkansas). Even though LSU is off of a key game (Alabama) which they wanted badly, the fact that they suffered a home shutout and the fact that they only have a non-conference opponent (South Alabama) on deck ensures that the Tigers will be ready for this revenge opportunity. Arkansas has not won back to back games since mid-September and their defense allows nearly 100 yards more per game than the Tigers defense does. LSU has lost by 17 points to Arky in each of the last two meetings and that adds fuel to the fire for this rematch as the Tigers did lose by a 17-0 count in their last visit to Fayetteville. LSU is on a 10-5 ATS run as a road favorite of 3.5 to 7 points while Arkansas is on a 5-8 ATS run as a home dog of 3.5 to 7 points. The last 6 times that LSU lost a game and were held to 10 points or less, they have won the next game ALL 6 TIMES and gone 5-1 ATS in those games with the lone non-cover coming up just 1 point short. The Tigers bounce back again here, plus get some payback in this double revenge spot, and they catch Arkansas flat off of their huge win over the Gators last week. 10* LSU Tigers Saturday 

Earliest Cash - Rickenbach CBB Game #526 Saturday 8* St Joseph's Hawks (-) vs Toledo Rockets @ 7 ET - The opening line came out at -6 on this game. It's been hammered all the way down to -2.5 as of late morning Saturday. The reason for that is the fact that St Joseph's lost 3 key contributors from last season's team. However, let's not forget that Toledo did lose a pair of key contributors from their roster as well. The other key point is that it is not as if the odds maker is unaware of these player losses from last season and he hung a 6 on this game. St Joseph's is still at home for this game, they are still coached by a very solid head coach in Phil Martelli, and they still get some homegrown talent from the area that comes in and contributes right away. That said, I am not buying that Toledo is the better team in this match-up. They are a MAC team that is projected to be one of the weaker teams in the MAC again this season whereas St Joseph's does battle with teams like Dayton, Rhode Island, VCU, Davidson, LaSalle, and George Washington in the Atlantic 10. The Hawks went 22-8 in home games the past two seasons and Toledo has lost 11 of their last 14 games with a total posted in the 150s. That said, and with only having to cover a 2.5 here, my money is on the Hawks at home. 8* ST JOSEPH'S Saturday

Daytime Dominator - Rickenbach CFB Game #151 Saturday - 8* Wyoming Cowboys (-) @ UNLV Rebels @ 3:30 ET - This line opened up as high as -9 on Wyoming and then did fall all the way down to a -7. However, it "settled in" at -7.5 but I am still comfortable laying the 7 plus "the hook" in this one. The Cowboys continue to win but also continue to be under-valued and that is why I am investing in them again this week. Wyoming has not suffered a SU loss or ATS loss since they lost a tight game at Eastern Michigan on September 23rd! The Cowboys will now take advantage of facing a UNLV team that has lost 6 of their past 8 games and that is on a 2-5 ATS skid. The Rebels are on a 1-7 ATS run as a home dog and they're hosting a Wyoming team that is on an overall 13-6 ATS run. The Cowboys ground game is led by RB Hill who has totaled 835 rushing yards in his last 5 games. Last season he ran for 232 yards against the Rebels and UNLV's defense has been getting gashed on the ground. Overall, the Rebels have allowed 424 yards or more in 4 straight games. UNLV's only wins this season have come against an FCS school and Fresno State and Hawaii. The Bulldogs and Warriors are a combined 5-15 this season. To put it bluntly, UNLV is simply not a good a football team and this line is a very manageable one. The average margin of defeat for the Rebels this season is 15 points per loss. The Cowboys last 6 wins have seen only 1 victory come by a margin of less than 8 points. Wyoming is on a 9-1 ATS run when they enter a game off of back to back wins against conference opponents. The Rebels are on a 1-6 ATS run when they are off of a SU loss in a game in which they were favored. UNLV is off of a loss as a 3 point fave at San Jose State and the Spartans were 2-7 on the season. Bad football team and Wyoming is a team on a mission. They do have a big game on deck with San Diego State but the Cowboys showed last week (when off of a huge win over Boise State and still blasted Utah State) that, no matter the situation, this team is coming to play each week. 8* WYOMING Saturday

Earliest Cash - Rickenbach CFB Game #165 Saturday - 8* Kentucky Wildcats (+) @ Tennessee Volunteers @ Noon ET - The whole world is jumping on Tennessee here and that's not a surprise as the Volunteers have dominated long-term in their series with the Wildcats. However, Kentucky has gone from an 11 point dog to a 14 point dog in this one and that is opening up exceptional line value on the Cats. Keep in mind, these teams have faced very similar schedules in terms of strength of opponents and Kentucky had won 5 of 6 both SU and ATS before last week's tough loss to Georgia. Sure that was a tough defeat for the Wildcats to lose by just a field goal to the Bulldogs but do you really think they won't be fired up about an opportunity to resume their recent winning ways against a hated rival that always seems to have their number? Undoubtedly, Kentucky will bring their "A game" Saturday and they're facing a Vols team that just blasted an FCS team last week but that has lost three straight SEC games and also is on a 1-3 ATS run in SEC games. The Volunteers continue to be over-valued by the betting markets and Tennessee is on a 2-10 ATS run when they are home favorites of 8 points or more and facing an opponent who is playing with revenge. The Wildcats only have 2 losses by double digit margins this season and those were to SEC East leader Florida and SEC West leader Alabama. Tennessee only has 2 wins this season by more than 10 points and one was against FCS opponent Tennessee Tech last week and the other was by 21 points over Virginia Tech but the Hokies outgained the Vols by a 400 to 330 margin in that game! Don't be surprised if the Wildcats keep this game much closer than many are expecting. Statistically these teams are very similar this season and the Cats are highly motivated because of getting beaten badly by the Volunteers in recent years. 8* KENTUCKY Saturday 

ESPN Top Play - Rickenbach CBB Game #776 Friday - 10* Top Play Kansas Jayhawks (-) vs Indiana Hoosiers @ 9:30 PM ET in Armed Forces Classic @ Joint Base in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii - The Hoosiers are ranked far too high in my opinion. Yes the Hoosiers are a very talented group but they didn't have a lot of time to jell together in the offseason and to try to create team chemistry as a group. Also, not having lone senior Collin Hartman for this game against Kansas certainly hurts IU. Including him with four key losses (Biefeldt, Ferrell, Williams, Zeisloft) from last season's team means the Hoosiers will be without 50.3 points and 18.8 rebounds per game for this season opener. Yes, there is a lot of talent that will be on the floor tonight for the Hoosiers but they're facing a stacked Kansas team that absolutely could win it all this season and, keep in mind, the Hoosiers allowed an average of 71.7 points per game last season with a positive point differential of only 5.7 points per game. The Jayhawks allowed only 67.6 points per game and they had a positive point differential of 13.7 points per game. Even though the Jayhawks lost a pair of top starters in Perry Ellis and Wayne Selden, Kansas returns three starters plus a pair of McDonalds All-Americans. One of those is Josh Jackson who, along with returnees Frank Mason and Devonte Graham gives the Jayhawks arguably the top trio of players in the nation once Jackson goes through the early season adjustment that is normal for a freshman at the collegiate level. Also, with 7 footer Udoka Azubuike joining 6'10 returnee Landen Lucas, Kansas should continue to dominate the boards (3rd in Big 12 for rebounding margin last year). The Jayhawks ranked in the top 5 in the nation last season for shooting percentage from the field overall and from 3-point land. Kansas has won the Big 12 regular-season championship 12 straight times and veteran coach Bill Self enters his 14th season with the Jayhawks. Svi Mykhailiuk could be a pleasant surprise as he is now in his 3rd season and could providing significantly bigger scoring off of the bench. Having Mason and Graham (strong defenders) back also helps in terms of the team defense and Kansas has a great shot at winning it all this season. Certainly I look for them to get their season off to a strong start as I feel Indiana is without question a Top 40 team but definitely not a Top 10 team. The Hoosiers are over-valued here until all their newcomers perhaps jell later in the season. Indiana is only 4-6 SU and ATS in tournament games. The Jayhawks are a stellar 15-3 SU (and 13-5 ATS!) in tournament games the past two seasons. Lay it! 10* KANSAS Friday

NBA TV Smash Pass - Rickenbach NBA Game #711 Friday - 8* Los Angeles Clippers (-) @ Oklahoma City Thunder @ 8:05 ET - The Clippers have only lost one game so far this season and it was the Thunder who got the tight two-point win over them in Los Angeles a little over a week ago. That makes this a revenge spot for the Clips and we are getting line value here because of Oklahoma City's 6-2 record on the season. Keep in mind that the Thunder early season record has certainly been helped by a favorable schedule. Other than the upset win over the Clippers, OKC has 5 wins against teams that have a combined 12-27 record so far this season! Against Golden State and Toronto (a combined 11-4 record) the Thunder lost the games by a combined 36 points. Now they face another one of the league's top teams and Oklahoma City is likely to get throttled by the revenge-seeking Clips. Los Angeles has thrived in this situation historically. In fact, the Clippers are an incredible 47-17 ATS long-term (and 15-3 ATS the L3 seasons combined) when they are a road favorite in a range of -3.5 to -6 points! The Thunder are 11-21 ATS the L3 seasons combined on Friday nights. They get blasted again here as the powerful road fave gets their revenge. The point differential for LA this season is incredible as they are averaging 105 points per game while allowing only 88 points per game. All 7 of the Clips wins have come by at least 8 points. Lay it! 8* LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS Friday

Primetime Punisher - Rickenbach CFB Game #117 Friday - 8* Boston College Eagles (+) @ Florida State Seminoles @ 7:30 ET - Against the ACC's top teams (Virginia Tech, Clemson, Louisville), the Eagles defense struggled. In their other 6 games this season, Boston College allowed an average of only 13.2 points per game. The Eagles D is viewing this Friday night game under the ESPN2 cameras as an opportunity to show that this unit can still get the job done against the better teams in the nation. Under coach Steve Addazio, Boston College has lost to the Seminoles all 3 years but no loss was by more than 14 points and the Eagles only lost by 3 points in their lone visit to Florida State since Addazio took over. Even though the BC offense is having another tough season, the Noles secondary and linebacking corps is simply not what it used to be. That's played a big role in Florida State's drop-off this season. The Seminoles once vaunted defense has allowed 450 yards or more in 5 of their last 7 games! The Eagles offense, with QB Patrick Towles further healed up from his hamstring problems, may surprise the Noles with some big plays downfield. Florida State is an ugly 1-6 ATS as a favorite of 10.5 to 21 points. The Eagles, under Addazio, have gone 7-3 ATS as a double digit dog. Also, BC is a long-term 5-1 ATS as a road dog of 17.5 to 21 points. FSU has been outgained in back to back weeks. The Seminoles did come from behind for the non-covering win at NC State last week but they are 6-11 ATS when off of a win in conference action and I expect another non-covering win here for the Noles. Florida State used a lot of energy up in their comeback win over the Wolfpack last week. It's been back to back grueling games for the Seminoles as they went toe to toe in a slugfest with Clemson the prior week as well. The Eagles are amped up for this weeknight "spotlight game" opportunity and will keep this game much closer than many are expecting. 8* BOSTON COLLEGE Friday

Primetime Punisher - Rickenbach NFL Game #110 Thursday - 8* Baltimore Ravens (-) vs Cleveland Browns @ 8:25 ET - At first glance this may seem like a good spot to grab the big points with the Browns. After all, the Ravens are off of a big win over the rival Steelers Sunday and it would be easy for Baltimore to overlook a Cleveland team that is 0-9. However, the reason I am going against the common though processes with this play is because of a couple key factors. The Ravens, by virtue of their win versus Pittsburgh last week, are tied for first place with the Steelers in the AFC North and this game against the Browns is a divisional game. The other key factor is that the Browns upset the Ravens as TD underdogs last season in Baltimore! Rest assured, the Ravens haven't forgotten about losing to Cleveland the last time they hosted them at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore. In John Harbaugh's 9 years with the Ravens they are 8-1 SU at Cleveland and tonight they are looking to improve to 8-1 SU at home against the Browns. As you can see, Harbaugh's Ravens have dominated the Browns and I look for them to get revenge for that lone home loss to Cleveland which was the first one since 2007. After opening up as high as a 10.5 this line has dropped to an 8 as of early gameday morning and this is offering excellent line value to the revenging home fave. The Ravens did win at Cleveland earlier this season but they allowed the Browns to jump out to a big, early lead and then had to rally back for the win. You can bet that the Ravens don't want to let that happen again and they'll come out fired up from the opening kickoff in this game. Baltimore is 6-1 ATS when off of a win against a division rival. Cleveland is 0-5 ATS when they are a divisional road dog of more than 7 points. The Browns also are 0-7 ATS when on the road and facing a divisional foe with revenge. Yes, the Ravens did get their revenge already on the road against Cleveland twice already (once late last season and once earlier this season) but this is the first time they have hosted the Browns since that early season home loss last year. It's payback time and I'll test that combined 12-0 ATS mark in favor of the home favorite here. 8* BALTIMORE Thursday

TNT Blowout - Rickenbach NBA Game #503 - 8* Chicago Bulls (+) @ Miami Heat @ 8:05 ET Thursday - The scheduling edge here certainly goes to Miami but sometimes these types of edges get "played up" too much and the value is truly with the team in the worse situation. Indeed this is a back to back spot for the Bulls while the Heat have been off since Monday. However, Chicago is hungry off of a loss last night and you know that Dwyane Wade has his sights set on having a huge performance in his first trip to Miami since becoming a Bull. The Heat are struggling early this season with just 2 wins in 6 games on the year and Miami is struggling to find perimeter shooting. This certainly has played a role in the Heat shooting only 41.8% from the field this season. Look for Miami to struggle to try and keep up with a Bulls team that is averaging 107.2 points per game on the young season. The only two wins the Heat have this season have come against Sacramento and Orlando. The Kings and Magic are projected to be among the worst teams in the league this season. The Bulls are only 4-4 on the season but have wins over Indiana and Boston and those are both playoff-level teams. Also, having the extra rest may not help a Miami offense that is struggling to find its rhythm early this season. The Heat also are already 0-2 SU and ATS when playing with 2 days of rest this season. The line here has moved from pick'em to Miami -2.5 and I'll grab the value on the other side of the move. 8* CHICAGO Thursday

ESPN Smash Pass - Rickenbach CFB Game #111 Thursday - 8* North Carolina Tar Heels (-) @ Duke Blue Devils @ 7:30 ET - Without a shadow of a doubt, the Blue Devils do want this game badly. They are winless in ACC action, this is their home finale, they need the W to have a shot at bowl eligibility, and this is the battle for the Victory Bell in this rivalry match-up. The problem for Duke is that that the Tar Heels also have plenty of motivation here and they are the far superior team with the much better (and much more experienced QB). North Carolina is a solid 7-2 on the season and still has hopes of an ACC title. UNC is led by QB Mitch Trubisky and the 6'3 junior has a 19-2 TD-INT ratio which is even more impressive when you take out the game played during poor conditions (Hurricane Matthew). Without that game included (horrible weather), Trubisky has thrown 19 TDs and ZERO picks on the season. His counterpart tonight is a redshirt freshman, 6'5 Daniel Jones, who has thrown for 6 TDs (but also 6 picks) in his last 5 games. Jones is a dual threat QB but on a beautiful night in Durham, NC tonight the key to the big winner here is going to be the team with the better passing game. The Blue Devils defense is known for giving up huge plays and the Tar Heels aerial attack will pick them apart for big plays all game long. North Carolina, other than the Hurricane Matthew game, has thrown for an average of 380.3 passing yards per game since mid-Sept. The Tar Heels have also averaged 207.3 yards per game on the ground their last 3 games. Their offense will tear apart the Blue Devils defense and Duke won't be able to keep up with UNC here. The Heels are on a 6-1 ATS run as a road favorite. Also, North Carolina has a long-term mark of 4-1 ATS when they are a road favorite of 10.5 to 14 points so don't let the big number scare you here. Duke is only 1-3 SU and ATS in Thursday games. The Blue Devils have lost to the Tar Heels by a margin of 30 points per defeat the last two seasons and another loss by double digits is likely here as UNC's roll is simply too strong right now. 8* NORTH CAROLINA Thursday

12-0 MAC Smash - Rickenbach CFB Game #105 Wednesday - 8* Toledo Rockets (-) vs Northern Illinois Huskies @ U.S. Cellular Field in Chicago, IL @ 8 ET - Even though the Huskies have won 2 straight games they still have only 3 wins on the season and those victories came against teams that have a combined record of 2-14 in the MAC. As for Toledo, they are 7-2 on the season with the only two losses to BYU and Ohio U. and those teams are combined 12-7 on the season. Not only are the Rockets the superior team this season, this is also not a true home game for the Huskies since it's being played in Chicago. Regardless of the venue, the road team has covered 5 straight in the Toledo/Northern Illinois series and this is a major revenge spot for the Rockets since the Huskies have gotten the SU win in 6 straight meetings! Toledo has thrived away from home as they are on a 12-1 ATS run their last 13 away from the Glass Bowl. The Rockets also entered this season with a 6-1 ATS mark when playing with revenge and facing an opponent with a winning percentage of .600 or less. In weekday road games, Toledo is on a 7-0 ATS run after last Wednesday's easy cover at Akron. Combining that mark with the aforementioned 5-0 ATS mark in favor of the road team in the L5 Rockets/Huskies match-ups and that means a 12-0, 100% PERFECT ATS mark is being tested Wednesday night. With this number still available at -6.5 even with a potential line move upward it should still be well within range for an easy cover. 6 of the 7 Rockets wins this season have come by 14 points or more. 8* TOLEDO Wednesday

Rickenbach NBA Game #711 Wednesday - 10* Top Play Chicago Bulls (+) @ Atlanta Hawks @ 7:35 ET - The Bulls have revenge on their minds here. They lost all 4 meetings with the Hawks last season. Chicago has lost each of it's last 3 visits to Atlanta and 6 of the last 7 meetings overall. How do they rectify the situation? The Bulls catching the Hawks at the right time is a big help and that is exactly what has happened here. Chicago is catching Atlanta off of a big revenging win at Cleveland last night. Not only is this a back to back spot for the Hawks but they also had to battle all night to get past the Cavaliers last night. That sets this situation up beautifully for a Bulls upset today as the Hawks will have trouble dealing with another quality opponent in the 2nd night of a back to back and with travel involved as the Hawks had to get back to Atlanta after last night's game. The Hawks held the Cavs Irving and Smith to a combined 13 of 40 from the field and Atlanta simply won't have much left in the tank after last night's solid defensive effort. From a situational standpoint, it just doesn't get much better than this. Grab the points. 10* CHICAGO Wednesday

Rickenbach NBA Game #709 Wednesday - 8* Philadelphia 76'ers (+) @ Indiana Pacers @ 7:05 ET - The 76'ers are off of an ugly loss to Utah Monday. Even though the Sixers are 0-6 on the season they have yet to have back to back blowout losses. Each time off of an ugly loss Philadelphia has responded with a strong effort which has resulted in a competitive game. That is also what I expect to be the case in this instance as well. Philly is at Indiana and getting plenty of points. The Pacers are only 3-4 on the season and only one of those victories has come by a double digit margin. Indiana enters this game on a 1-5 ATS skid. The Sixers are already 2-0 ATS this season when off of a loss by a double digit margin and also 19-12 ATS the past three seasons when they are off of a game where they were held to 85 points or less. After their ugly 109-84 loss to the Jazz on Monday, the Sixers keep this one much more competitive than many are expecting. Look for the 76'ers to play some small ball (and use that to their advantage) as one of their big men, Joel Embiid, is likely to sit this one out. 8* PHILADELPHIA Wednesday

Rickenbach NBA Game #701 Wednesday - 8* Minnesota Timberwolves (+) @ Orlando Magic @ 7:05 ET - I lost with the T-wolves last night but the final score is deceiving as the game was much closer than the final margin. The end result of a loss leaves the Timberwolves still very hungry for a win and, even though this is a back to back spot, I like their chances against a struggling Orlando team. The Magic showed very little heart in the way they got blown out by 32 in the loss at Chicago Monday. Orlando had a strong first half but could do nothing right in the second half and they are proving early this season that they are a tough team to trust. The Magic are only 3-4 on the season and 2 of their wins came by 2 points or less. With this line climbing up early to a +3 for Minny, there is nice line value with the underdog. The first three losses that Minnesota had this season all came by 4 points or less. The T-wolves have been so close to turning the corner but again fell just short at Brooklyn last night as the Nets just simply were on fire from the field. The Timberwolves played a good game but Brooklyn won despite getting outshot by a double digit margin in attempts from the field. The Nets were hot from the field. For Minny, the good news is that tonight they are unlikely to run into that problem as the Magic are only hitting 41% from the field this season. Also, Orlando is making only 30.4% of their three pointers this season. Look for the Magic to drop to 0-4 ATS on the season as a favorite. A young team like the Timberwolves won't be greatly impacted by this back to back spot and they also have two off days on deck after this so they 'leave it all on the floor' tonight as they go for that elusive road victory. I expect them to get it but will certainly grab the points as the T-wolves have revenge on their minds after losing both match-ups with Orlando each of the past two seasons. 8* MINNESOTA Wednesday

Top Blowout Smash - Rickenbach NBA Game #503 Tuesday - 10* Top Play Minnesota Timberwolves (-) @ Brooklyn Nets @ 7:35 ET - Both of these teams have injury issues at the point guard spot but it is a much worse situation for the Nets in comparison with the Timberwolves. Already without star PG Jeremy Lin, the Nets are likely to be without Greivis Vazquez (back-up PG) tonight as well. Minnesota at least has 2nd year man Tyus Jones to man the point along with rookie Kris Dunn. Though Randy Foye is expected to finally play his first game of the new season tonight, the Brooklyn shooting guard is unlikely to be in top rhythm in his very first game back. That said, Minny can focus on double-teaming Brooks Lopez down low and this effectively shuts down the Nets offense. Brooklyn has been held to 95 points or less in 2 of their last 3 games. The T-wolves, with Karl-Anthony Towns, will have the best player on the floor tonight and he and his Minnesota teammates are hungry to get back into the win column after back to back losses. On deck for the T-wolves is another non-conference match-up while the Nets have a big game on deck with the cross-town division rival Knicks. Brooklyn has the much better ATS mark in comparison with the Timberwolves early this season but that is helping to give line value to a Minny team that won both meetings with the Nets by a double digit margin last season. Teams can grow complacent when on a long homestand and Brooklyn is 4-16 ATS (and 2-18 SU!) when they enter a game having played each of their three prior games at home. The Timberwolves are 24-13 ATS in their last 37 meetings with the Nets and they add another W to that tonight as they bounce back after back to back losses. 10* MINNESOTA

NBA TV Smash Pass - Rickenbach NBA Game #501 Tuesday - 8* Atlanta Hawks (+) @ Cleveland Cavaliers @ 8:05 ET - Big revenge game for Atlanta after getting eliminated from the playoffs by Cleveland last spring. Though it certainly will be tough for the Hawks to win outright on the road against the Cavaliers, there definitely is significant line value with the points that are being offered here. The Cavs are 6-0 on the season but their last 5 wins have all come by 8 points or less. In fact, the average margin of victory in those 8 games is only 4.8 points! As for the Hawks, they are 4-2 on the season and their two losses came by only 7 points and 3 points, respectively. Each of the Cavaliers last 4 opponents have hit at least 45.2% from the field. As for the Hawks, they've held 4 of their 6 opponents to 43.5% or less from the field. Cleveland has been knocking down three pointers but the Hawks have been better from inside the arc and, with two full off days between games, the Cavaliers may have lost some of their rhythm from three point land. Each team has been off since Saturday. Atlanta is 46-22 SU (and 42-26 ATS) when off of a win by a margin of 10 points or more. The Cavaliers continue to be a money-burning team in November as they are on a 10-20 ATS run in November games including an ugly 0-3 ATS this season. Also, the Hawks are already 2-0 ATS agianst teams with a winning record this season so that is a combined 5-0 ATS mark in favor of the road dog in this one. 8* ATLANTA

MNF Primetime Punisher - Rickenbach NFL Game #473 Monday - 10* Top Play Buffalo Bills (+) @ Seattle Seahawks @ 8:30 ET - The ability to get a full TD here with a dangerous underdog in a strong situation is raising this pick to Top Play rating for me. Yes, Seattle is a tough place to play and has a raucous crowd but 2 of their 3 home wins this season have come by just 2 points. Also, since their bye week in early October, the Seahawks have been outgained in each of their last 3 games. Seattle went 1-1-1 in this stretch with the lone win by just 2 points over Atlanta. Also, it is worth noting that the Seahawks most recent trip to the Super Bowl was a loss in February 2015 to the Patriots. Up next for Seattle is a trip to New England. It's impossible for Seattle coach Pete Carroll and company to not be "peeking ahead" a bit to that game. The Seahawks are 3-8 ATS in games played in Weeks 5 through 9 the past 3 seasons. The Bills are 7-3 ATS as an underdog of 3.5 to 9.5 points. Buffalo is also a perfect 3-0 ATS (and SU!) their last 3 against the NFC West and also a perfect 6-0 ATS (and SU!) the last 6 times they have entered a game off of back to back losses. That's a 9-0, 100% run that supports an outright upset here and I am grabbing the points here. Look for the Bills rushing ability (with LeSean McCoy now healthier) to be a difference maker here as they are averaging 154 rushing yards per game (compared to Seattle's 81.4 per game on the ground). With solid defense (allowed 16.2 points per game their last 5 games prior to bad loss to NE) and a strong ground game, the Bills have the right recipe for hanging tough with the Seahawks at CenturyLink Field in Seattle. 10* BUFFALO BILLS Monday Night

Watch-n-Win Smash Pass - Rickenbach NBA Game #706 Monday - 8* Philadelphia 76'ers (+) vs Utah Jazz @ 7:05 ET - The Sixers are still seeking their first win of the season but they have been very competitive in home games. Philly is off of a 1 point loss to the NBA champion Cavaliers and that means that the 76'ers have now had 3 of 4 losses at home by an average of 3 points per game! Philly is hungry to get over the hump here as they have a road game on deck and that begins a stretch where 4 of the Sixers next 6 games are away from home. Getting that first win while still on their home floor is a big goal for Philadelphia and they are catching Utah at a good time. The Jazz are off of a win at New York yesterday and this is the first time this season that the Jazz have had to play road games on back to back days. Also, this will be Utah's 5th game in 7 days. It is a tough stretch for the road team here and Philadelphia is playing for just the 2nd time in 5 days so the 76'ers certainly will have the fresher legs tonight. The Sixers are 16-4 ATS against Northwest Division teams and 38-21 ATS in non-conference action as the teams from out west certainly don't bring a lot of motivation to these match-ups with a team that has been the worst in the Eastern Conference in recent seasons. 8* PHILADELPHIA 76'ERS Monday evening

Contrarian Crusher - Rickenbach NBA Game #509 Sunday - 8* Denver Nuggets (+) @ Boston Celtics @ 7:35 ET - Many will be looking to fade the Nuggets here because they are in the 2nd night of a back to back situation while the Celtics have had 2 days off coming into this battle in Boston. However, no one played more than 29 minutes for Denver last night and the only reason the Nuggets were beaten badly is that they shot poorly. Denver was held to 33% from the field but they again won the battle of the boards and are averaging about a dozen more boards per game than their opponents so far this season. As for the Celtics, they are an ugly 8-14 ATS when playing with two days of rest and they have been outrebounded in 3 of their last 4 games. The deficit has been about 15 boards per game in those 3 games. What I especially like about this match-up is the value with the big points. All 5 of Boston's game this season have been decided by 6 points or less and, before yesterday's rare blowout loss, all of Denver's games this season had been decided by 5 points or less. With the Nuggets about a 7.5 point dog here, there is great value with the points. The Nuggets also have plenty of motivation here as they've lost both match-ups with Boston each of the past two seasons. 8* DENVER

Contrarian Top Play - Rickenbach NFL Game #464 Sunday - Rickenbach NFL 10* Top Play San Francisco 49'ers (+) vs New Orleans Saints @ 4:05 ET - No one will want the 49'ers here but contrarian handicapping is something that has treated me very well in NFL through the years. The key to this play is the situational aspect and the corresponding line value. The Saints are off of a huge win at home as they knocked off Seattle at the Superdome. Now, New Orleans has to try to "get up" for a 49'ers team that has only won one game this season and comes into this week on a 6-game winning streak. Making matters worse for the Saints is that they have games against Denver and Carolina on deck. The Panthers are a division rival who was in the Super Bowl last year. The Broncos won the Super Bowl last year and lost it two years prior to that. The Seahawks were who won the Super Bowl that year over Denver and then Seattle lost the Super Bowl the next year. The point is that New Orleans has a stretch of 4 games here filled with teams that have been among the NFL's elite in recent seasons. In the middle of all this is a trip to the West Coast to face a 49'ers team that has been among the worst in the league this season. If ever there is a spot for the Saints to fall flat this is absolutely it and I feel strongly that San Francisco is ripe to take advantage. The 49'ers will be ready (both mentally and physically) after a much needed bye week. The Niners are on a 10-5 ATS run as a home dog. The Saints per game averages for the offense are 10 points less and 128 yards less when they are on the road compared to when they are home. Also, New Orleans is on an ugly 1-8 ATS skid as a favorite of 3.5 to 9.5 points. What is even more amazing about that is that the Saints have lost 7 of those 9 games outright! I definitely would not be surprised to see another outright upset here but certainly the value here is with the big points being offered to the 49'ers. 10* SAN FRANCISCO 

Rickenbach NFL Game #453 Sunday - 8* Detroit Lions (+) @ Minnesota Vikings @ 1 ET - Look for the Lions to bounce back off of their first loss since October 2nd. Detroit had won 3 straight before losing by a TD at Houston last week. Part of what keyed the Lions 3-1 run has been winning the turnover battle as they have forced 6 turnovers in their last 4 games while only turning the ball over once in their last 4 games. Unlike Detroit, Minnesota is heading the wrong direction. The Vikings have lost back to back games and been outscored by a combined 41 to 20. Teams have found that the Vikes can be beat by blitzing and forcing Sam Bradford to either get rid of the ball quickly or take the sack. It has been an ugly 2 weeks for the Vikings since their bye and now the resignation of offensive coordinator Norv Turner adds to the unsettling times in Minnesota. The Vikings offense ranks as one of the worst in the league for yardage as they average only 293.3 yards per game. The Lions play this game with double revenge as they lost both games to the Vikings last season. One game was a 9 point defeat and the other was a 10 point defeat but the Lions have closed the gap on the Vikings in recent weeks and that is why there is great line value with underdog Detroit catching about a touchdown here with the current line on this game. Minnesota is on a short week here and they were outgained by 145 yards by the Bears on Monday Night! The Vikings are hungry to respond off of back to back losses but they will struggle with a Lions team that has the better offense in this match-up. Detroit smells "blood in the water" and can pull within a half game of the division leading Vikings and certainly the Lions are going to go "all out" as they have their bye week on deck. 8* DETROIT

Rickenbach NFL Game #455 Sunday - 8* Philadelphia Eagles (+) @ New York Giants @ 1 ET - The Eagles have truly had just one bad game this season and yet they sit at only 4-3 on the year and really need to make a move this week if they're going to remain in contention in the NFC East. The Eagles had a horrible game at Washington that was inexcusable 3 weeks ago. Perhaps they were deflated because of the loss they never should have had against Detroit (tough late fumble was difference) the prior week. However, the Eagles then responded off the loss at Detroit by knocking off Minnesota and Philadelphia has been at their best against quality opposition. They beat Pittsburgh when they were 3-0 and the Vikings when they were 5-0. Though Philly fell short in OT at Dallas last week that was a tough loss as they led the game 20-10 in the third quarter and then the Eagles offense never even got a chance with the football in overtime. Needless to say, Philadelphia is fired up about this week's game and they are always tough on the Giants. In fact, the Eagles have covered 8 of their last 9 visits to New York! Also, Philly has beaten the Giants in both meetings each of the past two years. New York is off of their bye week but they've lost off of their bye week each of the last two seasons and the Giants are known for late season fades with a 33-60 ATS mark in November games! Also, their long-term mark when playing with extra rest is 10-18 ATS. The Eagles are 5-1 SU and ATS when off of a loss against a division rival and also 5-2 SU and ATS when they are a road dog of 3 points or less. The Giants are 1-9 ATS in the first of back to back home games. 8* PHILADELPHIA

Rickenbach NFL Game #458 Sunday - 8* Cleveland Browns (+) vs Dallas Cowboys @ 1 ET - We've all heard the expression "on any given Sunday" and that certainly applies here. The Browns are the only team in the AFC that hasn't won two games yet this season and, in fact, remain winless at 0-8. The Cowboys are the only team in the NFC that hasn't lost two games yet this season as they enter this game at 7-1. So basically you have the best team in the NFC against the worst team in the entire league. What happens? It all come down to situational handicapping and, with the Cowboys off of yet another divisional win they should not have had, don't be surprised if the Browns surprise a lot of people Sunday. Dallas beat Philly last week but it took overtime and truly, had the Eagles not screwed up a late FG opportunity (and inexplicably punted) the Cowboys would not have won last week. Earlier this season Dallas beat the Redskins in a game where Washington was on the goal line ready to put the game away and go up by two scores and then a huge turnover occurred and the Cowboys had another divisional win they did not necessarily deserve. This is the time to fade Dallas. They are being lauded as one of the top teams in the league (and certainly deserve some credit) but they are leading the NFC East division even though they easily could be 0-3 in their divisional games on the year. By the way, their other wins came against 4 teams whose combined record is 10-19-1 on the season. Be careful just handing the Super Bowl trophy to the Cowboys. Their downfall will start this week (surprise to many) and certainly they have a tough upcoming schedule. As for the Browns, as bad as they have been, 4 of their last 7 losses have come by 6 points or less. Also, this is their first opportunity this season where they have been home for back to back weeks and 2 of their 3 home losses have come by 5 points or less. This is a hungry Cleveland team that views this game (a chance to knock off of a team with one of the best records in the league) as hosting a mini-Super Bowl so to speak. Dallas is 3-6 SU and ATS in November games the past two seasons. 8* CLEVELAND

MW Game of the Year - Rickenbach CFB Game #380 Saturday - 10* Top Play Wyoming Cowboys (-) vs Utah State Aggies @ 10:15 ET - Wyoming was as high as a 7 point fave but has now dropped to a -4 as of gameday morning. The line move is completely understood as many are looking to fade the Cowboys off of their big upset win over Boise State. The reason that angle does not concern me is four fold. 1) Utah State is not a good football team. 2) Wyoming is home for a 2nd straight week. 3) The Cowboys win over the Broncos was not the pinnacle of their season as they still have their sites set on winning the Mountain Division. 4) Revenge is a huge motivating factor and Wyoming has lost each of their last 4 match-ups with Utah State by an average margin of 30 points per defeat! As you can see, despite the big win over Boise last week, there is no way Wyoming is going to come out flat for this game. On the "off chance" that they did however, I would still expect coach Craig Bohl to rally the troops at half-time and this line is very manageable. I just don't see the Cowboys losing at home here and being able to lay just 4 is a huge value. Utah State has only 3 wins this season and those came against an FCS school, a Sun Belt team, and Fresno State - the worst MW team in the conference. The Aggies are off of a 40-13 demolishing loss at San Diego State last week and Utah State has gone 1-6 ATS when they are off of a game where they allowed more than 35 points and are then facing a team who is off of back to back SU wins. In this case, the red hot Cowboys have won 4 straight games and the roll should continue Saturday. Wyoming is 8-1 ATS when they are off of back to back SU wins and facing a conference opponent. Also, the Cowboys are 5-1 ATS when they are a home favorite of more than 3 points and playing in a revenge opportunity versus and opponent off of a SU loss by a double digit margin. 10* WYOMING

SEC Primetime Punisher - Rickenbach CFB Game #411 Saturday - 8* Alabama Crimson Tide (-) @ LSU Tigers @ 8 ET - The Tigers, as a sizable home dog here, are a very popular choice this week. Of course those who have followed me for years know I like to fade the masses and top ranked Alabama is one team that certainly is not going to fall apart just because they're playing a night game at LSU. The key to this selection is that there has been much talk about how well the Tigers have played since the Auburn loss and the subsequent firing of head coach Les Miles. However, LSU has played Missouri and Ole Miss in SEC action and those teams are a combined 1-8 in conference games this season! The other game was a non-conference game for LSU and they faced Southern Miss. The Golden Eagles are a C-USA team that had lost to UTSA by 23 points the prior week. The point is that LSU's "big" 3-0 run sans Miles has come against very weak opposition. On the season as a whole, Alabama has played a much tougher schedule than LSU has and the Tigers are facing a team that is better than they are on both sides of the ball. The Crimson Tide have won 5 straight in this series and they covered 4 of those 5 games. Also, Bama entered this season with this interesting stat in tow. They are 12-2 ATS when they are on the road off of a straight-up win and they are facing an opponent who is off of a straight-up win by a double digit margin. Lay the points while the masses are salivating at getting an over-rated LSU team as a home dog of a TD. The Tigers are a dog in this range for a reason and I smell a punishing road victory come in this one as it is Roll Tide Roll. 8* ALABAMA

Situational Slaughter - Rickenbach CFB Game #346 Saturday - 8* NC State Wolfpack (+) vs Florida State Seminoles @ 7 ET - Even though NC State is 11-3-1 ATS in the last 15 meetings with FSU, the Wolfpack have lost each of the last three meetings by double digit margins. That said, NC State is definitely hungry and wants to make the most of this opportunity to exact revenge at home. The Wolfpack are certainly catching Florida State at the perfect time to do just that. The Seminoles are off of a hard-fought emotionally draining loss to Clemson last week. It is hard to imagine the Noles having a lot left in the tank (mentally and physically) after suffering their third loss in the last six weeks. The Seminoles just haven't been able to get over the hump this season and they now face a Wolfpack team that has "nothing to lose" and will "leave it all on the field" in this one. Assuredly, the Noles are going to get NC State's best effort and the Wolfpack thrive in home games that are projected to be higher scoring. NC State has gone 13-6 SU and ATS in home games with a posted total between 56.5 and 63 points. Also, the Wolfpack are hosting a Seminoles team that is 0-3 ATS the last 3 times when it is a road game that follows playing Clemson. Hitting the road after the emotional loss to the Tigers, look for that run to go to 0-4 ATS. This situation favors NC State as they are playing a 2nd straight home game, off of a loss, and they are allowing only 95 rushing yards per game at home. Florida State is on an 8-14 ATS run as a road favorite of 3.5 to 7 points. 8* NC STATE

Earliest Cash - Rickenbach CFB Game #402 Saturday - 8* Mississippi State Bulldogs (+) vs Texas A & M Aggies @ Noon ET - Under head coach Kevin Sumlin, the Aggies typical late season fade at the betting window seems to be underway. Texas A & M has lost 4 straight games ATS as they head into a tough road match-up at Mississippi State. The Aggies last 3 seasons under Sumlin have seen them finish up on a 2-7 ATS run twice and a 1-6 ATS run once. That's a combined 5-20 ATS mark and this season, the Aggies are already on an 0-4 ATS run with four regular season games to go. As a favorite of 10.5 to 21 points, Texas A & M is on a 1-6 ATS run the past 4 seasons combined. Both of these teams are strong on offense with question marks on defense. That said, I'll gladly grab the home dog that is getting double digits as the Aggies are still over-rated in my opinion. The Bulldogs are only 3-5 on the season but 4 of their 5 losses came by a TOTAL of just 13 points. Mississippi State is on an 8-4 ATS run as an underdog and they will turn this one into a dogfight in Starkville! The Bulldogs do have Alabama on deck but they know they need to win this to still have a shot at making a run at a bowl game and, surprisingly, they are on a 5-0 ATS run in games that are the week prior to facing the Crimson Tide. Look for that record to improve to 6-0 ATS Saturday. 8* MISSISSIPPI STATE

Rickenbach NBA Game #514 Friday - 8* Dallas Mavericks (+) vs Portland Trail Blazers @ 8:35 ET - Portland is playing their 3rd game in 4 nights and they just lost at New Orleans Wednesday to give the Pelicans their first win of the season. Now I look for the Trail Blazers to end up giving the Mavericks their first win of the season. Dallas has allowed just 95 points per game in their past two games but they've still come up short of a victory. Portland has allowed 115.2 points per game so far this season and the Blazers won't be able to match the defensive intensity of the hungry Mavs in this one. Portland has gone over the total in each of their five games this season and this style of play hasn't led to many positive results at the betting window in the past. When the Trail Blazers enter a game having gone over the total in each of their three prior games, they have gone 10-18 ATS (including 0-2 ATS this season). The Mavericks have covered 5 of their last 7 meetings with Portland and that includes all 3 of the meetings in Dallas. Off of 4 straight losses to open the season the Mavericks are the hungry home dog here and the Blazers aren't going to be able to match their defensive intensity. 8* DALLAS Friday

Rickenbach NBA Game #507 Friday - 8* New York Knicks (+) @ Chicago Bulls @ 8:05 ET - Huge game for Joakim Noah and Derrick Rose as they return from New York to Chicago to face their former team. Both of these clubs, with all the changes in the off-season, are having struggles getting going early this season. Of course it has been worse for the 1-3 Knicks than the 3-1 Bulls but with the way Chicago's D is struggling, including on the perimeter in their loss @ Boston Wednesday, the points are the way to go here. The Bulls have allowed opponents to shoot 47% or better from the floor in 3 of their 4 games and Chicago faces a hungry Knicks team that has played the tougher schedule early this season. New York, off of an ugly home loss to Houston, is eyeing this big match-up on ESPN Friday night as an opportunity to right the ship. Look for Noah and Rose to lead the way as the Knicks improve on a 19-12 ATS mark in Friday night games the past 2 seasons. The Bulls have only gone 9-15 ATS as a home favorite of 6.5 to 9 points the past 2 seasons. 8* NEW YORK Friday

Contrarian TOP PLAY - Rickenbach CFL Game #476 Friday - 10* Top Play Ottawa Redblacks (+) vs Winnipeg Blue Bombers @ 7 ET - This is truly a contrarian play. Everyone is backing the Blue Bombers here because they "need to win" in hopes of getting a home playoff game. This line has already moved 4 points from a pick'em on Winnipeg to now being a 4.5 point favorite as of early Friday morning. The Blue Bombers just lost badly to the Redblacks at home last week and Winnipeg didn't even get into the end zone until the final seconds of the game. However, even though Ottawa is resting starting QB Henry Burris for this game (and some banged up regulars may rest too), the Redblacks aren't going to just "lay down" for this game. They want to win. They have earned the home field game for the post-season which is coming their way in two weeks but they also haven't won a home game since late September. In their two October home games they lost each one in OT. The Redblacks have the better defense in this match-up. They had an excellent game plan against the Blue Bombers which they used to get the W in Winnipeg last week and Ottawa wants to chalk up a W on their home field to go into the post-season with positive momentum and with finally notching a home W after some recent tight losses there. Grab the underdog value as Winnipeg is only 7-7 SU as a favorite the past three seasons and they've only gone 4-10 ATS in those 14 games! The Redblacks are on a 6-1 ATS run in November games! 10* OTTAWA Friday

RARE Thursday TOP - Rickenbach NFL Game #307 Thursday - 10* Top Play Atlanta Falcons (-) @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers @ 8:25 ET - The Falcons have big time revenge on their minds here. Not only did they lose their season opener at home against the Buccaneers this season, Atlanta also lost both match-ups with the Bucs last season. The fact is we are getting line value here because this game is being played at Tampa Bay. That is helping to keep the chalk here much smaller than it would be if this game was being played in Atlanta. How much will home field help the Buccaneers here? Well, they allowed 626 yards to the Raiders here last week and they are on a 7-22 ATS skid as home dogs so I would say home field is unlikely to be a deciding factor in this one! Truly the Bucs defense has been shredded for much of this season because the only games where TB thrived on defense was when they faced some of the most anemic offenses in the league (SF, LA, and Denver yards per game very unimpressive). In Tampa's other 4 games they've allowed an average of 353 passing yards per game! Atlanta, #1 offense in the league, is going to shred the Bucs defense Thursday. The Falcons are averaging 33 points per game this season and the Buccaneers have been held to 24 points or less in 4 of their last 6 games. The Falcons are on a 9-2 ATS run on Thursdays while the Bucs are 1-5 ATS in Thursday games. Atlanta is 4-0 ATS on the road this season and Tampa Bay is 0-3 ATS at home this season. The Buccaneers are 1-6 ATS as divisional dogs when facing an opponent who is seeking revenge. I fully expect Atlanta to get their revenge in a big way tonight and the systems above add to up a combined 27-4 (87%) ATS mark in favor of the Falcons. 10* ATLANTA FALCONS Thursday

Earliest Cash - Rickenbach CFB Game #309 Thursday - 8* Buffalo Bulls (+) @ Ohio University Bobcats @ 6 ET - The Bobcats are playing with revenge here as they lost at Buffalo by 24 points last season even though they were a 3-point favorite. However, simply put, this line is over-inflated for this early evening Thursday match-up. From a situational perspective it is not a great spot for Ohio as they are off of a huge win last Thursday at Toledo. They won by 5 as a 15 point dog and that was the Bobcats first win at The Glass Bowl in 50 years! Needless to say that could leave the Bobcats a little flat early in this game. Also, Ohio U. continues to have big issues at the QB position and that means they have to rely heavily on their ground game in this one and just allow their young QB to try and be a game manager and not make mistakes. That said, this is not the type of game where the Bobcats are likely to be able to run up the score. Also, the Bulls are only 2-6 on the season but both wins came as double digit dogs. Buffalo has some extra confidence after last week's win at Akron as a 19.5 point dog. The Bulls got their ground game going again as they rushed for 378 yards. Look for a steady dose of running from both teams in this one and the result should be a much closer game than many are expecting. Keep in mind, the Bobcats have not won a game by more than 16 points all season and, in MAC games, their biggest win was 10 points and their average margin of victory has been 6.3 points. Ohio U is likely to get the win here but not the cover. The Bulls are a young team and also now in their 2nd year of new systems under their coach. Last week's win over the Zips was a sign that this team is starting to put it together and, keep in mind, their ugly loss at Northern Illinois was fueled by turnovers. In their five prior games, the Bulls turned the ball over a TOTAL of just 3 times. 8* BUFFALO BULLS Thursday

Rickenbach NBA Game #515 Wednesday - 8* Dallas Mavericks (+) @ Utah Jazz @ 9:05 ET - What is worse than facing the Spurs in a front end of a back to back? Facing a winless, ultra hungry team in the 2nd half of that back to back situation after having to travel. Yes the Jazz were in San Antonio last night and now they're back home to take on a Dallas team that is 0-3 on the season but well rested and very hungry off of a 1 point loss. The Mavericks went 2-1 against the Jazz last season with the lone loss by just 2 points. Also, Dallas has gotten the straight-up win in 5 of their last 7 trips to Utah. The Mavs are 6-3 (SU and ATS) when they enter a game on a losing streak of 3 games or more. Also, the Mavericks have failed to cover only 14 of their last 41 against Northwest Division opponents. Utah has lost 18 of 31 when off of an upset loss as an underdog. Also, the Jazz are just 15-26 when off of a win by a double digit margin. Make no mistake about it, last night's Utah win over the Spurs was a big one. They will be flat here and the Mavericks will take advantage as they bring a huge effort in hopes of notching their first win of the season. 8* Dallas

Rickenbach NBA Game #511 Wednesday - 8* New Orleans Pelicans (+) @ Memphis Grizzlies @ 8:05 ET - The Pelicans are winless on the season after a tight loss to Milwaukee last night. All their games have been tight (except the ugly loss at San Antonio) and, with that said, New Orleans is offering some nice road dog value here. Even though the Pelicans are in a back to back spot, the Grizzlies are also in a back to back spot and Memphis got blasted last night. The Grizzlies lost by 36 points last night and they are now playing their 4th game in 5 nights. Even though New Orleans is also in a back to back spot, they had two days off prior to facing the Bucks last night. Memphis is only 16-20 SU in divisional games the past two seasons and here they are being asked to cover a half dozen points. The Pelicans are on a respectable 59-44 ATS run as an underdog. Also, when off of an upset loss as a favorite, New Orleans has gone 19-11 ATS. When playing on back to back days the past two seasons the Pelicans went 22-15 ATS. 8* New Orleans

ESPN2 Smash Pass - Rickenbach CFB Game #305 Wednesday - 8* Toledo Rockets (-) @ Akron Zips @ 7:30 ET - The Rockets are off of a rare loss and will respond huge Wednesday night. The Zips are off of a loss as well and also are excited about this home game opportunity on ESPN2. However, Akron is simply a mess right now. They've lost 2 of their last 3 games and have allowed an average of 330 rushing yards per game in those contests! That means Toledo should be able to run the ball at will in tonight's game and, of course, establishing the run allows a team to then have infinite possibilities to open up the playbook and attack through the air. The Rockets are averaging 347 passing yards per game this season so Akron's defense is in real trouble here. Toledo also is well known as road warriors. In games away from the Glass Bowl, the Rockets have gone 11-1 ATS their last 12! Toledo has straight up wins in 10 of their last 11 away from home! While the spread may seem sizable here, the Zips have been getting dominated statistically of late while the Rockets have been on the right end of the domination for much of this season. Also, Toledo is 6-0 ATS in their last 6 weekday road games and 6-1 ATS when playing with revenge against a sub-.600 opponent. The Rockets last played the Zips in their season finale of 2013 and that game was at Akron. Toledo lost the game by 2 points and that remains the only year out of the past 6 seasons that the Rockets have not made a bowl game. Trust me, they have not forgotten. It is time for payback Wednesday night and Akron is on a 2-8 ATS run when they are off of a straight-up loss as a favorite. They were a big road fave at Buffalo last week and yet lost the game by 3 TD's. That is a sign of things to come in this one as another blowout looms. The combined ATS mark of those 3 streaks noted above is 20-3 ATS in favor of the road team in this one. I'll take it! 8* TOLEDO ROCKETS Wednesday

Rickenbach NBA Game #502 Wednesday - 8* Washington Wizards (+) vs Toronto Raptors @ 7:05 ET - The Wizards swept the Raptors out of the post-season two seasons ago. The Raptors then got some measure of payback by sweeping the regular season series last year 4 games to 0. Needless to say it's now Washington that has payback on their minds and the Wizards are also playing their home opener tonight and have an 0-2 record on the young season. They will be hungry to get into the win column here and they are catching the Raptors off of a tight home win versus Denver and now playing their first road game of the season. The Wizards are 54-33 SU in home games the past two seasons. The Raptors are 31-47 ATS when off of a game where they scored 105 points or more. 8* Washington

Tuesday Smash Pass - Rickenbach CFB Game #301 Tuesday - 8* Bowling Green Falcons (+) @ Northern Illinois @ 8 ET - This line moved up from 15.5 to 17 and I completely understand the move as the Huskies are seeking revenge for December's loss to the Falcons. However, just because I understand the move doesn't mean I agree with it. Simply put, the points are too big here. Both teams are having tough seasons but the Falcons numbers really got skewed by horrible losses at Ohio State and Memphis. Bowling Green did get blown out in both of those games. However, in their other 6 games the Falcons allowed an average of 34.5 points per game while scoring an average of 26.3 points per game. They're facing a Northern Illinois team that is off of a blowout win over Buffalo. That 44-7 win over the Bulls is helping to give us an inflated line here. Prior to that game, the Huskies had allowed an average of 37.3 points per game and went 1-6 in those 7 games. You can see that Northern Illinois is truly nothing special this season and their defense has been just as bad as the Falcons defense. I don't see the Huskies as being able to create much of a margin in this game. These teams are very nearly equal and home field edge plus the revenge angle aren't enough of a factor to justify this huge line. Also, Bowling Green has a long-term mark of 19-9 ATS as an underdog in a range of 10.5 to 21 points. Northern Illinois is on a 5-9 ATS run in home games the past three seasons combined. The Huskies have failed to cover 3 of their last 4 home meetings with the Falcons. 8* BOWLING GREEN Tuesday

Situational Slaughter - Rickenbach NBA Game #709 Tuesday - 8* Sacramento Kings (+) @ Miami Heat @ 7:35 ET - Many will look at this match-up and see a back to back situation and figure the Kings are in trouble. However, Sacramento did a good job of limiting minutes with their player rotation in last night's loss at Atlanta and they have fresher legs than you would normally expect for a back to back spot. Also, the fact they blew the game in the fourth quarter last night has the Kings hungry for a bounce back as they eye a road win tonight. Sacramento is catching the Heat at the right time. Miami is already dealing with early season injury issues, they are off of back to back losses, and they are in a lookahead spot here. Up next for the Heat is a trip to Toronto and it is hard for Miami not to be looking ahead to that match-up with a Raptors team that knocked them out of the playoffs last season. Toronto got the best of the Heat in a series that went 7 games in the Eastern Conference semi-finals. While the Heat are looking ahead, the Kings are fully focused on this game as they look to get revenge for losing both match-ups with Miami each of the past two seasons. The Heat are 9-17 ATS in Tuesday match-ups the past two seasons. The Kings are 18-13 ATS in November games the past two seasons. 8* SACRAMENTO KINGS

Earliest Cash - Rickenbach NBA Game #701 Tuesday - 8* Houston Rockets (+) @ Cleveland Cavaliers @ 6:05 ET - Even though this is a revenge spot for the Cavs (lost at home to Rockets in late March), a team having revenge is not that big of a deal when that team went on to win the Championship in June. That said, there is big value with the big points being offered here. The Cavaliers are 3-0 on the young season but they haven't shot the ball very well in their last two games and, on the other end of the floor, they are allowing a higher and higher shooting percentage with each game so far this season. The Magic hit 45.2% from the field in Saturday's non-covering Cleveland win. The Rockets are 2-1 on the young season and the lone loss came by 6 points. Houston is doing a respectable job on the boards early this season while the Cavs have been outrebounded significantly in their past two games. James Harden (probable for tonight - ankle) and the Rockets are fired up about facing the defending champs. Look for Houston - 15-3 ATS on Tuesdays the past two seasons combined - to give the Cavs all they can handle here. Cleveland is 10-17 ATS in November games the past two seasons and this non-conference match-up is likely to have them looking ahead to all the Eastern Conference opponents that are up ahead on the schedule. 5 of the Cavaliers next 7 games are against Eastern Conference teams that were in the post-season last spring. 8* HOUSTON ROCKETS

21-0, 100% System Rout - Rickenbach NFL Game #274 Monday - 8* Chicago Bears (+) vs Minnesota Vikings @ 8:30 ET - The Vikings will be looking to respond off of a loss but, for the Bears, this is basically their "Super Bowl" for the season. It is their final appearance on Monday Night Football for the season and they are at home and they are hosting a division rival. Considering Chicago is off to a 1-6 start this season, this is one of the few opportunities they will have to "make some noise" the rest of the year. Look for the Bears to make the most of this opportunity and many will be surprised to hear this but, despite averaging less points than the Vikings, the Chicago offense is averaging 50 yards more per game than the Minnesota offense so far this season. Also, the Bears defense has not been as bad as the points per game would lead you to believe. Chicago is allowing only 350 yards per game. By comparison, the Vikings defense (arguably the best in the league) is allowing 280 yards per game. The point is that, from a statistical standpoint these teams are not as far apart as you may think at first glance. The Bears also have the home field edge here and I expect QB Jay Cutler to make the most of this second opportunity after Chicago QB Brian Hoyer suffered a broken arm. The Bears have won 8 of their last 10 meetings with Minnesota in Chicago and the two losses came by just 3 points apiece. Simply put, the Vikings have not enjoyed recent trips to Chicago and I don't expect that to change Monday night either. Chicago is 12-0 ATS as a home dog of 4 or more points when they are off of consecutive straight-up losses. The Bears also have the scheduling edge here as they are off of a Thursday night game so they have extra rest coming into this one and they also have a bye week on deck. The Vikings are 0-9 ATS as a road favorite when they are off of a straight-up loss as a favorite! The Vikes did cover in a big win over the Giants in MNF earlier this month but they are still on just a 1-7 ATS run in Monday Night football match-ups as they previously had failed to cover in 7 straight MNF games. Look for another Monday Night ATS loss here for Minny as we test the combined 21-0 ATS runs that are in play for this one (12-0 for the Bears and 9-0 against Minnesota). 8* CHICAGO 

NBA TV Blowout - Rickenbach NBA Game #502 Monday - 8* Toronto Raptors (-) vs Denver Nuggets @ 7:35 ET - Nice spot for Toronto to win big at home. Not only are the Raptors off of a home loss to Cleveland Friday, Toronto also has revenge on their minds here. They lost both games against the Nuggets last season. The Raptors lost in Denver by 19 in the most recent meeting and, prior to that, Toronto suffered a home loss by a single point to the Nuggets in the last meeting north of the border. It is payback time here and, though both teams are 1-1 on the season, the Nuggets are expected to be one of the weaker teams in the Western Conference this season while the Raptors are expected to be among the top teams in the Eastern Conference once again this season. Denver is only 7-13 SU in their last 20 games against teams from the Atlantic Division. Also, the Nuggets only got the ATS cover in 7 of those 20 games as well. As a home favorite of 6.5 to 9 points, the Raptors have gone 14-4 SU. Their ATS success in that same point spread range has not been as good but, as you can see, the SU win is to be expected. That said, what about the cover this time around? The key here is that Toronto has the double revenge angle working in their favor. Once they get up big in this game they are not going to take their foot off of the gas because they learned their lesson in last year's match-ups with Denver. The Raptors, off of a loss, need to take care of business tonight and they have shot better, defended better, and also been less turnover prone (Tor 29, Den 41) compared to the Nuggets in the first two games of this season. All those edges should lead to a win by double digits for the Raptors on NBA TV Monday evening. 8* TORONTO

Primetime Game of the Month - Rickenbach NFL Game #271 Sunday - 10* Top Play Philadelphia Eagles (+) @ Dallas Cowboys @ 8:30 ET - Anything that changes a team momentum is a problem when that momentum was positive. Earlier this season we saw the Eagles start the year 3-0 and the electric start was culminated with a dominating win over the Steelers and that was when Ben Roethlisberger was healthy. After that game, the Eagles then lost a heartbreaker late at Detroit. That seemed to change their momentum as the very next week they were "flat" for their game against a division rival - the Redskins - and, of course, that is completely inexcusable. The Eagles responded the next week with another dominating effort (21-10 over Minnesota) and needless to say, Philly learned their lesson. That said, there is no way they're going to come out flat again versus a divisional foe. This is a key primetime match-up that brings out the best in teams and Philadelphia knows they can ill afford dropping into a 0-2 hole in divisional games. The Cowboys have now rattled off 5 straight wins (and 5 straight covers) so what possibly could be the problem? Besides the fact that the Eagles (when motivated) have won 4 games all by double digits and by an average margin of 19 points, the Cowboys had a momentum-killing bye week. When a team is struggling they relish a bye week to get back on track but truly the bye week at this time was the last thing Dallas needed. The Cowboys also have gone from being a 4 point fave here to as high as a 5.5 as of mid-morning on gameday. This is a Dallas team that on a 7-19 ATS run as a divisional home favorite while the Eagles are on a 15-3 ATS run as a divisional road dog! The visitor has won each of the last 6 meetings between these teams so home field has not meant much at all in recent meetings between these teams and yet Dallas is attracting a lot of attention in this match-up. The Eagles have not turned the ball over in 4 of their 6 games this season and their defense has been one of the best in the league with only 307 yards allowed per game. Only once did Philly allow more than 222 yards passing in a game. Dallas has allowed 294 yards or more through the air in 3 of their last 5 games. The Cowboys are on a 0-9-1 ATS run when they are favored against an NFC team that has a winning percentage of .666 or better. Head coach Jason Garrett has a 2-11 ATS mark as a home favorite when facing an opponent off of a SU win. Garrett also is 1-7 ATS as a fave of 3 or more points against a team with a winning record. 10* PHILADELPHIA

Run Line Rout - Rickenbach MLB Game #906 Sunday - Chicago Cubs Run Line -1.5 runs vs Cleveland Indians @ 8:05 ET - The Cubs are now down 3-1 in this series and fighting hard to send it back to Cleveland for Game 6 Tuesday. The key here is the pitching match-up. Though Jon Lester didn't have one of his best games on Tuesday at Progressive Field, he still pitched decently. The key now is that he's back at Wrigley Field where the Cubs are 15-2 in his starts this year and where the southpaw has compiled a 1.61 ERA and a 0.89 WHIP. As for the Indians Trevor Bauer, the damage could have been much worse than it ended up being in his start versus the Cubs Wednesday. As it stands he is still the only Indians pitcher to lose to the Cubs in this series but, even more concerning than that when it comes to this match-up, Bauer allowed 6 hits and walked 2 in less than 4 innings of work. He is fortunate that he only gave up 2 earned runs in the game and I expect him to get pounded now on the road. The Indians have a losing record in road games that Bauer has started this season. We lay the run line here because I don't lay big juice (money line is huge on this game) but also note that the last 6 times the Indians have lost with Bauer on the mound, all defeats have come by a margin of at least 4 runs. 20 of the Cubs 27 wins with Lester on the mound have come by a margin of at least 2 runs. This one has the makings of a blowout. 8* CUBS Run Line -1.5 runs

NBA TV Blowout - Rickenbach NBA Game #712 Sunday - 8* Memphis Grizzlies (+) vs Washington Wizards @ 8:05 ET - A key in NBA wagering success certainly involves looking at scheduling because it can create some favorable situations. However, sometimes when it seems a team has some big edge because of scheduling, everyone piles on and the line moves and then it actually creates huge value going the other way. That is precisely the situation here. The Grizzles are in a back to back as they were at New York last night while the Wizards are rested as they have been off since facing Atlanta on Thursday in what is Washington's only game so far this season. The key to the value here is that Memphis is fired up off of a loss (they did get to within two points of the Knicks before New York pulled away in the fourth quarter) and the Grizzlies did not have a single player log more than 30 minutes last night. That means we have legs that are fresher than normal for a back to back spot and we have a team that is hungry because they are off of a loss. The Grizzlies did win their first game of the season at home on Wednesday and they actually have won 16 of their last 20 home match-ups with the Wizards. The result of all of the above? Exceptional value on the home dog. I do feel that Washington is going to be improved this season but Memphis is 8-4 ATS as a home dog of 3 points or less and they won all 8 of those games straight up and they are fired up to bounce back off of last night's loss. They also are 29-18 ATS off of a game where they allowed 105 points or more. The Wizards are 6-10 ATS in Sunday games and that is no fluke. It has to do with how players prepare the day before a game and just keep in mind the Wizards were on the road on a Saturday night. They could be a little flat today and the Grizzlies will come out firing on all cylinders after getting off to a slow start at New York yesterday. 8* MEMPHIS

NFL Value Special - Rickenbach NFL Game #254 Sunday - 8* Atlanta Falcons (-) vs Green Bay Packers @ 4:25 ET - The Falcons are off of a tough home loss (in OT!) as they allowed the Chargers to battle back from a 17 point deficit. Prior to this loss, the Falcons also suffered a tough 2 point loss at Seattle. Needless to say, the Falcons are now feeling their backs are against the wall and this is an Atlanta team that that has the top offense in the league as QB Matt Ryan continues to dominate. The Packers and QB Aaron Rodgers just haven't been the same on offense this season. Though they did put up big numbers last week that was against the Bears (Chicago is now 1-6 on the season) and I don't see Green Bay as being able to keep up with a fired up Atlanta team here that has the most explosive offense in the league. The Falcons, even after last week's defeat, are on a 7-3 ATS run. The Packers, on the road for the first time in six weeks, have only covered once the last 9 times they have been a road dog. Green Bay has also suffered a straight-up loss in 5 of their last 6 games played in a dome and with how low the money line is here, taking the Falcons just to win this game is an option. 8* ATLANTA

AFC West Game of the Year - Rickenbach NFL Game #268 Sunday - 10* Top Play Denver Broncos (-) vs San Diego Chargers @ 4:05 ET - This line has dropped from a -6.5 to a -3.5 as of early Sunday morning and it is now "go time" with Denver in this one. The Broncos have one of the top defenses in the league. They also are #1 in the league for sack percentage at 10.7% and the Chargers do struggle to protect QB Philip Rivers. I have all the respect in the world for Rivers but he's in for a tough outing. We all say what happened Monday night when Denver "wanted it" against Houston and now we're going to see what happens when the Broncos "want it" against the Chargers. This is a revenge game for Denver and they outgained the Bolts by 40 yards in San Diego but managed to lose the game by 8 points. It's time for a little payback and, with the ground game going again (190 rushing yards versus Houston in MNF) and with the defense having held Rivers and Co to just 166 passing yards in the first match-up, there is no reason in the world this line should have dropped as much as it did. Time to step in and take advantage. The Chargers are off of their huge come-from-behind win at Atlanta last week (trailed Falcons by 17 in 2nd quarter) and won't have enough left in the tank to take down the Broncos a 2nd time in 18 days. Denver is on a 20-9 ATS run in AFC West games. The Broncos entered this season 7-0 ATS when they are off of a non-divisional game and facing a team off of an upset win as an underdog. The Chargers are 0-5 ATS as divisional dogs when they are off of a SU win as a dog. The Broncos defense has not allowed more than 23 points all season long. The Chargers defense has allowed 30 points or more in 3 of their last 4 games. Denver 30, San Diego 23 gets us the cash here but I expect an even much bigger margin of victory here and that's why this is a Top Play for me. With the line move, the better defense, and a resurgent ground game there is huge value with the Broncos here. 10* DENVER

1 of 3 on Early NFL 3-pack - Rickenbach NFL Game #260 Sunday - 8* Buffalo Bills (+) vs New England Patriots @ 1 ET - I am completely aware of the revenge aspect here for the Patriots as their only loss this season came versus the Bills in a 16-0 shutout at Foxboro the week before Brady came back. However, this line is simply inflated given the way the Bills have been playing. Buffalo had won four straight games before losing at Miami last week where they fell short by a field goal. The Bills are facing a Patriots team that has won 3 straight games since Brady is back under center. However, Buffalo is a surprising 5-0 ATS when they are facing an opponent who is seeking revenge and is off back to back wins. The Patriots are 2-7 ATS when favored by more than 4 points on the road and facing an AFC opponent. Both of those ATS wins actually came during the Pats 3-game winning streak since the loss to the Bills. However, it is certainly noteworthy that they came against a Browns team that is now 0-7 on the season and a Steelers team that was without Roethlisberger. Even without Big Ben, Pittsburgh did outgain the Patriots last week so the 27-16 win for New England certainly was a fortunate cover for New England. Bills head coach Rex Ryan has the quite the rivalry with Pats head coach Bill Belichick and 5 of the last 6 meetings when Ryan was with the Jets were decided by 3 points or less. The two last year, Ryan with Bills, both were decided by 8 points or less. Look for another tight battle and the points here, if even needed, will be enough for the cover. 8* BUFFALO Sunday

1 of 3 on Early NFL 3-pack - Rickenbach NFL Game #258 Sunday - 8* New Orleans Saints (+) vs Seattle Seahawks @ 1 ET - Seattle is off of their miracle tie at Arizona last week as the Cardinals outgained the Seahawks by nearly 200 yards and had every opportunity to win that game. Now Seattle heads further south and east to take on a New Orleans team that was the opposite of the lucky Seahawks last week. The Saints got burned by a tight loss at Kansas City as they outgained the Chiefs by nearly 150 yards but came up just short on the scoreboard. These results are helping to offer some line value this week as the scoreboard was not indicative of how the games really played out for these teams last week. Of course the Seahawks have the superior defense in this match-up but how much will they have left in the tank after batting for FIVE full quarters in last week's tie? As for the Saints, they definitely have the superior offense and New Orleans has been especially strong at home where they've averaged 36 points and 501 yards per game this season. The Saints are on an 11-3 ATS run as a dog. The Seahawks are on a 1-4 ATS run against NFC South foes. New Orleans is on a 7-0 ATS run against teams with a winning percentage of .666 or greater. Look for the Saints to get the upset here but grab the points. 8* NEW ORLEANS