1 of 3 on Early NFL 3-pack - Rickenbach NFL Game #266 Sunday - 8* Indianapolis Colts (+) vs Kansas City Chiefs @ 1 ET - Indianapolis is on an incredible 10-0 ATS run as a home dog and 9 of those 10 wins were outright upsets. The Colts should be in line for another one here as they take on a Chiefs team that was fortunate to get past the Saints last week and that game was at Arrowhead Stadium. KC was outgained by a 463 to 326 margin and first downs were 27 to 20 in favor of New Orleans. The Chiefs struggling offense is unlikely to keep up with the Colts dynamic offense in this one. Andrew Luck threw for 3 TDs last week and 353 yards against a Titans team that is actually a solid defensive club. One of the weaknesses for Indianapolis this season is pass protection but the Chiefs defense ranks near the bottom of the league in terms of percentage of sacks (3.6%) on pass plays. Indy is 10-3 SU and ATS when off of a divisional game. Also, the Colts are on a 4-1 ATS run against AFC West opponents. Kansas City is 2-4 SU and ATS in their last 6 games on turf and simply won't be able to keep up with the speedy Colts offense here. Indy is an amazing 9-0 ATS when they are at home off of a divisional game and facing an opponent who has a winning percentage of .600 or better on the season. Look for the Colts to make it 10 in a row early Sunday. 8* INDIANAPOLIS

Primetime Punisher - Rickenbach CFB Game #149 Saturday - 8* Clemson Tigers (-) @ Florida State Seminoles @ 8 ET - Though some of the "luster" has been taken off of this match-up because of the Seminoles having two losses on the season, it is still a big game. Certainly it is an important game to QB Deshaun Watson and the Tigers. Watson remembers his first game here (a loss in OT two years ago) and is seeking payback. Losses have been few and far between for Watson as the starting QB at Clemson and last year's home win over the Noles certainly was satisfying but a win at Tallahassee to make up for the last trip here is still a key goal for Watson and Company. The bye week helped them to get healthy too. Even though Florida State is also off of a bye week, the Noles are on an 0-4 ATS run when off of a bye week. Conversely, the Tigers are on a 3-1 ATS run when playing with two or more weeks of rest between games. Clemson is also 16-2 SU (and 12-6 ATS) in their last 18 games against teams with a winning record. The Noles are a subpar 7-10 ATS in games against teams with a winning record. The Tigers hold an 8-3 ATS mark in the last 11 games against FSU and home field hasn't been an advantage at the betting window. In fact, the road team has gotten the cash in 4 straight meetings between these teams. The Noles pass defense has been a surprising weakness for Florida State this season and Watson will take advantage. The Tigers have averaged 300 passing yards per game in the last two meetings with the Seminoles and they also ran for over 200 yards in last year's game. Having RB Wayne Gallman back healthy (thanks to the bye week) is a big plus for Clemson this week. Look for the Tigers to roll on the road as Clemson is battle-tested and has proven they can come up big at crunch time. The same can truly not be said for FSU who got blasted at Louisville, had to have a huge rally to beat Ole Miss, and lost at home to UNC. 8* CLEMSON TIGERS Saturday

Contrarian Game of the Year - Rickenbach CFB Game #180 Saturday - 10* Top Play Ole Miss Rebels (+) vs Auburn Tigers @ 7:15 ET - As long-time followers know, I like to be a contrarian. The very first numbers that popped up on this game when the lines came out mid-day Sunday showed Ole Miss as a -1.5 favorite! Now, as of early Saturday morning, the line is all the way up to -5 on Auburn. That is a swing of nearly a full TD on this line. Of course I completely understand the move. The Tigers have been moving the ball extremely well on the ground and the Rebels have been struggling to stop the run. Also, Ole Miss has been known for 2nd half struggles so far this season while Auburn has been dominating teams of late. With all that said, every week is a new week and Ole Miss is now at home, in a must win spot, and they are catching Auburn off of an easy win that will have them overconfident. I would not be surprised to see the Rebels get the upset in Oxford Saturday evening but certainly am grabbing the generous points being offered. Ole Miss, before last week's poor effort on the road, had been 6-0 ATS when they were an underdog off of a SU loss. Though that streak suffered a loss last week, look for the Rebels to bounce back big at home. The defense of Mississippi is tired of hearing all about their shortcomings and not being able to stop the run. When you are at home, off of back to back road losses, and constantly being told about an inability to do something, you often will step up the very next change you get. Make no mistake about it, the Rebels at home are fired up for this game and the defense is going to be flying all over the field. I know Auburn has looked great of late. I won't deny that. However, the Tigers beat LSU before they fired Les Miles. They were struggling under Miles. Then, Auburn's other wins during this streak included beating a Sun Belt team (UL Monroe) and a Mississippi State team that is now 2-5 on the season. Yes, the Tigers flattened Arkansas last week but that is one game. The point is that Auburn's 4-game winning streak is impressive but has a couple of asterisks on it and I can guarantee you that Ole Miss is not going to "hand this game" to the Tigers! I look for the Rebels to play their best game of the season and this is a team that is averaging 37 points per game on the season. Also, Mississippi is on a 15-3 SU (and 13-5 ATS) run in home games. In games played on turf the Rebels are on a 37-18 ATS run. Look for the Tigers to drop to 1-9 ATS their last 10 in games the week before facing Vandy. Also, Auburn was 2-8 ATS in regular season non-home games before getting that road win and cover at Mississippi State three weeks ago. The point is that they are not exactly road warriors and yet they are being bet like they are this week. I'll gladly grab the value on the other side and I expect an upset but will take the generous points. 10* OLE MISS REBELS Saturday

Watch-n-Win Daytime Dominator - Rickenbach CFB Game #159 Saturday - 8* Baylor Bears (-) @ Texas Longhorns @ 3:30 ET - This has become an intense rivalry in Texas as Baylor's football program has improved through the years. The Bears use to be the punching bag of the Longhorns but that all changed 6 years ago when Baylor went into Austin and beat the Horns in 2010. That began a 4-1 run in this series for Baylor but they then lost last year's match-up in Waco. Keep in mind that was one of just 3 homes losses the Bears have had since the 2011 season began! The point is that you can bet Baylor hasn't forgotten that defeat and the boxscore shows what happened. Despite a 479-307 yardage edge the Bears had, Baylor lost due to a 4-0 turnover deficit. Now Baylor heads into Austin this season with a 6-0 record on the season. I am well aware of the fact that the Longhorns (3-4 on the season) have played a tougher schedule this season. However, the Horns 3 wins came against team that have a combined 5-16 record on the season! Their 4 losses were to solid teams but not necessarily powerhouses. Texas has lost two games to teams that are now 5-2 on the season and two games to teams that are now 4-3 on the season. The Longhorn defense is a disaster this season and they're facing a Baylor team that is ranked among top teams in the country on BOTH sides of the ball. The road team has taken each of the last two meetings between these nearby rivals and I look for that trend to continue Saturday. Baylor has fresh legs (off of their bye week) and they've gone 6-1 SU with rest and only failed to cover in 2 of those 7 games. Also, the Bears entered this season with an 8-0 ATS mark in games where they are favored by less  than 14 points against a sub-.500 opponent. You can tell by the O/U on this game that a lot of points are expected and I expect Texas to fail to keep up in this one. The Longhorns are 0-3 ATS in home games with a posted total of 70 points or more. The Bears offense will prove to be too much. 8* BAYLOR BEARS Saturday

ESPN Insider - Rickenbach NBA Game #702 Friday - 8* Toronto Raptors +3.5 vs Cleveland Cavaliers @ 7:05 ET - The last time these teams met it was May 27th at the Air Canada Centre and the Raptors ended up on the wrong end of a 113-87 blowout. That ended Toronto's season and they certainly haven't forgotten that embarrassing setback that occurred in front of their home fans and will be out for payback tonight. That said, I like the home dog value here with the Raptors as, keep in mind, the home team in this series won and covered every other game between these clubs last season. In the playoffs and regular season combined the home teams in this series were on an 8-0 SU and ATS run heading into that Game 6 match-up in the Eastern Conference Finals. Both teams got a win in their season opener this year and both clubs looked impressive. However, the Cavaliers had gone only 24-37 ATS in games played before the All Star break the past two seasons and after their big effort in their home opener (which included ring ceremony, etc) I don't expect the Cavs to be able to match the Raptors intensity in this one. Toronto is very hungry for this game and the Raptors went 32-9 at home in the regular season last year while the Cavs only went 24-17 in road games. I like the fact that Toronto outscored the Pistons in every single quarter of their season opener Wednesday. This was even with the Raptors having a rare off-night from 3-point land as they only made 3 of 18 from downtown. They'll improve on that tonight and they'll again "keep the hammer down" against a Cavs team that was only up by one possession on the Knicks at half-time of their season opener. Certainly Cleveland had an impressive second half but another slow start (on the road and against a quality revenge-minded foe) likely won't end with a Cavs W and that is what I am expecting here. 8* TORONTO RAPTORS

Earliest Cash - Rickenbach CFB Game #114 Friday - 8* South Florida Bulls (-) vs Navy Midshipmen @ 7 ET - The Bulls got embarrassed at Temple last Friday. That 16 point defeat has the South Florida defense ready to respond in a huge way. With a bye week on deck for USF, they've had full focus and full energy into preparing for slowing down Navy's triple option attack. The Bulls were not successful in doing so last season but that was their first look. Now they get a shot at revenge and they get that opportunity at home where they made a huge run last season and they look to do the same this season. Keep in mind USF, in earning a bowl bid last season, rallied for a 7-1 finish last year (both SU and ATS) and that included a perfect 4-0 mark (both SU and ATS) at home. The Bulls were off to a 6-1 start this season before last week's ugly effort against the Owls. They will respond this week. This is a quality football team that had gone 13-2 SU and 12-3 ATS in their last 15 regular season games prior to their inexcusable effort at Temple. The Bulls will have more intensity this week, will maintain gap coverage on defense, wrap up their tackles better, and have an all-around much stronger effort as they look to avenge last year's loss to Navy. Note that USF is on a 10-4 ATS run as a favorite (and went 13-1 SU in those games). With this line dipping down to 6.5 (was as high as 8.5) it is "go time" with this one. The Midshipmen have a huge game on deck with Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish handed the Middies one of only two losses last season. Navy already got revenge (Houston) for their other loss last season and they certainly could get caught peeking ahead to the big match-up with ND next week while, as noted above, the Bulls have a bye on deck and are fully focused off of an ugly loss. 8* SOUTH FLORIDA BULLS 

East-West Game of the Year - Rickenbach CFL Game #275 Friday - 10* Top Play Edmonton Eskimos (+) @ Hamilton Tiger-Cats @ 7 ET - Situations don't get much stronger than this. Back on July 23rd, the Eskimos were up 24-6 at halftime in Edmonton against the Tiger-Cats. The final score in that game was a Hamilton win by a count of 37-31. Rest assured, the Eskimos haven't forgotten that game. Also, this game is big in the playoff picture and, while Edmonton is 4-4 on the road and 4-4 at home as well as 5-5 in the division and 3-3 outside of the division the key factoid on the disparity in these teams is in looking at Hamilton. The Tiger-Cats are 5-2 in the division but 2-7 outside of the division. Hamilton's 2 wins against West teams included that come-from-behind upset at Edmonton. The Eskimos get payback today. Even though Edmonton is off of a tough loss at BC, the Eskimos had a bye week the prior week so they will have their legs underneath them here as they look to bounce back from that loss. As for Hamilton, not only are they are off of a huge come-from-behind OT win over Ottawa last week, it was their 2nd straight ultra-tight battle with the Redblacks. The Ti-Cats may not have a lot left in the tank and, on deck, they have a divisional battle with Montreal while the Eskimos have another non-divisional match-up on deck. The situation clearly favors the road dog. 10* EDMONTON ESKIMOS

26-0, 100% System Rout - Rickenbach NFL Game #101 - 10* Top Play Jacksonville Jaguars (+) @ Tennessee Titans @ 8:25 ET Thursday - Ever since Gus Bradley took over as head coach in Jacksonville, the Jaguars have never failed to cover a game against the Titans. It has been a 4-0-2 ATS run in this series. The Jags have gone 3-3 SU with the 3 wins including a 6 point win and 8 point win and, as for the 3 losses, the Jaguars have never lost by more than 4 points to Tennessee since Bradley became the head coach. That certainly puts this one well into the "play range" as there is value with grabbing the points here. The Titans aren't known for blowing teams out as 2 of their 3 wins this season came by 2 points or less. That means that out of all 7 of their games this season they have only won a game by more than 2 points one time. As for the Jaguars, they had won two straight games before last week's ugly loss but look closely at that defeat last week. The Jags lost by 17 but the yardage was dead even at 344 for the Jaguars and the Raiders. The difference was Jacksonville losing the turnover battle 3 to 0. Before that loss, the Jaguars were 2-3 on the season with the only blowout loss being at San Diego and that was also a turnover-driven final as the Jags outgained the Chargers 388 to 357 but lost the game by 24 points thanks in part to a 3-1 deficit in turnovers. The Titans have forced only one turnover in four home games this season so I don't expect that to be an issue for the Jaguars Thursday night. Also, Tennessee is wearing down as their bye week is not until early December. This is the Titans 5th game in 26 days whereas the Jaguars just had a bye week on the 9th of the month and will be the fresher team here. With last week's loss to the Colts, the Titans are now on a 1-8 ATS run as a favorite. Also, Tennessee is on a 1-12 ATS run in divisional games and they are disappointed about losing to another divisional foe, Indianapolis, for a 10th straight time Sunday! The Titans know they wasted a chance to solidify positioning in the standings and it is often tough to bounce back mentally after a game like that. I look for Tennessee to again struggle here. Jacksonville, in road games with a posted total between 42.5 and 45 points has failed to cover just twice in eight games! Also, there is a perfect system we are testing here. The Jaguars are 9-0 ATS when they are on the road off of an ATS loss by double digits and they are facing an opponent who is off of a SU loss as a favorite. Tennessee is 0-7 ATS in home games with a posted total between 42.5 and 45 points. The Titans are on an 0-10 ATS run when facing a division opponent who is playing with revenge (Jags lost here in last meeting of 2015). That means we are testing a 26-0, 100% ATS combined systems record here! One final note to tighten this one up even more: Tennessee entered this season with a 1-14 ATS mark when facing an opponent who is off of a loss by a double digit margin. With the Jags off of the ugly home loss to Oakland Sunday, they are the play in full bounce back mode here in this weeknight affair. 10* JACKSONVILLE Thursday Night 

Earliest Cash - Rickenbach NBA Game #501 Thursday - 8* Washington Wizards +4 @ Atlanta Hawks @ 7:35 ET - This line went from Atlanta -2.5 to the Hawks now being a 4 point favorite and that makes it "go time" with this play. The NBA is all about line value when it comes to the handicapping side of things. That said, it always looks so enticing to play those small favorites but, so often, they are a small favorite with very good reason. On opening night, none of the teams were favored by less than 5.5 points. However, last night there were 5 teams that went off the board as a favorite of 4 points or less. If you played all 5 of those favorites you went 1-4 ATS and those 4 losses against the spread were also outright losses! The point is that the reason Washington (missed playoffs last season) opened up as a small dog even though they are on the road at Atlanta (made it to 2nd round of playoffs last season) is a good reason! The Wizards have responded well to new coach Scott Brooks, Bradley Beal is now healthy, and the changes to the Hawks roster (adding Dwight Howard and losing Al Horford and Jeff Teague) are so significant that Atlanta is absolutely going to have to endure an "adjustment phase" early this season. I don't see them just hitting the floor running on all cylinders right away. Just like my play yesterday on Philly against OKC (never in doubt, covered from start to finish) I went against a team that lost significant personnel (Kevin Durant and Serge Ibaka) from the prior season and I am doing the same thing here. Don't be surprised if the Wizards get the road "upset" here. 8* WASHINGTON plus the points Thursday evening

PA Insider - Rickenbach CFB Game #108 Thursday - 8* Pittsburgh Panthers (+) vs Virginia Tech Hokies @ 7 ET - Deservedly, the Hokies get a lot of positive press for their defense. However, if you look at their last 4 games, Virginia Tech has allowed at least 323 passing yards in 3 of the 4 games. The only exception was the game against North Carolina and that's because that game was played when Hurricane Matthew as pounding the area. In the other 3 games not impacted by weather, the Hokies have allowed an average of 363 passing yards per game. Of course, the Panthers are known for being a run-first team that likes to rely on the ground attack. However, Pittsburgh is off of their bye week and coach Pat Narduzzi is an excellent coach who has had extra time to prepare for this game. The Panthers will continue to "pound on the ground" but don't be surprise if they have the playbook on offense opened up a little bit more for this "must win" game in the ACC Coastal Division. Pittsburgh has averaged nearly 200 passing yards per game in their last 5 games. Also, on the ground, the Panthers have averaged 264.5 rushing yards per game their last 6 games. The last time Virginia Tech was off of a big win (34-3 over North Carolina covered spread by 28 points) they then got upset at Syracuse the very next week. The Hokies, when off of a win where they covered the spread by 14 points or more, are on a 2-8 ATS run. Off of their huge win (37-16 as a 4.5 point fave over Miami) last week, look for Virginia Tech to come up short this week. The Panthers are rested and off of a bye and the Hokies get caught still celebrating a big win that moved them into the Top 25. Teams often get knocked off after games like this and certainly an outright upset for Pitt would not surprise but I am grabbing the points here. The Hokies are on a 4-10 ATS run as a road favorite and Pittsburgh has dominated this series with an 8-1 ATS run. The Panthers are also on a 4-1 ATS run as a dog of 3.5 to 10 points. 8* PITTSBURGH Thursday Night

ESPN Insider - Rickenbach NBA Game #714 Wednesday - 8* Philadelphia 76'ers (+) vs Oklahoma City Thunder @ 8:05 ET - What we saw last night with Golden State and the Knicks is similar to what we may see with the Thunder tonight. The fact is that teams that had a lot of off-season changes could struggle to find their rhythm early. New York hung around in the first half at Cleveland but then got blasted in the 2nd half and lost by 29. The Warriors were just plain awful all night and they got hammered by 29 on their home floor by San Antonio. The point is that I would not be surprised to see the Thunder struggle in their first game of the season as well and that makes fading them as 9 point road chalk very attractive. This is especially true when you consider that the Sixers, as bad as they have been in recent seasons, have still been known to rise up and cause good teams some problems. When the 76'ers are motivated and at home, they've been known to be a dangerous dog. The Thunder are going to go through a transition period with Kevin Durant and Serge Ibaka both having departed the team. Don't get me wrong, the Thunder are still a quality team no doubt but a lot of the scoring load will now be on Russell Westbrook's shoulders and yet he is still also supposed to be a key distributor at the point position. That said, some adjustment time is likely early this season. Philadelphia is fired up about this opportunity to host a strong Western Conference opponent in a nationally televised match-up to open their season. Even though Ben Simmons got hurt in the preseason and is out until at least January, Joel Embiid is finally healthy and he and Dario Saric both looked strong in the preseason while big man Jahlil Okafor is also probable for tonight's game and that offsets the loss of Nerlins Noel to injury. Honestly with Embiid, Okafor, and Noel, the 76'ers had one too many big men. With one being out due to injury they'll be just fine. In terms of ATS history, Philadelphia has covered 3 of the last 4 meeting including each of the last two at home. The 76'ers are on a 15-4 ATS run against Northwest Division opponents and the Thunder are on a 5-15 ATS run against Atlantic Division opponents. Overall, in non-conference games, OKC is on an ugly 24-35 ATS run and the Sixers are on a solid 37-21 ATS run. Look for the Sixers to keep this game much closer than many are expecting as the Thunder look ahead to 5 straight Western Conference match-ups that are up next. Let's face it...could anyone blame OKC for overlooking Philly? 8* PHILADELPHIA 76'ers plus the big points Wednesday

Earliest Cash - Rickenbach NBA Game #501 Tuesday - 8* New York Knicks (+) @ Cleveland Cavaliers @ 7:30 ET - I expect the Knicks to be a much improved team this season and this looks like a great spot to back them right away. They are getting big points because they are visiting the defending NBA champs on opening night. The key to the value here is that the Knicks now have Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah. These are two former Bulls that helped challenge the Cavs greatly in recent match-ups. It was mostly Rose last season as Noah was hurt for much of the year but the Bulls were tough on the Cavs last season. Also, remember that is was the prior season's post-season (May 2015) when both Noah and Rose were on the floor and though Chicago lost that series 4 games to 2, two of the losses came by 5 points or less. The Cavaliers aren't going to hit the floor hitting on all cylinders tonight (no NBA team does right away in the first game). With that said, they're going to be in for a dogfight from a hungry Knicks team that still has veteran Carmelo Anthony plus a rising young star in Kristaps Porzingis. New York can put up big points and has plenty of go-to options on offense and they will keep this game much closer than many expect. Keep in mind the Knicks have covered each of their last 3 visits to Cleveland. Even though the big ceremony will take place in Cleveland tonight for the World Champion Cavs, truth be told, there is more attention right now on the Indians in Cleveland as they take on the Cubs in Game 1 of the World Series. The Knicks are a real threat for an upset tonight and if the Cavaliers do pull away late, it is hard to work up to a double digit margin in a game that is tight all the way to latter stages of fourth quarter. The Knicks are hungry for a strong start after making big noise in the off-season. As for the Cavs, they are known for slow starts and are a combined 24-38 ATS in games prior to the All Star break the past two seasons. 8* NEW YORK KNICKS plus the big points Tuesday Night.

MNF Insider - Rickenbach NFL Game #478 Monday - 8* Denver Broncos (-) vs Houston Texans @ 8:30 ET - Broncos head coach Gary Kubiak was fired by the Texans late in the 2013 season. Needless to say this game carries special meaning for him. Houston QB Brock Osweiler spurned Denver for a big contract with the Texans in the off-season. At his news conference he said he felt this gave him the best chance to win. Keep in mind he went from a Super Bowl winner to a Houston franchise that hasn't won a playoff game since after the 2012 season. The Broncos are hungry to take their shots (literally) at Osweiler and company tonight. Not only is this a revenge game for coach Kubiak and his players, they also are very hungry to get back into the win column as they are coming off of back to back losses. One was a tight home loss to a surging Falcons team but the other was a road loss at San Diego (a game coach Kubiak missed). Denver plays well with extra rest. Earlier this season after a Thursday game they then blasted Indianapolis by 14 for a win and cover. The Broncos are now 8-1 ATS when off of a Thursday game. After the loss to the Chargers last Thursday, Denver is rested and ready to improve that mark to 9-1 ATS. Houston is on an ugly 1-7 ATS run in Monday night football as the Texans do not have a history of performing well under the lights. Remember they got embarrassed 27-0 at New England in a Thursday night game earlier this season. Though Houston got the win versus Indianapolis this past Sunday night, they had to rally from 14 points down with 3 minutes to go in the game. The Texans got the shocking win in overtime but this is not the Colts at home they are facing. Rather, this is the Broncos in Denver and I am expecting a blowout loss here because Denver won't hesitate to pile up the points here if given the opportunity. They hate Osweiler and Kubiak hates Houston. They also are fired up because they are off of rare back to back losses. That just doesn't happen much with the Broncos! In fact, this is just the 4th time it has happened dating back to 2012. The result the first three times? A perfect 3-0 with an average margin of victory of 12 points per game. This one has the makings of a big-time blowout. 8* DENVER BRONCOS Monday

Primetime Punisher - Rickenbach NFL Game #476 Sunday - 8* Arizona Cardinals (-1 or Pick'em) vs Seattle Seahawks @ 8:30 ET - After some inconsistent play early this season, the Cardinals finally were able to put together back to back strong performances and they enter Sunday's huge divisional showdown off of consecutive wins. The Cardinals will have the Sunday night lights at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona tonight and they have revenge on their minds here. Seattle has won all three games at Arizona since Bruce Arians has been the head coach. Not only that, the Cardinals (and Arians!) have been embarrassed by a combined score of 105 to 34 in those games. Needless to say, the Cardinals have revenge and payback on their minds here. One thing going in their favor is that the Seahawks have struggled at times with their revamped offensive line and the departure of Marshawn Lynch. The running game is not as consistent as it once was and neither is the pass protection. The Seahawks were fortunate to get the win over Atlanta last week as a late non-call in a penalty situation certainly played a role in the final outcome. The Seahawks did fail to get the cover and are now 2-7 ATS in games played in weeks 5 through 9. This lull in the 2nd quarter of the season could creep up again as they barely got by the Falcons last week and now face a revenge-minded Arizona team trying to build on their first winning streak of the season. The Cardinals tend to thrive in games like this as they are 10-2 SU (and 9-3 ATS) in their last dozen games where the line is a field goal or less whether they are the favorite or the dog. Also, unlike the Hawks, this is the Cards time of year as they have gone 9-2 SU (and 8-3 ATS) in weeks 5 through 9. It is time for the Cardinals to finally 'get one' at home against the Seahawks. The Cards haven't forgotten last season's 36-6 embarrassing home loss. 8* ARIZONA CARDINALS

Ultimate PA Insider - Rickenbach NFL Game #474 Sunday - 10* Top Play Pittsburgh Steelers +7.5 vs New England Patriots @ 4:25 ET - Yes, the Patriots are off of back to back dominating wins since Tom Brady returned. However, those teams are a combined 2-10 on the season. Yes, the Steelers are without Ben Roethlisberger today. However, they are also a quality team that was 4-1 this season before he got hurt during the loss at Miami last week that dropped Pittsburgh to 4-2 on the season. The point is that this is still a quality Steelers team and QB Landry Jones has had ample time now to prepare as the starter for this game. After their first loss this season the Steelers responded by blasting the Chiefs 43 to 14. Granted, the Patriots certainly are not the Chiefs but, keep in mind, the Steelers don't have to blast the Pats to get the money for us here. In fact, they don't even have to win the game. All they have to do is remain competitive throughout this game and I absolutely see that happening after last week's embarrassing loss. The Steelers overall numbers on defense do not impress but they have certainly shown a lot of "bend but don't break" D this season. That is why Pittsburgh has allowed 16 points or less in all 4 of their wins! The Steelers normally are at their best against quality opposition and, in fact, have gone 12-3 SU in their last 15 games against teams with a winning record. The Patriots win at Cleveland two weeks ago was the first time they've covered as a favorite of more than 4 points in a road game against against an AFC foe in quite some time. Their record in that situation is now 1-7 ATS their last 8 and this is a large spread for the Pats on the road against a quality AFC opponent. The Steelers are undervalued here. Grab the home dog. 10* PITTSBURGH STEELERS

Non-Conf NFL Game of the Year - Rickenbach NFL Game #470 Sunday - 10* Top Play Atlanta Falcons -4.5 vs San Diego Chargers @ 4:05 ET - The Falcons continue to be under-valued and this is a another nice spot to back them as they are hungry off of a tight loss. I rode Atlanta against last week, after having them the week before in their outright win at Denver, and the Falcons were robbed on a late non-call that should have been a penalty. Atlanta still got the cash for me but that cost ATL the outright win. Still, the good news is that means the Falcons will be extra hungry this week and they have covered 5 in a row. I have ridden Atlanta with either a star rated pick or free pick each of their last 4 games so I have been in on a good portion of this hot streak and I see no reason why it won't continue here. The Chargers are off of a huge upset win over Denver and that could leave them flat here. They've lost 8 of their last 9 games with the Falcons and they've also lost 10 fumbles already this season. San Diego has trouble closing out games and Atlanta is the #1 offense in the league. I just don't see the Chargers being able to keep up in this one as they've averaged 3 turnovers per game the last 4 weeks and the Falcons have only averaged 0.83 turnovers per game on the season! Atlanta's strength, Matt Ryan and the passing attack, goes right at the heart of the Chargers main weakness which is pass defense. The Chargers are on a 1-5 ATS run when playing away after a Thursday game and this is also a tough trip as it is an East Coast trip to a non-conference foe and the situation is made even tougher after coming off of a big divisional home win. I don't expect the Chargers to have much left in the tank to match the high emotions of a Falcons team that is still steaming mad from what happened last week. 10* ATLANTA FALCONS

Rickenbach NFL Game #461 Sunday - 8* Buffalo Bills -2.5 @ Miami Dolphins @ 1 ET - The Dolphins are off of a huge win versus the Steelers last week. After a 15 point win as a 7 point underdog, it can be tough to duplicate the effort. Undoubtedly Miami left a lot on the field in that huge win last week and that ATS victory was preceded by 4 straight non-covers. Also, that was just the 2nd win of the season for the Dolphins. The Bills have been at the other end of the spectrum as they come into this game off of 4 straight wins and they covered the spread in each of those victories. While Buffalo has turned the ball over only 4 times this season, the Dolphins, prior to last week's surprising win, had 11 turnovers in their past 4 games. The Bills have won 5 of the last 6 meetings with Miami and RB LeSean McCoy (3 TDs last week) has had his injury status upgraded to probable for this game. The Dolphins are on a 1-9 ATS run in divisional games while Buffalo is on a 14-6 ATS run in AFC East games and certainly is on a power surge right now. With the small road price here on the much better team, I won't hesitate to step in. 8* BUFFALO BILLS

Rickenbach NFL Game #467 Sunday - 8* Baltimore Ravens +2.5 @ New York Jets @ 1 ET - The Ravens certainly have been "snakebit" in terms of getting covers. It dates back to last season when they had a 5-11 straight-up record and also only covered 5 of their 16 games ATS. This season, the Ravens are on a tough ATS streak after losing on a 4th and 1 play to the Giants last week as that short yardage play turned into a game-winning "catch and run" TD for Odell Beckham Jr. The key to this play today is we shouldn't have to worry about the spread (although I'll gladly grab the 2.5 points being offered) as Baltimore should take this one outright. The Ravens visit a Jets team that not only has lost 4 straight but has been getting hammered in each game. New York has lost each of their last 4 games by a double digit margin and the Jets have only produced an average of 9 points per game during this 4 game losing streak. With QB Joe Flacco listed as probable now for the Ravens, and with Baltimore having totaled at least 282 passing yards in 3 of their last 5 games, I just don't see the Jets keeping up in this game. New York is sinking fast in the AFC East while the Ravens, especially with the fact that the Steelers Roethlisberger is going to miss some time, know they can keep pace in the AFC North with a win today. With a bye on deck and fully motivated after last week's late loss here at the Meadowlands (against the Giants), look for the Ravens to pull the road "upset" here. As a home favorite of 3 points or less, the Jets have gone 0-5 SU and ATS their last 5. The Ravens are on a 4-0 ATS run in games against AFC East teams. 8* BALTIMORE RAVENS

Rickenbach NFL Game #465 Sunday - 8* Indianapolis Colts +3.5 @ Tennessee Titans @ 1 ET Sunday - The Colts blew a game they never should of lost at Houston last week as they gave up 2 TD lead in the 4th quarter and then lost in OT. Also, Indianapolis definitely has been dealing with some injury issues. However, Indy is highly like to "rally the troops" this week at Tennessee. Facing the Titans means that the Colts get a 2nd straight shot against a key divisional foe and Indy can tie them in the standings with a win today. Houston has a tough match-up at Denver Monday night so the Colts know they are still much very alive in the watered-down AFC South and I look for Andrew Luck and Company to put it all together in an early "must-win" game. Waiting here has paid off as the line has moved all the way up to a 3.5 as of Sunday morning. Of course that is mostly due to the injuries the Colts have been dealing with. However, taking a look at the Titans, they are only 1-2 at home this season and that lone win came by only 2 points and that was against the lowly 0-6 Browns last week! The Titans certainly are the better defensive team in this match-up but the Colts have the much more productive offense. There is now a lot of line value here with the move from well below a 3 to now above 3. Tennessee hasn't exactly been a "covering machine" as, in fact, the Titans are on an ugly 2-11 SU (and 1-11-1 ATS) run in divisional games! The Colts have won 10 of their last 14 divisional games and, even with last week's tough push ATS, they are on a 9-2-1 ATS run in weeks 5 through 9 the past 3 seasons combined. The value is with the dog here as, keep in mind, the Colts only have 1 loss by more than 4 points so far this season and the Titans only have one win by more than 2 points this season. Look for the Colts to defeat the Titans a 9th straight time but I will grab the generous points here. 8* INDIANAPOLIS COLTS

SEC Game of the Month - Rickenbach CFB Game #399 Saturday - 10* Top Play Ole Miss Rebels (+) @ LSU @ 9 ET - LSU is in a perfect "play against" spot here. The Tigers certainly have revenge on their minds as they lost badly at Ole Miss last year. However, LSU is simply overvalued in this spot. They have gone from being a 4 point favorite to laying more than a TD in this match-up and that is offering great value to the talented underdog in this match-up. There is a lot of chatter about how great LSU has played since they fired Les Miles after losing to Auburn. However, the Tigers have played only Missouri and Southern Miss since the dismissal of Miles. Missouri is 0-3 in SEC action and has one of the worst defenses in the SEC. Southern Miss is a CUSA team that, other than wins over an FCS school and a 1-6 UTEP team, has allowed 40 points per game in their other 5 games! Ole Miss certainly does not have a great defense but they have forced 7 turnovers in their past three games and the Rebels do have a dynamic offense. This combination has helped lead the way to a 3-2 run their last 5 games and the two losses each came by 5 points or less and one of those was to #1 ranked Alabama. The point is that the Rebels can hang with anybody and I am not convinced that LSU is "back" just because they beat up on two over-matched opponents. Ole Miss is on a 6-2 ATS run as an away dog and 5 of the last 7 meetings between these teams have been decided by 7 points or less. The Rebels are also a PERFECT 6-0 ATS when they are an underdog in a game following a SU loss. After losing to Arkansas last week, the Rebels get the job done this week. 10* OLE MISS

Rickenbach NHL Game #18 Saturday - 8* Dallas Stars Puck Line -1.5 goals +155 vs Columbus Blue Jackets @ 8:05 ET - Great spot for a blowout home win for the Stars. Dallas is catching Columbus off of an upset win last night over the Blackhawks. Not only was that an emotional win for the Blue Jackets, they also have a goaltending issue here as Joonas Korpisalo is still out. That means Sergei Bobrovsky will either be starting on back to back nights (which can be tough on goalies) or the Jackets will turn to Curtis McElhinney and he won only 2 of his 12 decisions last season while compiling a 3.31 GAA and only an .890 save percentage. The Jackets goalies should prove to be no match for a Dallas team that is fired up off of a home loss to the LA Kings. The Stars, even though Patrick Sharp is going to be out for about a week, should get a boost with the expected season debut of Ales Hemsky tonight as he is expected to return from injury. The Stars won 31 of 49 goals last season decided by 2 goals or more and the Blue Jackets had 29 of their 40 regulation losses last season come by a margin of 2 goals or more. Given the situation, Columbus off of a big win and in a back to back while Dallas is rested and off of a tight loss, the expectation of a blowout home win is absolutely justified. That said, while I rarely lay -1.5 goals this is a spot where it makes sense to grab the nice odds of about +150 and look for the Stars to win this one easily as the Blue Jackets don't have the offensive firepower to keep up with the fired up Stars. 8* DALLAS on the puck line

Rickenbach NHL Game #9 Saturday - 8* San Jose Sharks Money Line (-) @ Detroit Red Wings @ 7:05 ET - The Red Wings burned me last night with their win over Nashville. That makes it three straight wins for Detroit but they are now in a tough back to back spot. The Red Wings have lost 18 of 29 when they are playing the 2nd game of a back to back. Also, Detroit has lost 12 of 17 when they enter a game on a winning streak of 3 games or more. Making this spot even tougher for Detroit, they are catching the Sharks off of a loss and fired up as San Jose lost at Pittsburgh Thursday in a Stanley Cup Finals rematch. Also note that the road team took both games between the Wings and Sharks last season and that was also the case the prior season as well. Saturday night, given the situational edges, I look for the recent road dominance in this series to continue. The Sharks are 2-2 so far on this 5-game road trip and they want to wrap it up with a winning record. 8* SAN JOSE

Bargain Hunter - Rickenbach CFB Game #385 Saturday - 8* Old Dominion Monarchs (+) @ Western Kentucky Hilltoppers @ 7 ET - Western Kentucky has gotten the win and cover in each of the first two meetings between these teams - 2014 and 2015. However, both games were very tight to the number and both times the Hilltoppers truly were fortunate to get the cover. Look for the 3rd time to be the charm for the hungry Monarchs in this one. Old Dominion is off of their bye week and they had 3 straight wins prior to the bye. They are rested and confident as they piled up over 500 yards of offense in their win over UMass before the bye. The Monarchs are averaging 483 yards of offense per game in their last 3 games and they catch Western Kentucky off of a grueling double-OT win over Middle Tennessee State. The Hilltoppers were outgained by 84 yards in that game. Western Kentucky has had a knack for tight games this season. The exceptions were a blowout win over Rice (but the Owls are the only remaining winless FBS team) and a blowout loss to Alabama (but they are #1 team in the country) and a blowout win over an FCS team. Of course Old Dominion doesn't fall into any of those categories and I expect another tight Hilltopper game decided by just a single possession. With Western Kentucky off of back to back emotional road games and the Monarchs are off of their bye and buoyed by the return of RB Ray Lawry in their most recent game, this one could be an upset. The Hilltoppers just do not have a solid defense and Lawry and fellow RB Jeremy Cox will keep pounding away on the ground while QB David Washington (12 TDs, only 2 INTs) keeps the defense honest. The Monarchs can put up points in a hurry and they are 4-1 ATS in road games with a posted total between 63.5 and 70 points. 8* OLD DOMINION 

Rickenbach CFB Game #326 Saturday - 8* West Virginia Mountaineers (-) vs TCU Horned Frogs @ 3:30 ET - TCU is not the team it used to be and a lot of that has to do with a defense that just isn't what it once was. The Horned Frogs are allowing 30 points per game this season and their D ranks 86th in the nation. The Mountaineers have flexed their muscles on D with a "bend but don't break" defense that has allowed only 19.4 points per game on the season. Last week, West Virginia was very impressive in holding a dangerous Texas Tech offense (one of the best in the nation) to only 379 yards in a dominating 48 to 17 win. While it may seem that the Mountaineers could be flat off such a big win, the fact is that this is West Virginia's only home game between October 1st and November 5th. In other words, they certainly are going to bring their strongest effort for this one and they also have revenge on their minds as the Mountaineers lost 40-10 at TCU last year and also were defeated by a single point here at home in 2014 when they last hosted the Horned Frogs. West Virginia is 7-3 SU and ATS when off of a win against a conference foe. TCU was outgained by a pathetic Kansas team last week by a 470 to 366 margin. The Horned Frogs only other road game was against a weak SMU team. Now facing their first tough road test of the season, TCU is likely to get blasted. 8* WEST VIRGINIA

Rickenbach CFB Game #333 Saturday - 8* Wisconsin Badgers -3.5 @ Iowa @ Noon ET - Even though the Badgers are off of a hard-fought OT loss versus Ohio State last week, they have their sights set on revenge here as they suffered a home loss to Iowa last season. The Hawkeyes are currently over-valued in my opinion as they have played a much weaker schedule in comparison with Wisconsin. While the Badgers have played the likes of Michigan and the Buckeyes in their past two games (both teams are 6-0 on the season), Iowa has played much weaker Big Ten teams like Minnesota, Northwestern, and Purdue. The Hawkeyes are on a 6-12 ATS run in home games. The Badgers are on a 9-5 ATS run in their games against teams with a winning record. Wisconsin really got their offense going last week (450 yards) against a tough Ohio State team last week and the Badgers have one of the top defenses in the nation. Look for the road fave to get their revenge as the road team has won 5 straight games in this series. I expect 6 in a row after today's game is in the books. 8* WISCONSIN

Rickenbach CFB Game #337 Saturday - 8* NC State Wolfpack (+) @ Louisville Cardinals @ Noon ET - The combination of the loss to Clemson and the bye week seemed to take the air out of the sails of this Cardinals team as they did not impress versus Duke last week. Louisville came nowhere close to covering in that game and they did not force a turnover. Even though the Cardinals only turned the ball over once versus the Blue Devils, the Cards had turned the ball over at least 3 times in 4 of their 5 prior games. That could be an issue here against an opportunistic Wolfpack defense that has forced 7 turnovers in their past two games. NC State is seeking revenge here for a home loss to Louisville last year. The Wolfpack have lost the two meetings by a combined total of 19 points the past two seasons and yet, with money pouring in on Louisville for this game, the spread is now up to 20 on this game. This is offering big dog value to an NC State team that is allowing only 18.7 points per game this season. That is nearly a full TD less than what Louisville is allowing on the season. Certainly the Cardinals are the better team here but, the point is, it may be tough for them to get a big margin in this game. NC State is a perfect 7-0 ATS in their last 7 games played on turf. Louisville has a road game at Virginia on deck which certainly may not seem like a big deal but they did lose their last trip to Virginia. That said, they may start peeking ahead to that road game as this one goes on and I don't expect this game to be decided by anything more than a 2 TD margin. The Cardinals are on a 2-6 ATS run as a favorite of 10.5 to 21 points. 8* NC STATE

Early ESPN Smash - Rickenbach CFB Game #309 Friday - 8* South Florida Bulls (-) @ Temple Owls @ 7 ET - Even though the Bulls failed to cover versus Connecticut Saturday, it truly was a dominating effort as they outgained the Huskies by 151 yards in the 15 point win. South Florida hurt themselves with 4 turnovers but that was very unusual as they had averaged just 1 turnover per game in their first 6 games this season. In other words, one shouldn't expect a repeat of that this week for USF. However, as for Temple, they have struggled all season with turnovers. The Owls are off of a very fortunate win as they got the winning TD with just 1 tick left on the clock. Temple turned the ball over twice in that game at Central Florida, but the Owls had already turned the ball over 3 times in a game in 3 of their 6 prior games. It's been a recurring theme for the Owls this season and they face a USF team that has faced a tougher schedule than Temple has and yet the Bulls offense is still averaging 128 yards more per game than the Owls are. South Florida crushed the Owls by 21 at home last season and, even though they are now facing them at Temple, the Bulls can roll again behind a potent offense. The Owls are 6-1 ATS this season and they were 9-3 ATS in regular season games last year. That continues to make Temple a popular choice and effects their pricing in the markets and, in this case, with the Bulls currently laying 6.5 in this game, the price has come down low enough to absolutely warrant a solid investment in USF. South Florida is on a 13-0 SU run as a favorite and they are 10-3 ATS in those games including 5-1 ATS this season. As a road favorite the Bulls are on a 4-1 ATS run. As for Temple, the Owls are on a long-term run of 15-97 SU against teams with a winning record. If you think that is only ancient history it is truly not as even the last 3 seasons combined they are only 5-9 SU against teams with a winning record. Temple will again struggle with facing a better team (Bulls have also faced the tougher schedule this season) and when USF failed to cover against the Huskies last week it broke a streak of 12-0 ATS in their last 12 SU wins. In other words, when the Bulls win, they nearly always cover. Look for the win and cover for the road fave in this one. 8* SOUTH FLORIDA Friday

Game of the Month - Rickenbach CFL Game #479 Friday - 10* Top Play Hamilton Tiger-Cats (+) @ Ottawa Redblacks @ 7 ET - With all the strong records out West, the teams in the East are still battling it out for a playoff spot even though their records certainly do not impress. That said, this is a huge game as it is the back-end of a home-and-home set between these two divisional rivals and there are some key tangibles that have me backing the road dog in this one. Hamilton was in a similar spot with Ottawa last season and the Redblacks took both regular season meetings late in the year which helped them earn home field edge for their playoff match-up. The result was a 3rd straight win for the Redblacks over the Ti-Cats and that post-season defeat (and 0-3 finish versus Ottawa) certainly resonates loudly with Hamilton to this day. That makes this a huge revenge spot for the Tiger-Cats after, not only what happened last season but also, a tight one point home loss to Ottawa last week. The Tiger-Cats got off to a slow start in that game and made some mistakes and that definitely hurt them as their rally fell just short in the one point loss to the Redblacks. Jeremiah Masoli is still in at QB for the injured Zach Collaros and he knows he made some costly mistakes with a pair of picks last week but Masoli went 3-3 as the starter earlier this season and last week's loss won't totally derail him. Look for he and he and the Tiger-Cats to bounce back this week as they also got some newly signed players into action last week to help out at key positions after a few injuries narrowed the roster a bit. They'll be even better this week thanks to getting some reps in last week's the game. Even with last week's win, the Redblacks have won just 4 of their last 11 games. Hamilton is about a 3.5 point dog here and the Tiger-Cats are 7-1 SU when off of a loss against a division rival.  That said, I am expecting the outright upset here but certainly going to grab the available points. Ottawa is 0-4 ATS this season when off of a win against a division rival. 10* HAMILTON Friday

Primetime Punisher - Rickenbach NFL Game #302 Thursday - 8* Green Bay Packers (-) vs Chicago Bears @ 8:25 ET - Green Bay is off of an embarrassing home loss to the Cowboys Sunday. There is plenty of reason to believe that the Packers bounce back huge on Thursday night. Green Bay QB Aaron Rodgers has an incredible record of 16-3 SU and ATS in divisional games when the Packers are off of an ATS loss. That's right, Rodgers and The Pack get the cover over 80% of the time in situations like this. Green Bay is motivated about much more than just the loss last week to Dallas. The Packers also haven't forgotten last season's Thursday night game against the Bears. Green Bay came into that game having won and covered each of their last four meetings with Chicago. The Packers were an 8 point favorite in that game and they not only failed to cover, they lost the game outright. Worse yet, it was a game on Thanksgiving Night and it was the game during which Brett Favre's number was retired at half-time! Green Bay is fired up about getting a little payback against a division rival and the Bears come in on a horrible skid as they are 2-9 ATS in their last 11 games. The Packers are on a 10-5 ATS run in divisional home games where they are favored. Also, even with that Thanksgiving loss to Chicago, Green Bay is 8-2 SU and ATS in their last 10 games against the Bears. Chicago is on a long-term 7-21 ATS run in road games with a posted total between 45.5 and 49 points. The Packers are 14-6 ATS in their last 20 as a favorite of 3.5 to 9.5 points. The Packers need to bounce back here after last week's loss, the Bears struggles have continued, and the revenge angle is a BIG ONE for a hungry home team here. Lay it! 8* GREEN BAY PACKERS minus the points Thursday Night

Top Side - Rickenbach MLB Game #906 Thursday - 10* Top Play Los Angeles Dodgers Run Line +1.5 runs vs Chicago Cubs @ 8:05 ET - Even though Kenta Maeda did not impress against the Cubs on Saturday, he did allow only 4 hits in his 4 innings of work and I am expecting much bigger things from him now that he is back home in the pitcher-friendly confines of Dodger Stadium. Maeda, even with the sub-par start Saturday, is 14-8 in night games and opponents are hitting only .217 against him under the lights. Also, Maeda has compiled a solid 3.22 ERA in home games this season. Interestingly, Maeda's start against the Cubs on Saturday was the first time he had ever faced the Cubs. He struggled some on the first pass through the lineup but after that the Cubs went 0 for 8 against him. That certainly could be a sign of things to come for Maeda in his next start against Chicago especially since he now faces them at home. Jon Lester gets the start for the Cubs tonight and he was tough on the Dodgers Saturday but now faces them at LA. Lester did allow 5 earned runs in 5 innings in his most recent road start and, overall, was not as dominant on the road as he was at home this season. Look for the Dodgers sticks to bounce back after being on the wrong end of last night's 10-2 final. Though it would not surprise me to see the Dodgers win tonight's game outright I do feel that there is great line value with laying a small price to have them at +1.5 runs. 6 of the Dodgers last 16 games have been one-run games and, in what could very likely be a tight, lower-scoring game, I'll grab the +1.5 runs with Los Angeles. 10* DODGERS on the RUN LINE Thursday evening

Earliest Cash - Rickenbach CFB Game #303 THURSDAY - 8* Miami Hurricanes (+) @ Virginia Tech Hokies @ 7 ET - The Canes are on a 4-1 ATS run the last 5 years in match-ups with the Hokies. Of course that featured head coach Al Golden versus head coach Frank Beamer. But that offers perhaps even more value to this match-up in terms of backing the Hurricanes. Miami replaced a struggling Al Golden with a head coach, Mark Richt, who had a 145-51 record heading into this season. Virginia Tech replaced a future Hall of Famer with a head coach, Justin Fuente, who had a 26-23 record heading into this season. That is no disrespect to Fuente rather it is just to show the two different situations these guys walked into and, with both teams off of disappointing efforts last week, it is more likely that Richt's Hurricanes bounce back. Miami has lost back to back games and they have not lost three straight since 2014. As for the Hokies, they are trying to avoid back to back losses but that is something that has yet to happen this season but happened on multiple occasions in both 2015 and 2014. The point is that the odds certainly favor that is the Canes who bounce back here. These teams have faced similar schedules this season in terms of strength of schedule and both teams have been solid on defense with only 4.2 yards per play allowed so far this season. The difference is in the offensive efficiency as Miami is one of the top teams in the nation with 7 yards per play while Virginia Tech ranks in the lower half of team in the nation with their offense producing only 5.5 yards per play. The Hokies defense also was helped statistically because they recently played North Carolina in horrible weather conditions because of Hurricane Matthew. Note that in their other recent games, Virginia Tech was scorched for 561 overall yards at Syracuse and 362 passing yards at the hands of East Carolina. Other than the game against the Tar Heels (D helped by poor weather conditions), the Hokies defense has faced 3 respectable opponents this season. In those games (Syracuse, East Carolina, and Tennessee), Virginia Tech has allowed an average of 31 points per game! As for Miami, they are allowing an average of only 14 points per game this season and the Hurricanes have not allowed more than 21 points in any game this season. Also, there have been 6 outright upsets in the last 13 meetings between these teams but certainly I am grabbing the points although an outright win would not be a big surprise. The Hokies are on a 5-10 ATS run as a home favorite and this line has climbed up to very near a full touchdown. The Hurricanes are on a 6-2 ATS run in road games with a posted total between 49.5 and 56 points. The Hokies are on an 0-4 ATS run in home games with a posted total between 49.5 and 56 points. 8* MIAMI HURRICANES plus the points early Thursday evening

MNF Game of the Month - Rickenbach NFL Game #277 Monday - 10* Top Play New York Jets (+) @ Arizona Cardinals @ 8:30 ET - The Jets have an ugly record on the season and the Cardinals are getting QB Carson Palmer back under center for this one. However, the keys to this match-up lie a little deeper in the details. The Jets have played a tougher schedule than have the Cards. Both teams faced the Bills but taking a look at the rest of their schedule, note that Arizona played New England when they were without Tom Brady and then their other three games have not featured a single team that currently has a winning record. As for New York, the Jets have lost three straight games (SU and ATS) but all 3 defeats came against teams that currently have a winning record on the season. In fact, those 3 teams have a combined 11-5 mark on the year. The other key to the value here with the Jets (currently priced at +7.5 in this game) is the fact that head coach Todd Bowles played under Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians when he was at Temple from '82 to '85. Also, Bowles was the defensive coordinator at Arizona (under HC Arians) in 2013 and 2014. There is a little extra motivation, to say the least, for Bowles in this match-up. Additionally, he has some additional knowledge of the Cardinals personnel from having recently coached there. In terms of trends in this match-up, note that Arizona is a long-term ugly 1-11 ATS in games where they are a home favorite of 7.5 to 10 points. Also, the Cardinals are known for faltering on Monday night with an 0-6 ATS run in their last 6 and also they are off of a big Thursday night win over the 49'ers and they are on a 1-6 ATS run the week after facing San Francisco. Arizona also has a big divisional game on deck with Seattle so it is hard for the Cards not to look ahead here. The Jets are the hungrier, more motivated team here and they also are getting significant points which makes for excellent line value here. The Cardinals have some key injuries at the guard positions on the offensive line and the Jets have a strong defensive line and will win this game in the trenches. 10* NEW YORK JETS plus the big points in Monday Night Football

Primetime Punisher - Rickenbach NFL Game #275 Sunday - 8* Indianapolis Colts (+) @ Houston Texans @ 8:30 ET - Very interesting match-up with the better offense and bad defense - Colts - taking on the stronger defense and weak offense - Texans. Certainly the Colts have had issues with pass protection but the Texans defense is definitely missing JJ Watt. So what is the key match-up in my opinion? It is simply Andrew Luck versus Brock Osweiler. In my opinion, there is no way I am taking Osweiler over Luck under the Sunday night lights. The Colts play-calling on offense will be predicated around the fact that the line is struggling to protect Luck. Therefore we could some quick handoffs and quick short passing routes or screen passes which will help keep Luck on his feet plus will help keep the Texans defense off balance. That said, I certainly look for Luck to be the one that "makes plays" in this game while Osweiler continues to struggle for the Texans. Indianapolis plays this game with revenge from a home loss to Houston last December. Prior to that defeat the Colts had won 23 of the last 27 meetings. The Colts are on a 9-2 ATS run in games played in weeks 5 through 9. The Texans are 0-3 SU and ATS in home games where the posted total is between 45.5 and 49 points. Simply put, the Houston offense won't be able to keep up with Andrew Luck and Company in this one as the Colts get revenge for last December's home loss. 8* INDIANAPOLIS Sunday Night

Top Contrarian Play - Rickenbach NFL Game #271 Sunday - 10* Top Play Atlanta Falcons (+) @ Seattle @ 4:25 ET - Seattle's defense looks great statistically so far this season. However, they have played some of the worst teams in terms of offensive production so far this year. Miami, LA, San Francisco, and the Jets are hardly a "who's who" of offensive powerhouses. That said, if any offense can march into CenturyLink Field and not be bothered by the noise in Seattle, it is Matt Ryan and the Falcons. Atlanta has the number one offense in the league this season and they have helped lead the way to a 4-1 start to the season for the Falcons. The other key to this play is the fact that Atlanta head coach Dan Quinn was the defensive coordinator with the Seahawks in 2013 and 2014. This the first meeting between these teams since he's been gone from Seattle. You better believe that Quinn wants this game badly and you'd better believe that he has an edge in terms of understanding the personnel and systems of the Seahawks. That said, the fact we are getting about a full TD here with the much better offensive team is too good to pass up. Seattle is still a quality football team but they are regressing in my opinion. They went from SB win in 2013 to SB loss to 2014 to NFC Championship loss in 2015. This season the regression will continue in my opinion but we just haven't seen it yet due to their soft schedule thusfar. The Hawks are off of their bye week but they do have a big game with division rival Arizona on deck. Also, the Falcons don't even want a bye right now as they simply keep on rolling. Their win at Denver last was their fourth straight upset victory. Even though the Falcons are on the road again for a 2nd straight week they simply stayed out west to prepare for this game. This Atlanta team has bonded together very well and this road trip will continue their surge. They are on a 9-1 ATS run their last 10 in the underdog role. The Seahawks are 1-6 ATS when they are at home and playing with rest. Seattle is also 1-5 ATS when they have the Cardinals on deck. The Falcons are 8-1 ATS off of a SU dog win when facing a non-divisional opponent. This is a classic case of an undervalued road dog against an overvalued home fave and that has created generous line value here. 10* ATLANTA in Sunday's late afternoon action

Blowout of the Week - Rickenbach NFL Game #274 Sunday - 8* Green Bay Packers (-) vs Dallas Cowboys @ 4:25 ET - Green Bay burned me a little last week as they had a big lead on the Giants and let up a little bit and then the Packers ended up being a "push" in their game last week for most even though they held New York to only 219 yards of offense. The Packers are still on a 19-9 ATS run as a non-divisional home favorite and they are known for giving Dallas trouble. Green Bay is on a 4-1 ATS run overall against the Cowboys and the Packers are also 5-1 ATS in their last 6 at Lambeau Field hosting Dallas. The Packers are 6-0 ATS as home favorites against the NFC East. Green Bay is also 6-1 ATS when facing an opponent off of a straight-up dog win. The Cowboys definitely looked good in their outright upset win over the Bengals last week but this is their first game this season against a team with a winning record and Dallas is on a 4-8 ATS run in games against teams with an above .500 record. Also, the Cowboys are on a long-term 17-27 ATS run as road dogs in a range of 3.5 to 7 points. The Packers are on a 6-1 ATS run in games where they are a home fave in a range of 3.5 to 7 points and also 5-0 ATS in home games where the posted total is between 45.5 and 49 points. Combining those trends with the ones above favoring the Packers. we are testing a combined 28-3 ATS run in favor of the home fave. 8* GREEN BAY Sunday late afternoon

EARLY Top Side - Rickenbach NFL Game #253 Sunday - 10* Top Play Baltimore Ravens (+) @ New York Giants @ 1 ET - Ravens offense struggled last week in a home loss to the Redskins but Baltimore was limited by gusty winds in that game. The weather conditions today in East Rutherford, New Jersey will be beautiful and I expect the Ravens to take full advantage. Baltimore has the better pass protection (5.0% sack %) so far this season and the Giants have struggled to get to the quarterback (1.9% sack %) so far this year. Baltimore has also had the better defense this season with the #3 ranked D based on yardage while the Giants defense ranks only in the middle of the pack so far this year. The Giants were fortunate to get the ATS push last week at Green Bay as they only had 219 yards of offense in that game. This followed a dismal Monday night performance at Minnesota where the Giants only put 10 points on the board. Look for their struggles on offense to continue here as Baltimore improves on a 4-1 ATS (and SU) mark in their last five meetings with the Giants. The Ravens are on a long-term 81-33 SU run in games against teams with a losing record while the Giants are on a short-term 1-13 SU run in games against teams with a winning record. There is plenty of line value here with grabbing the points as Baltimore is 9-5 ATS in their last 14 games as an underdog while the Giants are already 0-2 ATS this season when favored in a range of 3.5 to 9.5 points. The Ravens entered this season with an 8-0 ATS mark when they are road dogs of 3or more points and their facing a team off of a SU loss. That system is in play in this one! Also, the Ravens are on a 7-0 ATS run when they are off of back to back losses (SU and ATS) and they are facing an opponent whose winning percentage is .750 or less. Baltimore is also 8-1 ATS as a non-divisional dog of 2 points or more when they are off of an ATS loss by double digits. Last week the Ravens were -4 and they lost outright by 6 points so this system is in play as well as they missed the cover by 10 points last week. Additionally they entered the season on an 8-1 ATS run when facing an NFC opponent off of a SU loss. The Giants have a trip to London on deck as an additional distraction here. 10* BALTIMORE Sunday

Earliest Cash - Rickenbach NFL Game #267 Sunday - 8* Philadelphia Eagles (-) @ Washington Redskins @ 1 ET - Despite outgaining the Lions by over 100 yards last week, the Eagles came up on the wrong end of the scoreboard and suffered their first loss of the season. That sets this one up nicely in terms of the line value because the Redskins are off of a tight win at Baltimore in a game that clearly could have gone either way last week. Washington was fortunate in terms of the weather (gusty winds) limiting the Ravens offense last week. Prior to that game, the Redskins had allowed 27 points per game in their first 4 games of the season. Washington should prove to be no match for an Eagles team that has proven to be very well balanced early this season and currently ranks among the top offensive and defensive units in the league so far this season. After a tough loss last week, the Eagles will be flying all over the field in their first divisional game of the season. Philly is on a 25-14 ATS run in road games with a posted total in a range of 42.5 to 45 points. Washington is on a 16-30 ATS run in home games with a posted total in a range of 42.5 to 45 points. The Eagles defense (allowing only 266.8 yards per game) will key the road win here. 8* PHILADELPHIA early Sunday

C-USA Game of the Year - Rickenbach CFB Game #170 Saturday - 10* Top Play Rice Owls (+) vs UTSA Roadrunners @ 7 ET Saturday - UTSA is over-rated right now and Rice is under-rated. As a result, there is solid line value here with the home dog. The Roadrunners are off of a big win over Southern Miss but it was a deceiving final score. UT-San Antonio beat the Golden Eagles by a 55-32 final score but gave up 557 yards in the game! The key was 3 Southern Miss turnovers and also that game was a home game for UTSA. Now the Roadrunners take to the road where they have lost both of their games this season and certainly they are not known for being road warriors. Overall, UTSA is on a 3-9 ATS run as a favorite. Rice is off of a much needed bye week and they are playing this game with revenge. A loss to the Roadrunners last season cost the Owls a chance at a bowl game. Rice hasn't forgotten that and they, of course, have the added motivation of being one of just 2 FBS schools (Miami-OH is the other) that are winless on the season. Rice has played a much tougher schedule than UTSA has so far this season and that is a key to evaluating where these teams are really "at" right now. That said, the markets have a false read in my opinion. The line opened up around a pick'em and then went to UTSA -4. The Roadrunners simply aren't worthy of this line move. UT-San Antonio has allowed at least 445 yards per game in three straight games and Rice has won 3 of the 4 all-time meetings between these teams. Even though the Owls stats look very bad, they have played a much tougher schedule than UTSA and they are not only off of a bye, they also have an FCS school on deck so there will be no lookahead here. The Roadrunners have the full attention of the Owls. Rice is on an 8-3 ATS run in their games against teams with a losing record and the Owls are also a perfect 3-0 ATS when off of a bye week. Look for the Roadrunners to drop to 3-11 ATS in their last 14 road games. UTSA simply does not travel well and they're going to have their hands full with an angry Owls team off of their bye week. 10* RICE OWLS Saturday evening

ACC Beatdown - Rickenbach CFB Game #140 Saturday - 8* Miami (FL) Hurricanes vs North Carolina Tar Heels @ 3:30 ET - Both of these teams are off of a loss but it is the Canes who are the team that is likely to bounce back huge. The limiting factor for the Tar Heels is a weak defense. Yes the numbers from last week look good for the North Carolina defense but that had to do with bad weather due to Hurricane Matthew pounding the area. Prior to that game UNC had given up at least 421 yards in 4 of their first 5 games. To put that in perspective in terms of Saturday's match-up, note that the Hurricanes have allowed an average of only 284 yards per game on the season. Miami (FL) has given up an average of only 12.8 points per game. The home team has covered 9 of the last 12 match-ups between these teams and Miami has revenge from an ugly loss at North Carolina last season. Miami is on a 9-3 run as a home favorite and also a perfect 3-0 ATS run when off of a SU loss. After last week's tight loss to Florida State, the Hurricanes need to respond with a W and the Canes head coach Richt has an incredible 90-45 (67%) ATS mark in SU wins. So if you like the Hurricanes to win here, the odds are you like them to cover as well. I also like the line move here as this line was up near 10 earlier this week and this line has now come down to a -6.5 as of Friday night. Great line value for the home favorite here. 8* MIAMI-FLORIDA Saturday afternoon

Earliest Cash - Rickenbach CFB Game #174 - Miami-Ohio Redhawks (+) vs Kent State Golden Flashes @ 2:30 ET - The Redhawks are one of just two winless FBS schools remaining (Rice is the other) and this is the perfect spot for Miami-Ohio to get into the win column. Yes, they have injury issues at QB but even if Billy Bahl does not play look for them to fare just fine here on Saturday at home against Kent State. Keep in mind, last week it was a tough road start for a freshman QB but should Noah Wezensky get the start again, it will be his third game and he was much better at home two weeks ago then he was last week on the road. Miami-Ohio, statistically, has been just as good as Kent State this season but they Redhawks just don't have a win yet to show for it. The home team has won 5 of the 7 meetings between these teams but here we are getting line value because of the Redhawks 0-6 record on the season. Miami-Ohio is on a 14-9 ATS run as an underdog. Miami-Ohio also is on a 5-1 ATS run in their games against conference foes with a winning percentage of .333 or less and the Golden Flashes come into this game with a 2-4 record on the season. Look for the Redhawks to get revenge for last season's 20-14 loss at Kent State. Miami-Ohio almost rallied for the win in that road game but threw a late pick in the end zone with about a minute to go in the game. The Redhawks net yards per game this season is only -3.3 and they certainly deserve much better than an 0-6 mark on the season. They will take advantage of a Kent State team that has one of the worst offenses in the nation (ranked #122 for yards per game). 8* MIAMI-OHIO Saturday afternoon

Game of the Week Friday - Rickenbach CFL Game #280 - 10* Top Play Hamilton Tiger-Cats (-) vs Ottawa Redblacks @ 7 ET - With all the strong records out West, the teams in the East are still battling it out for a playoff spot even though their records certainly do not impress. That said, this is a huge game as it is the first of a home-and-home set between these two divisional rivals and there are some key tangibles that have me backing the home team here. Hamilton was in a similar spot with Ottawa last season and the Redblacks took both regular season meetings late in the year which helped them earn home field edge for their playoff match-up. The result was a 3rd straight win for the Redblacks over the Ti-Cats and that post-season defeat (and 0-3 finish versus Ottawa) certainly resonates loudly with Hamilton to this day. That makes this a huge revenge spot for the Tiger-Cats and they are off of their bye week. This is why, even though they have some injury issues, Hamilton is the play here as Jeremiah Masoli steps in at QB for the injured Zach Collaros. Masoli went 3-3 as the starter earlier this season and the extra week helped he and the Tiger-Cats get fully prepared for this game as they also signed some players to help out at key positions after a few injuries narrowed the roster a bit. The Redblacks certainly are not without their own injury issues including star wideout Chris Williams who is truly irreplaceable. He is simply that good! This will hurt the Redblacks who have won just 3 of their last 10 games and have decided to go back to veteran QB Henry Burris. The problem with that is he simply wasn't that effective earlier this season and, in my opinion, it's going to prove to be "too little, too late" for Ottawa as they take on a rested, hungry, and revenge-minded Hamilton team in this one. The Tiger-Cats enter this game off of back to back losses and that is a situation that has seen them go 6-3 ATS the past three seasons including a perfect 2-0 this season. A lot of points expected here and the Redblacks are on a long-term 11-20 ATS run in road games with a posted total of 52 points or more. 10* HAMILTON Friday

Primetime Punisher Thursday - Rickenbach NFL Game #104 - 8* San Diego Chargers (+) vs Denver Broncos @ 8:25 ET - Many are likely to be looking at the Broncos here off of a home loss. However, I correctly faded Denver with the Falcons last week and I am going to do it again with the Chargers this week. Broncos rookie QB Paxton Lynch proved that it may be awhile before he's ready to step in as a solid NFL starter. That means the return of QB Trevor Siemian this week even though his non-throwing shoulder could still be an impact for him. Also, keep in mind, these teams are nearly even statistically so far this season. Even though the Chargers are only 1-4 on the season, they lost their first game of the season in overtime and they come into this game on a 3-game losing streak where the 3 defeats have come by a total of just 8 points. The point is that San Diego has been in every game. Though the Broncos D allows an average of 74 yards per game less than the Chargers, the San Diego offense is averaging 47 yards per game more than Denver's O. That said, considering we have home field here and we have a veteran QB in Philip Rivers going against an injured rookie in Siemian, I like my chances for the upset here. The Chargers are on a 7-2 ATS run when off of a SU loss against a division rival. Though they got the cover last week they did lose the game by 3 points at Oakland last week. The Broncos have a history of underestimating foes and with all of their past success against the Chargers (5 straight wins dating back to 2013 post-season), they could get caught underestimating just how dangerous this 1-4 San Diego team is. Denver is on a long-term 56-77 ATS run in their games against teams with a losing record. The Broncos offensive line was shaky last week and the defense was exposed by the high-powered attack of Atlanta. Trust me, the Chargers were paying attention to both of those areas and can take advantage at home on Thursday night. 8* SAN DIEGO CHARGERS

ESPN2 Smash Pass Wednesday - Rickenbach CFB Game #101 - 8* Appalachian State Mountaineers (-) @ UL Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns @ 8 ET - This line opened up at a 10.5 and got bumped up to a 12 in the early activity on Sunday evening and then has since dropped to a 9.5 as of early Tuesday morning. The original line and movement was correct in my opinion. The Mountaineers should blast the Ragin' Cajuns. UL Lafayette has major issues. They're not getting consistent QB play and they brought in a number of junior college transfers in the off-season (hasn't worked out well) and then fired their defensive coordinator after the first game of the season. The fact is that this is a program in disarray as head coach Mark Hudspeth doesn't have a good handle on his own team and his own coaching staff. They will be no match for what is arguably the top team in the Sun Belt Conference as they try to trade blows with Appalachian State on Wednesday night. The Mountaineers are an experienced team and a physical team that can bully a team like UL Lafayette. The Ragin' Cajuns fell to 4-8 last year and it just seems that Hudspeth and company have lost control of this program and they are going to continue heading the wrong direction. On the other side you have a Mountaineers team that went from 4 wins to 7 wins to 11 wins the past three seasons! Even though Appalachian State is only 3-2 this season, that is because they played SEC foe Tennessee and ACC foe Miami in non-conference action. Those are big programs for a Sun Belt team to face but Mountaineers head coach Scott Satterfield is building the program at Appalachian State and he knows that facing teams like that is all part of the equation. In their conference opener, the Mountaineers dominated Georgia State and held them to 241 total yards of offense while forcing 4 turnovers. Appalachian State has defeated the Ragin' Cajuns by at least 19 points in each of their two meetings the past two seasons and I feel the point spread here is indeed at least a touchdown less than it should be. The Mountaineers have not turned the ball over more than once in a game this season. UL Lafayette has 8 turnovers in their last 3 games. The Ragin' Cajuns also have gone 1-4 ATS as home dogs when they are facing a team who is off of a straight-up win by a double digit margin. The Mountaineers beat Georgia State by 14 earlier this month and they can blast UL Lafayette by more than that here. As a home dog of 7.5 to 10 points the Ragin' Cajuns have gone 0-2 ATS. As  road favorite, Appalachian State has gone 5-2 ATS and this is their first ever Wednesday game and the Mountaineers will go "all out" as they know they are in the spotlight with a rare weeknight game on ESPN2 where it is the only football game on TV (unlike typical Thursdays and Fridays). 8* APPALACHIAN STATE

Run Line Rout Tuesday - Rickenbach MLB 8* Los Angeles Dodgers -1.5 runs -105 vs Washington Nationals @ 5:05 ET - Yes, Clayton Kershaw is on short rest and yes he was not overly sharp against the Nationals in Game One of this series. However, he has a history of performing well on short rest and the ace left-hander has also been dominant in home starts! It will be a big difference for him pitching tonight at Dodger Stadium where, since May 1st his numbers are nearly unbelievable. Kershaw, in 61 innings spanning 8 home starts has allowed a TOTAL OF 2 RUNS! This equates to an unheard of 0.30 ERA in his last 8 outings at Dodger Stadium. That said, the Nationals Joe Ross is unlikely to be able to match-up well in this one. Ross has a 5.73 ERA in his two career outings against the Dodgers at Dodger Stadium. Also, his last three starts have totaled only 9 and 2/3 innings and he has given up 14 hits in those outings. This one should be a blowout home win for the Dodgers and this is a short price to lay needing LA to simply win by a margin of at least 2 runs. 8* LA DODGERS Run Line -1.5

Contrarian Crusher - Rickenbach NFL Game #475 - 8* Tampa Bay Buccaneers (+) @ Carolina Panthers @ 8:30 ET Monday - Both teams have some injury issues but the Panthers being without QB Cam Newton certainly is the biggest of them all. He has been ruled out for this Monday night match-up and, with both teams having struggled early this season, I see great line value here with the points. The line moved to a solid 6 Sunday evening and that means it is "go time" for me here on Monday morning. Note that Carolina is on a long-term 21-32 ATS run as a home favorite of 3.5 to 7 points. Also, Tampa Bay is 17-6 ATS in road games where the posted total is between 45.5 and 49 points. The biggest trend here is that the Buccaneers are a PERFECT 10-0 ATS when they are a dog of more than 4 points off of a game where they were held to less than 10 points. With Tampa Bay off of the ugly 27-7 loss to Denver last week and now coming in as a 6 point dog on Monday Night Football, look for the Buccaneers to come up huge in a chance to make amends in a divisional game in the spotlight of MNF. Tampa Bay is looking for revenge here as they have lost both match-ups with Carolina each of the past three seasons (0-6 SU and 1-5 ATS). Look for a big game from RB Jacquizz Rodgers who also was a solid receiving target for the Falcons from 2012 to 2014. He'll be filling in to injuries to the Bucs RB corps and he's fully capable of a big game here. The Panthers defense got lit up by Atlanta last week and I know TB is certainly no ATL when it comes to production on offense but QB Jameis Winston is certainly capable of putting up big numbers and he simply needs to avoid turnovers. By the way, the Panthers have forced just 1 turnover the past 2 weeks combined. The Bucs could pull off the upset here but certainly there is value with the sizable points. Look for that stat I mentioned above to move to a perfect 11-0 ATS. 8* TAMPA BAY Monday night

Primetime Punisher - Rickenbach NFL Game #474 - 8* Green Bay Packers (-) vs New York Giants @ 8:30 ET Sunday - Superb scheduling advantage here for the Packers as they are off of their bye week and now host a Giants teams traveling for a second straight week and also playing on short rest as the G-men were at Minnesota on Monday night. The Giants have failed to cover any of their last three games as they head to Lambeau Field to take on a Green Bay team that is 9-1 ATS when off of a bye. The Packers are also on a 6-0, 100% PERFECT ATS run when they are a home favorite against an NFC East foe. Green Bay certainly won't overlook the Giants as New York has defeated Green Bay in each of the last three meetings including one in the post-season here in Green Bay 5 years ago. The Giants have failed to cover 4 straight times when they are a road dog in the 2nd of back to back games away from home. After getting drilled at Minnesota Monday night look for a similar result Sunday night. Don't be surprised if turnovers play a role again tonight as the Giants have turned the ball over 8 times in their last 3 games while the Packers have not turned the ball over a single time in 2 of their 3 games this season. The Giants are very banged up in the secondary and the Packers and QB Aaron Rodgers will take advantage. The Packers are allowing only 42.7 rushing yards per game so the Giants will have to beat them through the air but Eli Manning has struggled in his last 2 games including throwing 3 interceptions. 8* GREEN BAY Sunday night

Game of the Month - Rickenbach NFL Game #471 - 10* Top Play Cincinnati Bengals (-) @ Dallas Cowboys @ 4:25 ET Sunday - The Bengals have the rest edge here as they had a Thursday game last week. By the way, Cincy dominated the Dolphins in that game and the fact is that the Cowboys simply have not faced a team as strong as the Bengals yet this season. Cincinnati has been a playoff team for five straight seasons. The Cowboys have faced a floundering 49'ers team, the Giants and Redskins (both struggling in recent season as part of the NFC "Least" Division, and a Bears team that hasn't had a winning season since 2012. Dallas finally gets tested here and the Bengals defense will have its ears pinned back as they want to test Dak Prescott early and often in this one. The young QB has performed well so far this season but he hasn't faced much pressure and the Bengals are known for having a fierce defense that can "bring the heat". Cincy entered this season with a 7-0 ATS mark in their games against teams with a winning percentage of .600 or greater. Coach Marvin Lewis has a reputation for having his Bengals at their best for games like this and they would love nothing more than to knock off "America's team" at "Jerry's World" Sunday afternoon in Dallas. The Cowboys have been a great "story" early this season but the Bengals are the "proven" team in a big game setting like this one. Dallas is on a 5-13 ATS run in home games while the Bengals are on a 12-6 ATS run in road games and a 17-6 ATS run against NFC East opponents. 10* CINCINNATI in late afternoon Sunday action

Contrarian Crusher - Rickenbach NFL Game #465 - 10* Top Play Atlanta Falcons +4.5 @ Denver Broncos @ 4:05 ET Sunday - Paxton Lynch was pressed into duty at QB for the Broncos last week at Tampa Bay and he performed well. However, the Buccaneers are now 13-39 in their last 52 games and Lynch, likely to start here, is going to face a much tougher test against the Falcons. Atlanta is not a strong club defensively but they are a powerhouse on offense and Matt Ryan and Company should "get theirs" against the Broncos in this one. That will put pressure on the rookie Lynch to come up with a big game here and that is going to be tough in this spot. Ryan threw for over 500 yards last week and 300 of that went to WR Julio Jones  who continues to be a beast for the Falcons. The Broncos rock solid defense now meets the offense currently ranked #1 in the league and considering the key injury for Denver at the QB position with Trevor Siemian likely to miss, I would not be surprised to see an outright upset here but certainly there is value in the points. Atlanta is 3-0 ATS as an underdog this season and all 3 wins were outright upsets! The Falcons are 13-6 ATS as an underdog the past three seasons combined. The Broncos are known for playing well at Mile High but they have covered only 3 of the last 9 times they are a home favorite in a range of 3.5 to 7 points. 10* ATLANTA in late afternoon action Sunday

SEC Bulldog Insider - Scott "The Bulldog" Rickenbach CFB Game #419 - 8* Georgia Bulldogs (-) @ South Carolina Gamecocks @ 2:30 ET Sunday - I have had a lot of success with the Bulldogs through the years and know the program quite well. Though Georgia is off of a heartbreaking last-second "hail mary" defeat versus Tennessee last week, they are ready to respond. Remember we saw similar circumstances earlier this season when Oklahoma State was off of a devastating defeat to Central Michigan on a "hail mary" play that shouldn't have even been able to happen - no time left and officials made a mistake. The Cowboys responded the next week by defeating Pittsburgh. Even though that win ended up coming by only a TD Okie State had multiple big leads throughout that game and definitely came ready to play. This is the type of effort I expect from Georgia today who has had extra time (with this game being rescheduled to Sunday) to be fully prepared mentally as they look to erase the bitter taste of last week's tough defeat. Georgia is now off of back to back losses and they are 18-2 SU (and 15-5 ATS) the last 20 times they entered a game off of two or more consecutive defeats. South Carolina is getting a few guys back this week that could help the offense but their overall production is just not there. They are still short of playmakers on offense and have produced some of the worst production on offense in the nation so far this year. Georgia is averaging more than 100 yards more per game on offense than are the Gamecocks. Also, South Carolina got drilled by the Bulldogs 52-20 last year and, after having just 1 carry last week, Georgia RB Nick Chubb is listed as probable for this game and I expect him to do plenty of damage here against a South Carolina defense that is allowing more than 200 rushing yards per game. As a fave of 3.5 to 10 points, the Bulldogs have gone 7-1 SU and 6-2 ATS. Both teams are in "must win" mode but the road team is the much stronger and more balanced team. Also, Gamecocks head coach Will Muschamp went 1-3 against Georgia (his alma mater) when he was head coach of the Gators. Once against the Bulldogs get the best of Muschamp here. 8* GEORGIA early Sunday afternoon

Earliest Cash - Rickenbach NFL Game #451 - 8* Houston Texans +7 @ Minnesota Vikings @ 1 ET Sunday - The Vikings are not only undefeated this season, they are also 4-0 ATS. While a lot of credit certainly goes to the ultra-formidable defense of Minnesota, the fact is that the ball has certainly bounced the way of the Vikings early and often this season. The Vikes are +10 in turnover margin and that has had a lot to do with their success at the betting window early this season. I feel they are now starting to get a little too pricey as this line has moved up to a 7 and there is value with a Texans team whose offense (334.5 yards per game) is actually out-gaining the Vikings who are averaging only 290.5 yards per game this season. Also, very quietly, the Texans defense continues to do well and their strong performance last week came without J.J. Watt so that was a big plus for Houston. The Texans are allowing an average of only 287.8 yards per game this season while the Vikings are allowing an average of 306 yards per game. The Vikings D gets all the publicity but, as you can see, this Texans defense has been flying all over the field too! Houston has won the turnover battle in only one of their four games this season and that has been the big difference between these two teams. The result is solid line value for a 3-1 Texans team as everyone remembers their ugly loss to New England but the yardage was actually equal in that game and that type of result is adding even more line value to a spot like this. By the way, the Texans are on a 10-3 ATS run. Also, the Vikings are on a 3-10 ATS run when they are off of an ATS win by double digits and are now facing an opponent who is playing with revenge. The Texans did lose the last time they faced Minny and the Vikes are off of a huge cover in their win over the Giants which, by the way, came on Monday night so this is a short week for the Vikings to get ready for a tough Texans team. I am grabbing the generous points. 8* HOUSTON early Sunday afternoon

PA Insider - Rickenbach NFL Game #461 - 8* Philadelphia Eagles (-) @ Detroit Lions @ 1 ET Sunday - The Eagles, with their win over the Steelers two weeks ago, proved the naysayers wrong. This Philadelphia team is for real and now, the best possible thing that could happen is that the Eagles got a much-needed bye before their heads got too big because of knocking off Pittsburgh. In all seriousness, that bye week did some good for the Eagles as otherwise they might have come out "flat as a pancake" after such a huge win like they had over a top notch team like Pittsburgh. Philly ranks as one of the top teams in the league on both sides of the ball so far this season while the Lions continue to under-perform and are off of a disappointing loss to the Bears last week. Detroit has lost three straight games both SU and ATS. The Eagles come into this game a perfect 3-0 SU and ATS and with the added benefit of coming off of a bye week. That said, I'll gladly lay the small number with the Eagles here as there is line value with Philly on the road. The Lions have only covered ONCE the last NINE times they have been a home dog. Also, the Eagles are 5-0 ATS when they have extra rest and are facing an opponent with a winning percentage of .600 or less. The Lions blew out the Eagles 45-14 last season and Detroit is 1-10 ATS as a dog of 10 points or less when they are facing an opponent who is playing with revenge. The Wentz show continues and also keep in mind that Jim Schwartz is the Eagles defensive coordinator and he is a former head coach of the Lions. The year after he was fired from the Lions he because defensive coordinator in Buffalo and helped lead the Bills to a 4-0 record against NFC North teams that season as he knew them well from his years in Detroit. He certainly knows the Lions well and that will pay off once again here. The Eagles have this game covered well on both sides of the ball with Wentz leading the way on O and Schwartz leading the way on D. Road rout! 8* PHILADELPHIA in early action Sunday

Big 12 Game of the Year - Rickenbach CFB Game #339 -10* Top Play Texas Tech Red Raiders (+) @ Kansas State Wildcats @ 7 ET Saturday - Red Raiders QB Patrick Mahomes is unlikely to play and that's why this line is where it is because, the fact is, the Red Raiders are the better team in this match-up. The key then becomes what happens when the back-up QB comes in for Texas Tech? Though it was "only" Kansas last week, junior QB transfer (from Iowa) Nic Shimonek came in and ran the offense very well and threw 4 TD passes. Shimonek is known as one of the hardest working players on the team and he has been learning Kliff Kingsbury's offense ever since he came over from the Hawkeyes. Shimonek has good size at 6'3 220 lbs and he made good throws and quick reads. He also is full of confidence and has worked very hard to be ready for when he's needed. With many of the quick, shorter passes that are a part of the Red Raiders offense, it is not as difficult to "step in" as a back-up QB and get the job done although Shimonek certainly has the arm and the accuracy for the longer routes as well. Shimonek already got some solid work in back in week one of this season and last week's experience versus the Jayhawks also helps him to prepared for taking on Kansas State here. The Wildcats are only averaging 346 5 yards per game this season and this is nothing new as they averaged only 333.7 yards per game to rank as one of the worst offenses in the nation. While I do respect their defense, Kansas State was ripped apart for 59 points by the Texas Tech offense last season and they also were heading into that game off of a loss as well. That said, the fact that the Wildcats are off of a tough tight loss at West Virginia doesn't truly strengthen their position here. In fact, when Kansas State is home off of a straight-up loss and facing an opponent off of a win by a double digit margin, the Wildcats have gone 0-4 ATS. Also, Texas Tech is on a 4-2 ATS run as a road dog and their offense (both based on yardage and points per game) is #1 in the nation in both key categories. The Wildcats just don't have the firepower to keep up here and their defense was exposed last season frequently by teams with high-powered offenses. The Cats allowed 36.9 points per game in their final 11 games last season. That is significant in looking at this match-up because Kansas State never scored more than 45 points in a game last season. This season the Wildcats put up big points on poor teams like Florida Atlantic and Missouri State but they averaged only 14.5 points in their other two games. The Wilcats were outgained by a margin of 422 to 286 last week at West Virginia and the numbers are likely to be even more skewed this week. That has me backing the big dog here that absolutely has a great shot at an outright upset win on the road. The Red Raiders are averaging 664 yards of offense per game this season and though their defense is always a liability, they have some confidence with last week's strong performance and, again, the Wildcats just don't have the offense to take advantage. In their two games that weren't against "cupcake opponents" Kansas State has only completed 29 of 71 passes this season! 10* Top Play TEXAS TECH Saturday 

Ugly Dog - Rickenbach CFB Game #345 - 8* Purdue Boilermakers (+) @ Illinois Illini @ 3:30 ET Saturday - Taking advantage of line value here as Illinois opened up right around a 7 point favorite and then has moved up to being a double digit favorite. I just don't see it with the Illini. Sure Purdue is really no better but that is what you have here. Two bad Big Ten teams matched up so the only difference one could really see as value would be home field but that hasn't held true in this series. The road team has actually gotten the win in each of the last four meetings. Couple that with the fact that the Boilermakers have revenge from a bad home loss to Illinois last year and you have the makings of a truly dangerous "ugly dog" here. Purdue has plenty of motivation and is also coming off of an ugly loss at Maryland. Conversely, the Illini are coming off of a more respectable showing than many expected at Nebraska last week as they only lost by 15 points. However, Illinois was dominated statistically as they were outgained by over 150 yards in the game and the Cornhuskers had more than double the first downs that Illinois compiled. The Illini are on a long-term 15-24 ATS run as a home favorite while the Boilermakers are on an 11-6 ATS run as a road dog. Illinois is an ugly 2-13 ATS when they are off of back to back SU losses and facing a team that is coming off of a SU loss by double digits! That is precisely the case here with the Boilermakers off of that 50-7 loss to the Terrapins last week. Even with the loss last week Purdue is still on an 8-1 ATS run their last 9 games as a double digit dog. Grab the big points with the road dog Boilermakers here. 8* PURDUE Saturday afternoon

Earliest Cash - Rickenbach CFB Game #332 - 8* Connecticut Huskies (+) vs Cincinnati Bearcats @ 11:30 AM ET Saturday - Depending on when and where they were played, the Huskies have delivered as bad as an ugly 0-5 ATS mark this season for their backers. This is helping to give us solid line value here with Connecticut as a 3-point home dog. The Huskies want this game badly as, not since the days of Randy Edsall roaming the sidelines have the Huskies managed to knock off Cincinnati. Each of the last five years UConn has lost to the Bearcats and, after facing the new fast-paced attack of Syracuse and then the powerhouse attack of offensive juggernaut, Houston, the Huskies will be glad to face an offense that is struggling. Cincy can't settle down at the QB position as regular #1 Hayden Moore has been out with an injury and the Bearcats have now waffled between a young QB (Trail) and a veteran QB (Gunner Kiel) who was outplayed by Hayden Moore. The result has been very inconsistent offense from the Bearcats and, in fact, they are now on a 2-7 ATS run dating back to last season. Also, the home team in the match-ups between these two teams is 8-3 ATS even though Cincy has gotten the SU win in five straight match-ups. The Huskies have thrived as a home dog (22-9 ATS) and in their most recent conference home game they upset Houston - the Cougars only loss last season! The Huskies have a rest edge with two extra days off since they last played on Thursday. The Bearcats are on a 2-4 ATS run when they are off of a loss in conference action. As a home dog of 3 points or less the Huskies are on a 7-3 ATS run and this has the makings of an upset as Cincinnati's poor play at the QB position continues to plague them. 8* CONNECTICUT very early Saturday

ESPN Smash Pass - Rickenbach CFB Game #312 - 8* Boston College Eagles (+) vs Clemson Tigers @ 7:30 ET Friday - Clemson is one of the top teams in the country and I have all the respect in the world for this team. That said, the fact is that the Tigers are in a very tough spot here and I like the line value we are seeing in this one. This line opened up around a 16 but is now as high as an 18 as of gameday morning and Clemson is known for having some struggles at times when they visit Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. The Tigers are off of a key victory in their huge game with Louisville last week but it didn't come easy. Not only did Clemson get outgained by the Cardinals but, also the Tigers had to rally for the win after they gave up a 26-0 run to Louisville after halftime. That game was an emotional come from behind win for Clemson in a marquee game Saturday and now the Tigers are on the road on a short week. In the last 7 meetings between these teams the road team has gotten the cash only 2 times. Clemson has won 3 of their last 5 trips to Chestnut Hill but 2 of the 3 wins came by 6 points or less. Overall, the Tigers are on an ugly 3-7 ATS run as a road favorite. As for Boston College, they come into this game off of a much easier contest compared to the exhausting battle Clemson just had with Louisville. The Eagles just knocked off Buffalo by a 35-3 count with a ridiculous yardage edge of 400 to 67 over the Bulls. Boston College has a bye week on deck which is also a big edge as Clemson is truly in a sandwich spot after the big win over the Cardinals and with NC State on deck for next Saturday's homecoming game. Once again this season the Eagles have a rock solid defense and the offense is improving as 6'5" QB Patrick Towles (a graduate transfer from Kentucky) has gotten more comfortable with the Eagles. Clemson is on an 1-4 ATS run in games played on turf. BC is on a 3-0 ATS run as an underdog of 10.5 to 21 points. Look for the Eagles to give the Tigers a tough battle in this one as the situational edges are big for the home team here. 8* BOSTON COLLEGE Friday 

Primetime Punisher - Rickenbach NFL Game #303 - 8* Arizona Cardinals (-) @ San Francisco 49'ers @ 8:25 PM ET Thursday - Both teams are off to tough starts at 1-3 SU and 1-3 ATS. For the 49'ers this is not such a big surprise but for the Cardinals it certainly is. Arizona should respond in a big way this week even without Carson Palmer at QB as Drew Stanton is expected to get the start. What has killed the Cards the past two weeks is turnovers as they had 5 in each game. This is skewing their results in terms of marketplace perception and now we can take the far superior team here -3 after they were as high as a 4.5 point favorite earlier in the week. The fact is that Arizona, on a yardage basis, actually ranks in the top ten this season both on offense and defense while the 49'ers are near the bottom of the league in both categories. Since beating the Rams in week one, the Niners have been statistically dominated in every single game. They were outgained by 227 yards in week two, 164 yards in week three, and 133 in week four. Now San Francisco is facing a Cardinals team that has beaten them by at least 6 points in 3 of the last 4 meetings. Also, Arizona is on an 8-4 ATS run as an away favorite. First downs are 104-65 in favor of the Cards in the last 4 meetings between these teams. The Cardinals are on a 6-1 ATS run when they are off of an ATS loss by a double digit margin and are then favored against an NFC foe. The Niners are on a 1-5 ATS run in Thursday games. 8* ARIZONA

ESPN2 Smash - Rickenbach NCAA FB Game #302 - 8* Arkansas State Red Wolves (+) vs Georgia Southern Eagles @ 8 PM ET Wednesday - On the surface this looks like a complete mismatch as the Eagles are 3-1 on the season while the Red Wolves are 0-4 both SU and ATS. However, Arkansas State has played a much tougher schedule than the Eagles have. Also, this is the Red Wolves conference opener so they are fully aware of the fact that the season is certainly not lost! As for Georgia Southern, even though they are 2-0 in Sun Belt action already, those two victories came over two of the weaker teams in the conference as the Eagles beat South Alabama and Louisiana Monroe who were a combined 7-18 last year. Arkansas State is certainly off to an ugly start this season but they also got off to a poor start last year, 1-3, and then won 8 in a row to wrap up the regular season! The Red Wolves were projected to again be one of the top teams in the Sun Belt Conference and their comeback, in my opinion, starts Wednesday. The line opened up at a -7 for Georgia Southern here and has already moved to a 7.5 in most spots. With the ability to get Arkansas State as a home dog of more than a TD, it definitely is "go time" for me in this match-up. I am well aware of the fact that the Red Wolves just lost to an FCS school, Central Arkansas, in their most recent game but the Bears are actually playing quite well this season and are one of the better teams in their conference. Arkansas State did put up 469 yards against Central Arkansas but they did themselves in with turnovers. The Red Wolves will respond this week and they are 13-3 SU (and 11-5 ATS) in their conference games the past two seasons. The past two seasons Arkansas State has also gone 5-2 SU and ATS in their 7 games against teams with a winning record. The Red Wolves are off of a bye week and they are 8-1 ATS when playing with rest and facing a Sun Belt foe. 8* ARKANSAS STATE Wednesday

Top MNF Crusher - Rickenbach NFL 10* Top Play New York Giants (+) @ Minnesota @ 8:30 ET Monday - With Sunday's action in the books the Vikings are one of only three undefeated teams in the league. In my opinion this still has the Vikes as being a little over-rated. Minnesota lost QB Teddy Bridgewater to injury late in the pre-season and now lost RB Adrian Peterson to a knee injury. Minnesota has been winning with defense and I am well aware of the fact that this team has a great defense and certainly I respect that. However, this is still a team whose offense has been impacted by these injuries and I am not sold on Sam Bradford at QB. Overall, the Vikings offense is averaging only 265.3 yards per game so far this season and that ranks them near the bottom of the league. Conversely, the Giants offense has rolled up 396.7 yards of offense per game so far this year and that ranks them near the top 5 teams in the league. Every single game the Giants have played this season has been close with an average margin of 2 points per game. The Vikings have one win by just a field goal but the other two wins came by more than a TD margin. However, Minnesota was actually outgained in both of those "big" wins! The Vikings defense has been getting the job done by generating turnovers and this is masking a sub-par offense. With the Giants off of a loss where they turned the ball over 3 times for a 2nd straight game, I am fully confident New York will be fired up and ready to play a "complete game" on MNF and avoid the turnover bug. The Vikings, while deserving credit for a solid defense that is pressuring QB's and forcing turnovers, have been fortunate early this season while the Giants certainly have not been so fortunate. That is what is helping to create the line value here. New York blew a 21-9 lead against Washington last week and I look for Eli Manning and Company to respond this week. The Giants are 7-1 ATS when off of a game against the Redskins. Also, they know QB Bradford very well from his days with the division rival Eagles. As for the Vikings, they are on an 0-7 ATS run on Monday Night Football and also 0-5 ATS when off of a straight-up win as an underdog and facing a team that has a winning record. Minnesota is also 0-4 ATS when they are off of a game where they allowed 10 points or less against a non-division opponent. Last, but certainly not least, the Vikings are 2-10 ATS when they are off of a game where they covered the spread by double digits and are now facing a team with revenge. The Giants lost badly at Minnesota late last season and it is time for a little payback. Those angles above add up to a 33-3 ATS mark in favor of the road dog in this one! I am grabbing the points here! 10* NEW YORK GIANTS Monday Night.

Primetime Punisher - Rickenbach NFL Game #276 - 8* Pittsburgh Steelers (-) vs Kansas City Chiefs @ 8:30 ET Sunday - The Chiefs are off of a dominating 24-3 win over the Jets where New York QB Ryan Fitzpatrick basically handed them the game. All kidding aside, the Jets had 8 turnovers in that game. As for the Steelers, they are off of their embarrassing 34-3 loss at Philadelphia. If you look at last Sunday's scores only one team was a held to single digits in points (Pittsburgh) and only one team allowed a team only single digits in points (Kansas City). Ironically these teams meet in the next week and that has set exceptional line value for the Steelers here. Earlier in the week they were a 6 point favorite and now they are all the way down to a 3.5 as of Saturday night. I realize both these teams are 2-1 on the season but, in my mind, only one of them is a true Super Bowl contender and that is Pittsburgh. That said, the Steelers are looking to avenge a 10 point loss at Kansas City last year and they went 8-3 ATS the past two seasons in their games against teams with a winning record. As for the Chiefs, they are an ugly 2-4 ATS in their last 6 as a road dog between 3.5 and 7.5 points. Also, the Steelers are on an incredible long term run of 55-33 ATS in the month of October and they are hungry to respond off of last week's embarrassment. Pittsburgh is an incredible 10-0 ATS when they are off of a game where they allowed 28 points or more. The Chiefs are 1-6 ATS as dogs when they are off of a game where they allowed 7 points or less. Kansas City is also 0-4 ATS as dogs when facing teams from the AFC North. Look for this one to be all Steelers! 8* PITTSBURGH Sunday evening

Rickenbach NFL Game #274 - 8* Arizona Cardinals (-) vs Los Angeles Rams @ 4:25 ET Sunday - This line keeps dropping as it is inching closer to a -7 after opening up near a -10. Of course I understand the downward line move because of perception. Everyone saw the Cardinals lay an egg against New England in the season opener and then everyone is looking at their result from last week where Arizona lost 33 to 18 at Buffalo. However, the Cards turned the ball over 5 times in that game and that was the key difference as Arizona actually outgained the Bills 260 to 88 through the air in that game. The Cardinals are a solid team that is much better than the 1-2 record they've got right now. As for the Rams, they won 37 to 32 at Tampa Bay last week but the Buccaneers outgained LA by a 472 to 320 mark and Los Angeles is fortunate to have a 2-1 record on the season. The Cardinals blasted Tampa Bay in week two and they're capable of doing the same to the Rams here in Week 4 as they are again off of a loss and fired up. The Rams have one of the worst offenses in the league as the big points last week was because of turnovers. Los Angeles doesn't have the firepower to keep up here. The Rams are 0-5 ATS when they are on the road and facing a divisional foe who is off of a SU loss as fave. That is precisely the case here with the Cards off of that loss to the Bills. Keep in mind, Arizona got embarrassed last week and they are 6-0 ATS when they are favored against an NFC foe and they are coming off of an ATS loss by double digits to the spread. 8* ARIZONA in late afternoon action Sunday

Rickenbach NFL Game #268 - 10* Top Play Tampa Bay Buccaneers (+) vs Denver Broncos @ 4:05 ET Sunday - The Buccaneers are off of a tough home loss to the Rams last week as they outgained Los Angeles by over 150 yards in the game but came up on the wrong end of the scoreboard in the 37-32 final. The Broncos were at the other end of the spectrum as they as they barely outgained the Bengals at Cincinnati but yet won the game by a 29-17 final. Of course this wasn't the first time this season that the Broncos have been quite fortunate as they very nearly lost their season opener to Carolina and that game was at Denver. The Broncos have had to rally for their backers in each of their three games this season. While I certainly respect the Denver defense this is a team that honestly could just as easily be 0-3 ATS as they are 3-0 ATS as they were down in the 3rd or 4th quarter of each of their games. Statistically Denver's offense has been much worse than the points per game average you are seeing for them as a team and, also, the Bucs defense has been much better than their points per game average allowed as a team. Last week's "crazy game" against the Rams was a perfect example as they only gave up 320 yards in that game but 37 points! Denver has only covered 4 of their last 11 games against teams with a losing record. The Bucs have covered 6 of their last 7 games against a non-conference opponent off of a SU and ATS win. That system fits perfectly here and I look for the Bucs to spring the upset. 10* TAMPA BAY in the late afternoon games Sunday

Rickenbach NFL Game #257 - 10* Top Play Seattle Seahawks (-) @ New York Jets @ 1 ET Sunday - The Seahawks have gone from being a 3 point favorite in this game to all the way down to a pick'em. The value here is simply too good to pass up on. Seattle has a bye on deck so there is no lookahead for them and, keep in mind, this is still a team that is very hungry because, after winning the Super Bowl three years ago, they then lost the Super Bowl the next season and then last season they were knocked out of the playoffs by Carolina in the divisional round. The last thing the Hawks want to do is go into the bye week with a 2-2 record. The way I see it they already had their "oops" game for the first part of the season when their offense failed to show up at Los Angeles and the Rams beat them in a tight, low-scoring game. As for the defense, they are again performing like one of the elite units in the entire league. That spells bad news for a shaky Ryan Fitzpatrick. The Jets QB threw 6 picks last week and there is no doubt the Seahawks defense is licking their chops and they are going to "bring it" on Sunday! What is also significant about this line dropping to a pick'em is the fact that Seattle is 6-2 ATS (and a PERFECT 8-0 SU) when they enter a game off of a divisional win. The Seahawks will build off of last week's dominating win over the 49'ers. The Jets are on a 1-4 ATS run in games against NFC opponents and they don't fare well in games projected to be tight. New York is an ugly 4-9 ATS in games with a line between +3 and -3. I'll take Russell Wilson over Ryan Fitzpatrick any day of the week and I also know that I have the better defense in this one. 10* Seattle Seahawks in early afternoon action Sunday

Best Bet Shocker - Rickenbach NCAA FB Game #196 - 8* USC Trojans (-) vs Arizona State @ 8:30 ET Saturday - You may be surprised to see me calling a fave a shocker but what I mean by this here is that USC is only 1-3 on the season and Arizona State is 4-0 but the "shock value" is here. The surprise is not just that the 1-3 Trojans are favored by double digits over the Sun Devils but the fact that they should easily cover it! USC has played a much tougher schedule by far as Arizona State's schedule has included Northern Arizona and UTSA! The Sun Devils barely got by the Roadrunners as the 4 point win was certainly not impressive. In Arizona State's other two games against FBS foes their defense was ripped for over 600 yards in each game and they allowed an average of 48 points per game! USC is off of a tough loss at Utah last Friday where they gave up a pair of late scores after appearing to be in command of that game. Now they get a chance to redeem themselves against a lesser foe after having faced tough teams like Alabama and Stanford already this season. The Trojans blasted the Sun Devils 42-14 at Arizona State last year but USC still has a measure of revenge here as well. That's because the last time Southern Cal hosted ASU they gave up 3 late TD's in the final 4 minutes (including a Hail Mary on the last play of the game) to lose by 4 points. USC hasn't forgotten about that happening on their home field. The Trojans are on a 7-0 ATS run in regular season action in games where they are off of a game where they allowed 31 points or more. After allowing 31 to Utah last week, Southern Cal bounces back (as usual) this week! 8* USC Saturday night

Primetime Punisher - Rickenbach NCAA FB Game #164 - 8* Clemson Tigers (-) vs Louisville Cardinals @ 8 ET Saturday - Clemson was as high as a 3.5 point favorite when this line came out but they now have moved all the way to being a 2 point dog. This is huge movement and has created significant value that certainly shouldn't be shrugged off. The key here is that everyone saw the Cardinals annihilate Florida State on national TV and that has resulted in an inflated perception about Louisville. Certainly the Cardinals should receive their "just due" but the public is a little enamored with them right now. Keep in mind Louisville's other 3 games came against Charlotte, Syracuse, and Marshall. The Thundering Herd didn't even have their starting QB and also returned only 4 starters on defense this season. As for Syracuse and Charlotte, they both rank near the bottom of FBS schools. The point is that Louisville had a great game plan and executed extremely well against the Seminoles but one game should not define an entire team's season and, in this case, the Cards are now on the road and facing a very tough foe. Clemson has won both of the ACC meetings between these schools and also has a rest edge since the Tigers had a Thursday game last week. Clemson dominated the Yellow Jackets and also looked much stronger against Auburn in week one than what the final score (19-13) would lead you to believe. The Tigers only have Boston College on deck and Clemson has gone 6-1 ATS in their game the week before BC as certainly Clemson knows they can leave it all on the field when it's only the Eagles on deck! The Cardinals win over the Noles is keying the value here and keep in mind, FSU has now allowed 34 points or more in all 3 of their games against FBS schools this season. Is the fact that Louisville ripped Florida State as impressive as it originally seemed? I say absolutely not and I say the Cardinals are going to have trouble with a Clemson defense that is allowing only 11 points per game and the Tigers have the veteran leader at QB in this match-up too of course. Look for Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney to take it to Louisville head coach Bobby Petrino a third straight time. 8* CLEMSON Saturday night

Game of the Week - Rickenbach NCAA FB Game #126 - 10* Top Play West Virginia Mountaineers (-) vs Kansas State Wildcats @ 3:30 ET Saturday - This line dropped from a 3.5 to a 2.5 Friday and  that makes 3 a "win number" for West Virginia which is a great value here. I am well aware of the fact that Bill Snyder is one helluva coach and that Kansas State has defeated the Mountaineers each of the last four seasons. However, last year West Virginia outgained the Wildcats 447 to 304 and yet lost the game by a single point. The Mountaineers held Kansas State to just 10 of 31 through the air. In the last meeting here, in 2014, West Virginia held the Wildcats to a net of ONE rushing yard on 29 carries yet the Mountaineers still fell just short on the scoreboard. Overall, West Virginia has held the first down edge by 49 to 33 in the last two meetings and yet they lost both games on the scoreboard. The point is that coach Snyder hasn't exactly outsmarted Dana Holgorsen in these last two meetings. It's just been a pair of tough, tight losses for West Virginia despite having some key edges. With that said, this is a quadruple revenge spot for the Mountaineers and they are catching K-State at the ideal time. The Wildcats haven't played a tough opponent in a month and that was a double digit loss at Stanford. That was followed by a bye week for the Cats and then easy match-ups with Florida Atlantic and Missouri State! Look for the Wildcats to have trouble adjusting early on as they finally step back on the field with a formidable foe for the first time in 30 days! The Mountaineers are undefeated on the season and got a hard-fought win over BYU last week that will serve them well for facing a well-coached Kansas State team this week. There is only "so much" that coaching can do for a team and the Wildcats are on a 3-7 skid in Big 12 games their last 10 with an average margin of defeat of 15 points in those 7 losses! West Virginia is on a 5-2 ATS run at Mountaineer Field when they are a home favorite. 10* WEST VIRGINIA Saturday afternoon.

Earliest Cash - Rickenbach NCAA FB Game #157 - 8* Miami Hurricanes (-) @ Georgia Tech @ Noon ET Saturday - We are laying right around a 7 in this game but the set-up is truly ideal for a road rout. Even though the Hurricanes have played an easy schedule thusfar it certainly has helped them to build up confidence under new head coach Mark Richt. The former Georgia coach is, of course, very familiar with the Yellow Jackets and their option attack because the Bulldogs frequently faced Georgia Tech and head coach Paul Johnson. That, in and of itself, is a big edge for Richt but also note that the Hurricanes are off of a bye week AND they faced an option attack, Appalachian State, before the bye. The Canes are catching the Jackets at a good time as GT is still licking their wounds after the absolute beating they took against Clemson last Thursday. Georgia Tech was fortunate to beat Boston College earlier this season and only scored 17 points in that game and just 7 against Clemson last week. Overall the Yellow Jackets are on an ugly 2-11 ATS run and Richt is known for his ATS success in victories. When his team wins, he covers at a 67% rate - 90-45 ATS! Look for the Canes to get the win and look for another Richt cover in the victory! The Hurricanes add to their 6-1 ATS run in games against Georgia Tech. 8* MIAMI early Saturday

ESPN Smash Pass - Rickenbach NCAA FB Game #110 - 8* Washington Huskies (-) vs Stanford Cardinal @ 9 ET Friday - The Cardinal are off of a ridiculous cover against UCLA Saturday as Stanford (-3) actually trailed 13-9 late in the game but they got a TD for a 3 point lead with just 24 seconds to go and then got a fumble return for a TD on the last play of the game to win by 9 points. The shocking cover for the Cardinal means that they are now 3-0 both SU and ATS this season and that is helping to create some line value this week. We can get Washington laying just a field goal at home in this one and the Huskies are 4-0 SU but only 2-2 ATS after Saturday's win in overtime over Arizona. Washington may have got caught peeking ahead to this game but they did have over 500 yards of offense in last week's win. Also, the Huskies have already forced at least 3 turnovers in each of their 4 games this season. As for Stanford, the Cardinal have only forced a total of 4 turnovers in their 3 games this year. Both teams have some solid defensive stats so far this year but the Huskies are averaging 103 more yards per game on offense so far this season. Also, the home team is 4-1 ATS in the last 5 meetings between these teams. Washington has revenge for a 31-14 loss at Stanford last year. The Huskies are on a 17-9 ATS run as a home fave and have gone 5-2 ATS in their last 7 games as a favorite in conference games. The scheduling situation here certainly favors the Huskies as the Cardinal are playing back to back road games and on a short week while Washington's short week is helped by the fact their playing at home for the 4th time in 5 weeks this season. The Huskies are 5-0 ATS the week before facing the Ducks and they have a trip to Oregon on deck for next week. Stanford is on a 2-4 ATS run in road games with posted total between 42.5 and 45 points and the Cardinal also are only 2-4 ATS in their last 6 games played on turf. Look for the Huskies speed, at home on FieldTurf at Husky Stadium to be the difference-maker in this one. 8* WASHINGTON Friday

Rickenbach CFL Game #280 - 10* Top Play Winnipeg Blue Bombers -3 vs Edmonton Eskimos @ 8:30 ET Friday - The Blue Bombers are off of a tight loss last week but that was against the #1 team in the league as Winnipeg fell just short of upsetting the Stampeders in Calgary. As for the Eskimos, they are also off of a tight game but they came out on the right side at home against the BC Lions last week. That sets this one up nicely as the Blue Bombers come in hungry off of a win while Edmonton can't help but have trouble coming down off the emotional high of knocking off a tough BC team last week. The Eskimos had lost 3 straight games before last weeks win. Conversely, the Blue Bombers had actually won 7 straight games before their furious comeback attempt against league-leading Calgary fell just short. Even though Edmonton has revenge from a home loss to Winnipeg in late July, note that the Blue Bombers had lost at home to the Eskimos earlier in July and they have a chance to now avenge that defeat at home. With the line dropping from a -5 to a -3 we are getting excellent line value with a Blue Bombers team that got another strong game from QB Matt Nichols last week. The Eskimos win and cover last week was their first ATS win in their last five games! In fact, that was Edmonton's first ATS win in EIGHT divisional games this season! The Eskimos continue to be over-valued this season as the defending Grey Cup champions. By the way, the Blue Bombers certainly haven't forgotten that they not only lost here at home to Edmonton earlier this season but also the fact that the Eskimos won the Grey Cup right here in Winnipeg last year. The Blue Bombers want this game badly and the line move has opened up exceptional line value with Winnipeg as the small home fave here. Keep in mind, even if this line moves back up a little, the Blue Bombers are 3-0 ATS as a home favorite of 3.5 to 7 points the past three seasons combined. 10* WINNIPEG

RL Crusher - Rickenbach MLB Game #910 - 10* Top Play St Louis Cardinals Run Line -1.5 runs (+) vs Pittsburgh Pirates @ 8:15 ET Friday - The Pirates are 11-19-1 in their last 31 games after yesterday's ultra rare tie. The big key here with the value on today's play is that 13 of Pittsburgh's last 15 losses have come by at least two runs. The Cardinals are battling hard for a playoff spot, they have an edge on the mound in this one, and the odds are they win the game. That said, I'll gladly grab the plus money on the run line as the money line price on the Cards is of course very steep here. The Cardinals win only came by a run yesterday but 10 of their 12 prior wins all came by two runs or more. The Cards will have Carlos Martinez on the mound and he has a stellar 2.65 ERA in his last 8 starts as he allowed 2 earned runs or less in 7 of those outings. He'll be opposed by a struggling Tyler Glasnow of the Pirates. The rookie right-hander has a 6.35 ERA at the big league level as a starter and one of his 3 starts this season was at St Louis in early July. The fact the Cardinals have already seen him certainly benefits their lineup and Glasnow also has pitched out of the pen some for Pittsburgh. Nearly every outing (whether out of the pen or as a starter) has seen him struggle if he goes longer than an inning. That said, he is still adjusting to pitching at the MLB level and I expect another tough start for him here. The Pirates are on an 0-5 run as a road dog of +175 to +200 and the Cardinals are on a 35-14 run as a home fave of -175 to -200. The odds are certainly favoring a Cards victory here and, as shown above, the odds also favor any STL win to come by a big margin over the struggling Pirates. 10* Top Play St Louis on the RUN LINE -1.5 runs Friday evening

TNF Crusher - Rickenbach NFL Game #102 - 8* Cincinnati Bengals (-) vs Miami Dolphins @ 8:25 ET Thursday - Nice set-up from a situational standpoint as the Dolphins are off their first win of the season (against the Browns) and it took overtime to get it. The extra effort (went to OT even though they were facing a bad Cleveland team) will certainly not do any favors for Miami in terms of now being on a short week and having to face an angry Bengals team. Cincinnati started last season 8-0 but they are now 1-2 to start this season as they blew a lead against the Broncos and lost to Denver by 12 last week. The game was certainly much closer than the final scored would indicate and the Broncos barely outgained the Bengals. In Cincy's first two games this season they won the yardage battle each time. The point is that Cincinnati still a much better team than their record is showing while the Dolphins still are a "question mark" at best with what they've shown so far this season. Note also that Miami is on a 1-8 (SU and ATS) run in games played on turf. Cincinnati is 9-1 SU (and 6-3-1 ATS) in their last 10 games against teams with a losing record. Also, the Bengals have been strong when off of back to back SU losses. They were knocked out of the post-season in their first game in the playoffs in 2012 and then lost their season opener in 2013. Off those back to back SU losses, they responded with a win and cover in game 2 of the 2013 season. This began a stretch where Marvin Lewis and his Bengals are now a PERFECT 5-0 SU and ATS when they enter a game on a 2-game SU losing streak. Look for that streak to reach 6-0 this week! 8* CINCINNATI on Thursday

Run Line Crusher - Rickenbach MLB Game #960 - 8* St Louis Cardinals Run Line -1.5 runs vs Cincinnati Reds @ 8:15 ET Tuesday - After getting drilled 15-2 yesterday, the Cardinals have the right pitching match-up today to bounce back and get back on track before it's too late. The Cards are still alive in the wild card race but they must respond today after the Reds took it to them yesterday. Of course I am not going to lay -200+ on the money line but I'll gladly lay the -1.5 runs to get close to even money on St Louis. It is particularly a good value when you consider that Adam Wainwright has compiled a 2.92 ERA in his 14 home starts this season and, overall, the Cardinals are 4-1 in his last 5 starts and each of his last four outings have been games decided by 4 runs or more. The Reds have managed just 7 hits while striking out 15 times in the 11 innings spanning Wainwright's last two starts against them. Cincinnati will have Robert Stephenson on the mound and he has a 10.79 ERA in his last three starts and has averaged just4 innings per outing in those 3 starts. Of course this will expose a Reds bullpen that has been a major weakness all season. Cincy has won 3 straight games but this was preceded by a 1-8 stretch where the 7 of the 8 losses came by two runs or more. The Cardinals are only 11-13 this month but 8 of those 11 wins have come by at least two runs and this certainly looks like a huge mound mismatch where the odds of another big win for the Cards is likely. As a home fave of -200 to -225 the Cardinals are on an 11-4 run while the Reds are on a 9-21 run when they are a road dog of +175 to +200. Odds favor a Cards win here and every one of the losses the Reds have had with Stephenson on the mound came by at least 2 runs. Average margin of defeat in their three losses with him starting is 4.7 runs per game. Look for a BLOWOUT here. 8* St Louis Cardinals Run Line -1.5 runs Tuesday

MNF Crusher - Rickenbach NFL Game #489 - 10* Top Play Atlanta Falcons (+) @ New Orleans Saints @ 8:30 ET Monday - Huge revenge game for the Falcons as they lost both match-ups to the Saints last year. The first one, at New Orleans, ended Atlanta's 5-game winning streak to start the season. That also began an ugly 1-7 run for the Falcons that ruined their season. They haven't forgotten and, even though the Saints will be hungry here because of an 0-2 start to the season, the Falcons won't be denied. Both teams have solid offenses but New Orleans struggled at New York in the loss to the Giants last week. The Saints defense only allowed 16 points last week but 3 turnovers were the key as New Orleans actually allowed 417 yards. Also, prior to that game, the Saints had allowed an average of 28 points per game in their last 10 games. New Orleans is only 4-10 ATS in the role of home favorite and the revenge-minded Falcons are coming into this one flying high after another strong performance from QB Matt Ryan in last week's win at Oakland. Atlanta outgained the Saints in both meetings in each of the past two years but last year still lost both on the scoreboard. Falcons head coach Dan Quinn is fired up about getting his first win over this division rival (after going 0-2 last year) and you can bet the defensive-minded coach paid plenty of attention to how the Giants frustrated Drew Brees and the Saints offense last week. More of the same this week. 10* ATLANTA Monday Night

Sunday Night Insider - Rickenbach NFL Game #487 - 8* Chicago Bears (+) @ Dallas @ 8:30 ET Sunday - The Bears will have QB Brian Hoyer under center for this one and truly he will be an upgrade for Chicago as Jay Cutler struggled badly last week. Look for the 0-2 Bears to rally around Hoyer for this game and note that the defense has been solid for Chicago. This line move up from a 5.5 to a 7.5 before setting back in right around 7 as of Saturday evening. This is a great value spot to grab the dog as the Bears catch Dallas off of a fortunate win. The Cowboys struggled with the Redskins last week and Washington looked like they were going to punch it in and take a 10 point late lead before an errant pass in a "goal to go" situation ended up being a 14-point swing. It was some of the stupidest play-calling I have ever seen from a head coach as the Redskins consistently moved the ball against Dallas but then made some risky play-calls and finally got burned on one that decided the game. Credit is due to Dallas for hanging in there and grabbing the 4 point win but it truly was a gift from Washington and I am not impressed with the Dallas defense this season. The Cowboys gave up 432 yards to the Redskins and you can bet that Hoyer is going to be looking to the make the most of this opportunity in the national spotlight against a secondary that has a lot of question marks. Dallas is known for struggling at home and they have gone 5-16 ATS as a home favorite when facing a team from outside their division. Also, the Bears are led by a defensive-minded head coach and you can bet John Fox will have some special packages in mind for facing Cowboys rookie Dak Prescott in this one. Even though the Bears have a division rival on deck, Chicago actually has gone a phenomenal 14-2 ATS in their game prior to facing the Lions. The Cowboys are 1-9 ATS when Dallas is off of a straight-up win and facing a team that has a losing record and is playing with revenge. That is the case here as the Cowboys got the fortunate win over the Redskins last week while the Bears are 0-2 on the season and seeking to avenge a loss in Chicago in 2014 when Dallas most recently faced the Bears. 8* CHICAGO Sunday

Ultimate PA Insider - Rickenbach NFL Game #482 - 10* Top Play Philadelphia Eagles (+) vs Pittsburgh Steelers @ 4:25 ET Sunday - No one believes in the Eagles yet because they've only beaten the Browns and Bears. However, Cleveland actually jumped on Baltimore 20-0 last week before eventually losing. You didn't see Cleveland jump on top of Philly 20-0 did you? As for the match-up with the Bears, even though Chicago's offense certainly may have some issues they are a solid defense and well-coached by John Fox who is certainly a defensive-minded head coach. The Bears weren't able to stop the Eagles in what was supposed to be the Eagles first loss of the year. Now the talk is that Pittsburgh will take them down because finally the Eagles face a top team. Perhaps this is the week that Philadelphia loses but, if they do, it should not be by more than a field goal. Let's not forget, Philly has home field here, and also their defense is vastly improved and certainly the overall "locker room" and team "chemistry" is worlds better now in Philly. Give credit to new coach Doug Pederson and the entire Eagles management team. They are doing a good job already in Philly in terms of having put the right pieces together and that certainly includes rookie QB Carson Wentz who certainly is not your "average rookie" in terms of his intellect for the playbook and for making quick decisions in terms of reading coverages and reading defenses overall. He is a sharp kid with a strong arm and he'll give Pittsburgh some trouble Sunday as, fortunately for the Eagles, they are catching the Steelers at the perfect time. Pittsburgh just got a huge win last week over the division rival Bengals and that is always a physical game that is very taxing mentally and physically to the Steelers. The last 4 times that Pittsburgh is off of a game against Cincinnati they have not covered their next game a single time. The Eagles have their bye week on deck so they will certainly put every ounce of energy into this game and the atmosphere at The Linc is certainly going to be electric. As for the Steelers, they poured every ounce of energy into last week's key divisional win! Philly is 9-1 ATS in their last 10 games against AFC opponents. Even though these teams are in the same state they don't meet often since they are in opposite conferences but historians will like the fact that the Eagles have covered 4 of the last 5 including all 3 in Philly. The Eagles continue to be undervalued as, with their bye week on deck and with the Steelers off a very demanding divisional showdown, the situational edge here is with the home dog. 8* PHILADELPHIA Sunday

Earliest Cash - Rickenbach NFL Game #462 - 8* Cincinnati Bengals (-) vs Denver Broncos @ 1 ET Sunday - The Broncos have been fortunate so far this season. Certainly Denver has a solid defense and I would never argue that. However, new QB Siemian now makes the first road start of his NFL career. Keep in mind, he made a lot of mistakes against the Panthers in Week 1 and the Broncos were fortunate to win that game. Then, last week against Indianapolis, Siemian was certainly aided by the fact that the Broncos DEFENSE scored a pair of touchdowns. Cincinnati is fired up after their loss to Pittsburgh last week as the Bengals outgained the Steelers but lost the game by 8 points. Cincy has won each of their last 4 home openers handily and did not lose a single one ATS either. The Bengals threw for 366 yards last week against Pittsburgh and that aerial attack will be the key to keeping the Broncos D off balance. The Broncos are on a 7-16 ATS run when they are a road dog outside of their own division. The Bengals are on a 13-6 ATS run when they are a home favorite. Also, Cincy is on a 9-0 ATS run against AFC West opponents and, believe it or not, Cincinnati is actually on a 6-1 ATS run in their game that immediately follows facing Pittsburgh. A tightener to that is that the last 4 times in a regular season game after losing to the Steelers in the prior game, the Bengals are a PERFECT 4-0 ATS in their next game! Cincy is fired up again after the loss to the Steelers and I look for Siemian to struggle in his first road start. 8* CINCINNATI Sunday 

Divisional Dominator - Rickenbach NFL Game #474 - 8* Green Bay Packers (-) vs Detroit Lions @ 1 ET Sunday - The Packers are off of a disappointing loss on Sunday Night Football. They will be hungry for another huge divisional game this Sunday in what is also their home opener. Green Bay has only lost the money ONCE in their last NINE home openers. The fact this line has moved from an 8.5 opener all the way down to as low as a 6.5 as of Saturday evening means that we are getting excellent line value here. Green Bay has underperformed on offense so far this season but they did face a tough Vikings defense last week. Now this week the Packers are finally at home and they also face one of the worst defenses in the league. The Lions only allowed 16 points last week but the Titans were a combined 5-27 the last two seasons and yet still went into Detroit and upset them last week. The Lions allowed 13 fourth quarter points to Tennessee. This was after the Lions gave up 35 points on 450 yards at Indianapolis in Week One. Now Detroit must contend with a fired up Packers team that is on a 21-11 ATS run in a game after a straight-up loss. That defeat to the Vikings will bring out the best in Green Bay Sunday for their home opener and I am well aware of the fact that the Lions are seeking revenge for the Hail Mary loss at Ford Field last year but, keep in mind, the Packers also have revenge on their minds here. That's because Detroit beat the Pack at Lambeau last season the for the first time in 24 years! It's payback time! 8* GREEN BAY Sunday

SEC Game of the Year - Rickenbach NCAA FB Game #363 - 10* Top Play Arkansas Razorbacks (+) vs Texas A & M Aggies in Arlington, Texas @ 9 PM ET Saturday - A match-up of unbeatens and the Aggies are also 3-0 ATS. However, their week one win was over UCLA in overtime. A & M gave up 468 yards in that game. Their 2nd game was against Prairie View so certainly that was a chance for the Aggies to pad their stats. Then, last week, A & M did knock off Auburn but the Tigers had 26 first downs (compared to 19 for the Aggies) and Auburn did amass 236 yards on the ground. Keep in mind that the Aggies are known for struggling against the run and the Razorbacks have outgained them on the ground by a margin of 517 to 202 in the last two meetings between these teams. Texas A & M did prevail in those games but both were decided in overtime. There is exceptional line value here with the Razorbacks as a 6.5 point dog (as of Friday evening) as they are on a 9-1 ATS run when they are off of a game where they scored more than 35 points. Arkansas blasted Texas State 42 to 3 last week. Arky is also on an 11-4-1 ATS run in SEC games including 9-2-1 when they are an underdog in SEC action. The Aggies are on a 4-8-1 ATS run as a fave in SEC action and A & M is 7-17-1 ATS overall against SEC foes. The Aggies are over-rated right now, early in this season, as they have played the weaker schedule compared to Arkansas. Also, this is a  neutral site game and Arkansas is arguably the better team. The Razorbacks defense did return 9 starters from last year's team and they are improved and it looks like head coach Bret Bielema will finally get his revenge against Kevin Sumlin and his Aggies. The Razorbacks are on a 7-1 ATS run in games where they are an underdog in a range of 3.5 to 10 points. Arky is on an 11-4 ATS run against teams with a winning record. Conversely, A & M is on a 3-10 ATS run against teams with a winning record. Look for these trends to continue here. 10* ARKANSAS Saturday

Afternoon Annihilation - Rickenbach NCAA FB Game #384 - 8* Tennessee Volunteers (-) vs Florida Gators @ 3:30 ET Saturday - The Gators have won 11 straight times over the Vols. The opening line on this game saw the odds makers hang an 8 on the Volunteers! Free money, right? The odds makers have lost their minds, right? Hardly! How many times have you seen that happen? That is simply not the case and yet the whole world has jumped on Florida here as this line is down to a 4.5 as of Friday evening. The fact is that there is plenty of good reasoning for the Vols putting an end to the losing streak with the Gators in Saturday's match-up and that is why I have no reservation about laying the very reasonable number now available on the home team in this one. First off, the Gators lost their starting QB last week and his replacement (Austin Appleby) though experienced, has a 2-9 record as a starter in his college career. The Vols have a the huge edge at QB as Joshua Dobbs is a senior who is the perfect guy to play behind a shaky offensive line (admittedly a weakness of the Volunteers). Even though the Gators may get some penetration they have to be very careful because Dobbs is elusive and then he burns teams with his legs or with busted coverage downfield by extending the play. Many forget that last season the Vols were up 27-14 late in the fourth quarter before some "gator magic" helped lead Florida to the win but that game was in the Swamp. It will be a much different story on the road this time around and the key to last season's match-up was that Vols head coach Butch Jones certainly had a good game plan! The 254 rushing yards that Tennessee had was the most that head coach Jim McElwain's Gators allowed all season long. I am well aware of the fact that Florida is off to an amazing start on defense this year but playing a weak schedule so far has certainly helped in that regard. Now the Gators take a big step up in terms of taking on a quality opponent and, unlike last season, the Vols won't blow a fourth quarter two touchdown lead this time around. Look for Gators QB Appleby to drop to 2-10 as a starter in his career. 8* TENNESSEE Saturday

Earliest Cash - Rickenbach NCAA FB Game #387 - 8* Florida State Seminoles (-) @ South Florida Bulls @ Noon ET Saturday - The Noles were completely embarrassed in their 63-20 loss at Louisville last week. The Seminoles gave up 520 yards to the Cardinals in that game. They now face a Bulls team that is a 3-0 both SU and ATS so far this season. However, South Florida also gave up huge yardage last week and that was at Syracuse! The fact is that the Bulls have had a very easy schedule so far this season with games against Towson (FCS school), Northern Illinois (off a multi-OT road loss), and then the Orange last week. By the way, Syracuse lit up the Bulls "vaunted" defense for 549 yards! The point I am making is that the fact that South Florida has allowed 20 points or less in each of their three games this season is certainly something that should have an asterisk by it as they haven't played anywhere close to the schedule that FSU has. Though the Noles week one win over Ole Miss seems like a distant memory, it shouldn't be that way. This is a good Seminoles team that is fired up and that has not lost back to back games in 5 years! That's right, the Noles have not lost consecutive games since 2011. Their current streak (66 games) is only bettered by one team, Oregon (70) in the entire country. That said, I have no qualms about laying the 5 points here as the Seminoles have beaten the Bulls by a combined score of 64 to 31 in their last two meetings and they are fully focused for this opportunity to get back on track after last week's debacle. 8* FLORIDA STATE Saturday

ESPN Smash Pass - Rickenbach NCAA FB Game #305 - 8* TCU Horned Frogs (-) @ SMU Mustangs @ 8 ET Friday - Tough break for SMU with losing their starting QB, a senior, to a season ending knee injury. With Davis out, a freshman has taken over the reins at the QB position and it has certainly been a struggle for Ben Hicks. The young QB was playing high school ball in Waco last fall and, not surprisingly, he has struggled with a low completion rate plus he has thrown way too many picks here at the collegiate level. The Mustangs offense does move the ball well under head coach Chad Morris but the turnovers and mistakes have hurt SMU badly and they now face a TCU team that already saw the Morris offense last year. That spells trouble for the Mustangs and I expect the struggles for freshman QB Hicks to continue. As for the Horned Frogs, their offense can again "roll it up" on an SMU defense that continues to be the weakness of the team. Last year SMU allowed 45.7 points per game to rank near the very bottom of FBS schools. This season, they have been helped so far by facing a weak schedule to start the season with North Texas and Liberty included already this month but, in their one tough test Baylor put up 34 points in the 2nd half against the Mustangs after a rare, sluggish first half for the Bears. TCU is well aware of those first half struggles that Baylor had and the Horned Frogs already had an upset loss this season (against Arkansas). That said, there is no question they are going to bring full effort here for the full sixty minutes in this one! Keep in mind that, even though this is a non-conference match-up, both of these teams are from the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex and that insures that the Horned Frogs, even with a big lead, are not going to take their foot off of the gas in this one. TCU has scored at least 48 points in each of their last three games against SMU and the Mustangs only scored 13 against Baylor earlier this season. I rarely lay big points like this but everything points to a win here by about 5 TDs rather than the 3 TD margin that is the current spread on this one. By the way, TCU is on a perfect 5-0 ATS run in games after facing Iowa State. Also, SMU is just 2-8 ATS their last 10 as a home dog. Also, the road team has covered 6 of the last 9 in this series and the Horned Frogs won't let up here considering this is the Battle for the Iron Skillet. The last time the Mustangs hosted this rivalry game SMU was demolished 56 to 0. Another ugly home loss looms here. 8* TCU Friday

Rickenbach CFL Game #492 - 10* Top Play Ottawa Redblacks (-) vs Toronto Argonauts @ 7 ET Friday - Revenge game for Ottawa as they look to avenge a 23-20 home loss to the Argos in the nation's capital back in late July. Since that victory, Toronto has lost 5 of their last 6 games and 4 of the 5 losses came by at least a 13 point margin. That is why I have no fear of laying the points here (currently -5.5) with the Redblacks. With Argonauts QB Ricky Ray out for the season, Toronto is a different team. They have still been moving the ball on offense but they continue to make mistakes and have been done in by turnovers. Ottawa will take advantage of this and the Redblacks are 3-1 ATS the last 4 times they have been a home fave in a range of 3.5 to 7 points. Also, this season, when playing with 6 days or less of rest, Ottawa has gone 3-1 ATS. The Redblacks played the top team in the league, Calgary Stampeders, and lost badly on Saturday. That has them fired up for this divisional match-up Friday and they host an Argonauts team that is on an 8-15 ATS run in divisional games and also playing with short rest here as Toronto got blasted by Winnipeg Saturday. The Redblacks have been very strong against the run this season and that will force the Argos to the air and back-up QB Dan LeFevour who has had issues with throwing costly picks since filling in for Ray. More of the same expected here. 10* OTTAWA Friday

ESPN Smash Pass - Rickenbach NCAA FB Game #303 - 8* Clemson Tigers (-) @ Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets @ 7:30 ET Thursday - The last time Clemson visited Georgia Tech they lost 28 to 6 two years ago. That said, even though the Tigers have a big game on deck with Louisville coming up next week, there is no way that Clemson will overlook the Yellow Jackets here. That is bad news for Georgia Tech because, though their 3-0 record looks great, they truly haven't faced anything close to the quality of an opponent like the Tigers this season. Georgia Tech has faced Boston College (1-2 and just lost to Virginia Tech 49-0) and Mercer (an FCS school) and Vanderbilt (1-2 and only win came against Middle Tennessee State). Now the Yellow Jackets take on one of the best teams in the nation and Clemson drilled them 43-24 last year as Georgia Tech was held to their lowest yardage output of the season. The Tigers run defense is allowing only 2.6 yards per carry this season and that will be a key in shutting down the Yellow Jackets triple-option offense which is so heavily focused on the ground game. Clemson held Auburn to a total of only 262 yards in their week one non-covering win. Auburn got a late TD for the backdoor cover but Clemson has now forced 8 turnovers in their first three games and their defense will be a key. Just like last year, the Tigers again give the Yellow Jackets offense a lot of problems and drop Georgia Tech to 2-10-1 ATS in their last 13 lined games. The Tigers are on a 17-9-1 ATS run in ACC action and this is their conference opener. Their first ACC game, Georgia Tech's 3-0 start, and past struggles in road games against the Yellow Jackets means a fully focused effort from the road team here. Look for a road rout to be the result. 8* CLEMSON Thursday 

PA Insider - Rickenbach NFL Game #289 - 8* Philadelphia Eagles (+) @ Chicago Bears @ 8:30 ET Monday - The Bears are 9-22-1 ATS in home game the past 4 seasons combined. This is their home opener and it is Monday night and yes, it is the Eagles Carson Wentz first road contest as an NFL rookie. However, he is not your "typical" rookie QB in that he ran a pro style offense in college at North Dakota State. Also, his intellect is off the charts and this has helped him learn the playbook of the Eagles very quickly as well as helping to make good, split-second decisions on the field. Even though the Eagles win in Week 1 came against the Browns and much was made to downgrade the Philadelphia victory, that was the same Cleveland team that jumped out to a 20-0 lead over Baltimore yesterday before eventually falling just short of an upset win over the Ravens. As for the Bears, not only has Soldier Field not been special for them at the betting window in recent seasons, this offense has struggled as they ranked 23rd out of 32 teams for scoring last season. In week 1, the Bears only managed 258 yards and 14 first downs. The Eagles defense was very impressive in last week's win as they held the Browns to 10 points, 288 yards, and 14 first downs. Wentz threw for nearly 300 yards plus had 2 passing TDs in the win over Cleveland. The Bears are currently on an 0-6 ATS skid in home games when they are off of a non-conference game. After Chicago was held scoreless by the Texans in the 2nd half of last week's game, look for the Eagles to be mindful of the adjustments that Houston made at halftime that led to the shutout of Chicago in the second half last week. Philadelphia is 8-1 ATS on Mondays when they enter Monday Night Football off of a straight-up win. After knocking off the Browns last week, look for the Eagles to build off of that momentum. Supported by that 8-1 ATS stat and the 6-0 ATS stat against the Bears we've got combined 14-1 ATS edges working in our favor in this one and I expect the Bears home ATS futility to continue. 8* PHILADELPHIA 

Blowout Game of the Week - Rickenbach NFL Game #287 - 8* Green Bay Packers (-) @ Minnesota Vikings @ 8:30 PM ET Sunday - The Vikings are expected to start Sam Bradford who was acquired from the Eagles right before the season. Minnesota snuck by the Titans at Tennessee last week but the QB situation is a concern with all the issues due to Teddy Bridgewater's injury happening so late in training camp. The Vikes beat the Titans by 9 points last week but Minnesota was outgained in that game as the win was certainly helped by a +3 turnover margin. Keep in mind though that this was a Tennessee team that is a combined 5-27 the past two seasons. Now Vikings, still trying to adjust at QB, face a fierce division rival with revenge on their minds. The Packers lost the season finale to Minnesota last year and that resulted in Minny winning the division and Green Bay entered the playoffs on the road as a wild card. It is now time for a little payback and we're getting line value here because the line has gone from as a high as a -3 on Green Bay to very nearly a pick'em. Of course the Vikes are a popular choice this week since they're opening up their new stadium and have done so well at home ATS in recent seasons. What many are not realizing is that the Vikings just are not the same team without Bridgewater and bringing in Bradford now could be a disaster. He has had very little time to adjust to the Vikings playbook and now faces a fierce division rival in primetime action. The Vikings defense led the way in last week's win but QB Aaron Rodgers and company...present a much tougher challenge than the Titans did last week. The Packers, prior to the loss to the Vikes at the end of the regular season last year, had won 5 games and tied once with the Vikings in their last 6 meetings. Minnesota hadn't beaten Green Bay since the 2012 season. Look for the Packers to give Bradford and a weak Vikings offense all sorts of trouble here. 8* GREEN BAY Sunday night

Shocker of the Month - Rickenbach NFL Game #281 - 10* Top Play Indianapolis Colts (+) @ Denver Broncos @ 4:25 ET Sunday - The Broncos survived their season opener but it truly was a "choppy" debut for new QB Siemian as turnovers certainly were an issue. Overall the Broncos were outgained and narrowly held on for the 1 point victory. I look for Denver to be exposed here as the Colts offense is so dangerous with QB Luck at the controls and Indianapolis put up 450 yards of offense in last week's loss to the Lions. Of course the issue for the Colts, as it was last week against the Lions, is their defense. However, this Broncos offense is going to have some "growing pains" with Siemian at the helm. Denver is on an 0-9 ATS run in games against the Colts and with this spread working all the way up from an opener of 4.5 to a 7 as of Saturday, it is "go time" for me. Indianapolis, the last 10 times they are off of a loss and then are a dog of at least a point or more (basically out of the pick'em price range) they have gone 10-0 ATS! Fired up after a missed opportunity win at home against Detroit last week, the Colts will bring their "A game" this week. The Broncos, by virtue of sneaking out that 1 point win over Carolina, continue to be over-rated and that is evident by the line move here as the Denver backers are out in full force. The Colts are very hungry off of their disappointing 8-8 campaign and the super bowl champ Broncos certainly have a target on their backs this season. Denver is on a 2-5 ATS run as a home fave of 3.5 to 7 points and the Colts are on a 6-2 ATS run as a dog of 3.5 to 9.5 points . 10* INDIANAPOLIS in the later games Sunday afternoon

Earliest Cash - Rickenbach NFL Game #272 - 8* Washington Redskins (-) vs Dallas Cowboys @ 1 PM ET Sunday - The Redskins won't be popular with the betting markets this week as everyone watched them get obliterated by the Steelers on Monday Night and Washington is now on a short week. The key here though is that this is a huge rivalry game and it is a key road test for the Cowboys rookie QB. Though Prescott didn't make key mistakes last week sometimes playing too cautious can cost a team too. Note that star WR Bryant only caught one pass and "managing a game" but still losing is a fruitless endeavor. Now Prescott faces a much tougher test on the road and the Redskins are fired up after losing by 22 points last week versus Pittsburgh. Lets not forget that the Skins are the defending NFC East champs and Dallas continues to have a putrid record without Tony Romo at QB. Washington is on a 4-1 ATS run in divisional battles while Dallas is on an overall 3-11 ATS run. The Redskins have lost their home game with the Cowboys each of the last three seasons and that means it is time for a little payback today as they have the defense capable of giving a rookie QB a lot of trouble. Look for their defensive line to get a lot of pressure on Prescott and also look for a myriad of blitzes and stunts from the Skins defense in this one. 8* WASHINGTON early Sunday afternoon

Marquee Showdown - Rickenbach NCAA FB Game #192 - 8* Oklahoma Sooners (+) vs Ohio State Buckeyes @ 7:30 ET Saturday - Ohio State is ranked #3 in the country and the Buckeyes have won their first two games this season by a combined score of 125 to 13. Oklahoma is ranked #14 in the nation but what the betting markets remember about them is their ugly season-opening loss against Houston. The Sooners are 0-2 ATS on the season and the Buckeyes are already 2-0 ATS this season. All of the above considered don't you find it curious that this line is only in the "pick'em" range on Ohio State? Exactly! Once again another contrarian play for me as I am going to grab the team that everyone remembers from their poor performance against Houston and I am going to fade the much higher ranked team that has been absolutely dominate so far this season. How can we do this with confidence? For one thing, the Sooners know they can't afford another loss. They have an "us against the world" mentality for this game and OU is hungry to prove they belong with the elite in college football after their disappointing week 1 performance. Keep in mind that the Buckeyes haven't truly been tested yet as they were favored by 4 TD's in each of their first two games. Keep in mind this is an OSU team that returned only 6 starters from last year's team while Oklahoma returned 13 starters from a team that was in the playoffs last year and OU, unlike OSU, certainly has already been tested this season by virtue of that big battle with Houston in Week 1. The Sooners erased some of the opening week disappointment with a 59-17 win over Louisiana Monroe last week but OU knows they need this game Saturday to get back into the national spotlight that they are use to being in. Though the Buckeyes win last week looks great at first glance, Ohio State certainly benefited from 6 Tulsa turnovers in that game. The Buckeyes offense didn't move the ball all that well for long periods of time especially early in the game. That same questionable offense will face a much stiffer test this week in Norman, OK! 8* OKLAHOMA Saturday evening

Blowout Game of the Month - Rickenbach NCAA FB Game #186 - 10* Top Play Notre Dame Fighting Irish (-) vs Michigan State Spartans @ 7:30 ET Saturday - Michigan State is ranked HIGHER than Notre Dame and yet the Spartans opened up as MORE than a TD underdog in this game! What does that tell you? Exactly! If you're a contrarian player like I am you are all over the Fighting Irish in this game. There is a reason the line may "look funny" and that's because Michigan State has had many successful seasons in recent years. However, as I stated before the season, the Spartans will be one of the teams I'll be looking to fade this year. Michigan State lost QB Connor Cook and also a ton of other returning starters on both sides of the ball. Even though the D should still be solid for the Spartans (despite losing a lot of starters) their offense is truly being "rebuilt" and they won't have the firepower to keep up with Notre Dame here. The Fighting Irish have already been tested as they had that tough battle with Texas to open up the season. As for the Spartans, they opened up against an FCS team, Furman, and then had a bye week last week. This has done very little to prepare Michigan State for the "onslaught" that this high-powered Notre Dame offense is going to throw at them Saturday. The Irish offense has averaged 33.5 points per game under Brian Kelly the last two seasons and they are already putting up big points this season (and not against FCS schools). The Spartans only beat Furman by 15 points in week one and the Irish didn't allow a TD to Nevada last week until late 4th quarter. It was a much better performance for the defense compared to week one against Texas but, again, the key here is that the Irish are at home and can put up points in a hurry and the Spartans offense just doesn't have the ability to "keep up" in a game like this. Don't be fooled by the line here. The Spartans will be exposed early this season and this is the first such opportunity so it is the right time to jump in. Michigan State is 2-6 ATS in September games the past 2+ seasons. The Irish are on an 11-2 SU run and 9-4 ATS run in home games! 10* NOTRE DAME Saturday evening

TOP Afternoon Annihilation - Rickenbach NCAA FB Game #168 - 10* Top Play Nebraska Cornhuskers (-) vs Oregon Ducks @ 3:30 ET Saturday - Here you have an unranked Cornhuskers team taking on a ranked Ducks team and yet Nebraska is a 3 point favorite over Oregon. Of course this has many bettors flocking to Oregon but truly the odds makers knew what they were doing here. Nebraska is a team on the rise and the Ducks truly aren't the same team they were in recent seasons and yet Oregon remains very popular with bettors. Of course this helps drive value for us in spots like this as I expect Nebraska win this game by double digits. The Huskers have an edge here with head coach Mike Riley formerly coaching at Oregon State. As head man of the Beavers you have to know the Ducks program inside and out and that is an edge here. Cornhuskers QB Armstrong had a huge game last week through the air and Nebraska also delivered a huge game on the ground in the prior week. Certainly I respect the Oregon offense but their defense is very vulnerable and even got gashed by the ground game of Virginia and the Cavaliers certainly aren't known for that. The Huskers have the right personnel and systems to pound on the ground again like Nebraska teams of old but Armstrong also gives them the huge aerial threat that keeps defenses off balance. Note that Oregon had their worst season in a long time with a 9-4 showing last year and their defense allowed 485 yards per game and they now have a new defensive coordinator in Brady Hoke. This is a team that is regressing even though head coach Mark Helfrich is in his fourth year here. They just don't have the same talent level they had in the Chip Kelly years and they lost a ton of starters from last year's team. Conversely, Nebraska returned most of their starters from last year and, after a down year last year, they are poised to bounce back and have already covered each of their first two games while the Ducks are already 0-2 ATS. 10* NEBRASKA Saturday afternoon.

Daytime Dominator - Rickenbach NCAA FB Game #174 - 8* Oklahoma State Cowboys (-) vs Pittsburgh Panthers @ 3:30 ET - After the gut-wrenching loss to Central Michigan last week, Oklahoma State is fired up for this one. The Cowboys also benefit from catching Pittsburgh off of an emotional win over in-state rival Penn State as the Panthers renewed their rivalry with the Nittany Lions last week. Pitt has their ACC opener on deck and, even though OSU has their Big 12 opener on the deck, the travel situation strongly favors the Cowboys here. Oklahoma State is playing their third straight home game while the Panthers are making an unusual road trip to Big Twelve country. It is the first time Pittsburgh has played on the road against a Big 12 team since they traveled to Nebraska in 2005. The Cowboys returned the majority of their starters from last season's team so they have a veteran group that is ready to respond appropriately at home in Stillwater, OK after last week's unreal finish that handed them a tough loss. Look for the Cowboys to improve to 10-5 as a home fave in a range of 3.5 to 10 points while dropping the Panthers to 3-9 ATS in their last 12 non-conference games. 8* OKLAHOMA STATE Saturday

Rickenbach NCAA FB Game #106 - 8* Rice Owls (+) vs Baylor Bears @ 8 ET Friday - Rice certainly fits the definition of "ugly dog" in this match-up but, simply put, the points being offered here are quite generous when you consider all the factors in this match-up. Keep in mind that, like the Owls, the Bears are also 0-2 ATS this season. They continue to be overvalued and truly, are not playing as well under interim coach Jim Grobe in comparison with the pre-scandal days. The Baylor program has certainly been impacted and this is their first road game of the season while also being Rice's first home game and the Owls made some significant upgrades to their facility that were completed this summer and Rice has been looking forward to this game with great anticipation. Bears interim head coach Grobe, after back to back ATS losses to start this season, is on a 1-13 ATS run as a non-conference favorite of 7 points or more. Though he and the Bears may win this big, I don't see them covering the current number of 31.5 points. Last week Baylor was tied at the half with SMU as penalties also have hurt the Bears early this season. This Bears team has quite a bit of inexperience and immaturity that has impacted them and I foresee another non-covering win here for Baylor. Grobe has no reason to run up the score on head coach David Bailiff and the Owls but don't be surprised if this one is much closer than many would expect. Rice had an awful season on defense last year but they returned most of those starters. Facing Western Kentucky's fantastic passing attack and Army's dominating ground game (both games on the road) back to back is a tough way to start the season. Now, at home, and playing with revenge from a 70-17 beating at Baylor last year, the Owls will be hungry for a huge performance at Rice Stadium in Houston. If Art Briles (gone after the scandal) was still the coach at Baylor this one might play out differently. But under coach Grobe (and with the team having been impacted by the off-season issues) this game is unlikely to be decided by more than three TDs. Grobe teams just don't have a knack for running up huge scores and, keep in mind, their big win in week one was against a clearly over-matched FCS team, Northwestern State. Rice is on par with the SMU team that Baylor struggled with through the first half last week and, keep in mind, that game was in Waco. The Owls keep this one respectable in their home opener. 8* RICE OWLS Friday

Rickenbach CFL Game #291 - 10* Top Play Montreal Alouettes (+) @ Hamilton Tiger-Cats @ 7 ET Friday - Both teams are off of losses but there is a significant scheduling edge for Montreal here. The Alouettes played last Friday so they've a full week off whereas Hamilton just played on Sunday so they are playing on short rest this week. Adding to the advantage for the Als is that they have a bye week on deck so they will certainly "leave it all on the field" in this week's match-up! Another reason Montreal is certain to give it their all here is the fact they were embarrassed 31 to 7 at home when these teams met back in July. That means a little payback is on order here and I'll gladly grab the double digits with the road dog that has the situational and motivational edges. The Alouettes are showing that they are completely behind their new QB Rakeem Cato as Kevin Glenn is now in Winnipeg with the Blue Bombers. Cato played quite well last week with completing about 75% of his passes and throwing no picks while Tiger-Cats QB Zach Collaros and the Hamilton offense struggled last week at Toronto. The Alouettes have had a frustrating season but anything can happen in the tightly packed East Division and this spot favors the big road dog in a big way. With Montreal a double digit dog in this one, that is the way to go here. 10* MONTREAL Friday

Primetime Punisher - Rickenbach NFL Game #102 - 8* Buffalo Bills (+) vs New York Jets @ 8:25 ET Thursday - Certainly the Bills offense was ugly in their 13-7 loss at Baltimore last week. Definitely this is a revenge spot for the Jets after Buffalo went 2-0 against them last season with the season finale win keeping the Jets from the playoffs. However, all of that said, Bills coach Rex Ryan has a special disdain for his former team, the Jets, and he and the entire city of Buffalo will "bring it" again tonight. I definitely like the value afforded by the line move here as the Bills opened up as a 3 point favorite but are now a 1.5 point dog as of very early gameday morning. Some key ATS stats are certainly in our favor here. Buffalo is 7-1 ATS the last 8 times they are off of a game where they scored less than 10 points. Also, the Bills are 5-1 ATS when they are in the first of back to back home games. With this being Buffalo's home opener, and with a home game on deck with a strong Arizona team, the Bills will be "all in" to win this game which certainly strengthens the validity of that 5-1 ATS mark in this spot. As for the Jets, note the Bills did open up as a FG fave here and certainly it would not surprise me to see this line move back to where Buffalo ends up being favored in this game. Should that occur, note that the Jets are 1-6 ATS as road dogs of less than 4 points. Though the Bills have struggled on the road in recent seasons (and that continued in Week 1) they are a different team at home. Buffalo is 16-8 ATS in home games the past 3 seasons combined. The Jets lost a handful of starters from the defense in the off-season and I expect that side of the ball to be their downfall this season. In their season opener the Jets allowed the Bengals to complete 23 of 30 passes for 324 yards. The Jets are 3-8 ATS in games with a posted line between +3 and -3 the last 3 seasons combined. Buffalo is on an 8-3 ATS run in divisional games. The Bills also are on a 4-0 ATS run in home openers. Orchard Park, NY will be rocking tonight as a big home win over a hated rival will do wonders for this team and they are starting to believe that they can finally break their 17-year post-season drought as they have inched closer to being a playoff team the past two seasons with a 9-7 record in 2014 and playing .500 ball in 2015. The Bills laid an egg last week on offense against the Ravens but they've shown a history of bouncing back after ugly efforts like that on the offensive side of the ball. Look for the Bills to play another solid defensive game to complement a bounce back performance on offense that attacks the Jets suspect secondary. 8* BUFFALO BILLS Thursday

Monday Night Dominator - Rickenbach NFL Game #479 - 8* Pittsburgh Steelers (-) @ Washington Redskins @ 7:10 ET Monday - We're getting some line value here since running back LeVeon Bell is out for the Steelers (for the first 3 games) and also wide receiver Martavis Bryant is suspended for this season. The key is that the Pittsburgh ground game has ample support behind Bell and, there also is reason to believe that one of the top passing offenses in the league will again do just fine here. Remember the retirement of Hines Ward before the 2012 season? Or how about the departures of Mike Wallace in 2013 and Emmanuel Sanders in 2014? No matter what the situation, the Steelers have consistently found other guys ready to "step up" and pair with quarterback Ben Roethlisberger to provide great complimentary firepower to #1 wide receiver Antonio Brown. I don't expect this to be any different against the Washington Redskins on Monday night as the Steelers have some talent that could "step up" once again with guys like Sammie Coates and Eli Rogers. With the Steelers on the road and with the impact of the suspension, this potential Super Bowl contender is priced at very low number and that price has dropped a little making 3 a "win number" now for Pittsburgh. That means it is now "go time" for me. The Redskins have a history of struggling (5-16 ATS) in Monday night home games. Also, even though Washington is a home dog here, that is a role that - when not facing an NFC East foe - has seen the 'Skins go 4-9 ATS overall in recent seasons. Outside of their division, the Redskins don't look so strong! As I wrote in my NFL Preview analysis prior to the season, the problem with the Redskins in my opinion, from a “value” standpoint, is that many will be on the Washington bandwagon early on when looking at the NFC East. That’s because of the Cowboys dealing with the Romo injury coupled with the fact that Washington won the division last season. As I noted then, I am expecting to see some nice “go against” ATS spots with the Redskins early this season in particular. That said, here is our first one as, sure enough, some Washington money is coming in and knocking this line down and the line was already 'short' in my opinion. The Steelers are one of the best teams in the league, the Redskins are not even necessarily the best team in the NFC East - a division that arguably could go to any of the 4 teams. Take advantage of the value here with the Bell suspension. 8* PITTSBURGH Monday.

Primetime Punisher - Rickenbach NFL Game #478 - 8* Arizona Cardinals (-) vs New England Patriots @ 8:30 ET Sunday - The Patriots have gone 15-6-3 ATS at home the past three seasons combined while only going 8-16 ATS on the road during this same stretch. I look for the road struggles to continue in a very tough "first test" missing some key players early this season. Rob Gronkowski is dealing with a hamstring injury and of course then there is the Tom Brady suspension (first four games of the season). That the Pats will have Jimmy Garoppolo under center early this season and that will certainly have an impact here against a tough Cardinals team. Even though the line has been adjusted due to the situation with these two key players, it is not enough. Keep in mind that the Pats have enjoyed a lot of success for many years thanks to beating up on a relatively weak AFC East division. This season, the Patriots will be facing the AFC North and NFC West as part of the non-divisional action and that means some tougher match-ups for New England just like this one at Arizona! Garoppolo has had only 31 passing attempts in his NFL career. He is a back-up for a reason! While the Pats have thrived in the AFC East it is impressive what Arizona has done outside of the NFC West! The Cards are 22-8 ATS in their last 30 games outside of their division. The Cardinals are one of the most balanced teams as they are so "stacked" on both sides of the ball and the Cards are so well coached. Arizona has gotten off to fast starts under Bruce Arians in each of his three seasons and this not just SU but also at the betting window as they are 11-4 ATS in their first 5 games over the 3 seasons. With Garoppolo, and not Brady, leading the Pats this is the perfect time to fade Bill Belichick as Cardinals coach Arians is one of the best in the league and he's got the better personnel on the field for this one plus home field edge. 8* ARIZONA CARDINALS 

Game of the Month - Rickenbach NFL Game #473 - 10* Top Play New York Giants (+) @ Dallas Cowboys @ 4:25 ET Sunday - The Cowboys lost 11 of their 12 games without Tony Romo last season and, of course, that is the big story line coming into the new season after he got hurt in the preseason. One of the big keys here is that Dak Prescott is being hailed for his preseason performance with Dallas and that he should hit the ground running for the Cowboys here in Game one. The problem with that angle is that regular season is nothing like preseason. The trouble for Prescott is not going to be his athletic ability or his arm strength or his legs. The problem is going to be making proper adjustments to all the defensive sets he's going to see with stunts, blitzes, etc that are the type of things Prescott did not see in the preseason. The Giants offense can take advantage of a Cowboys defense that is missing some starters early this season due to suspension. With head coach McAdoo (former Packers OC), a Giants offense that ranked in the top ten of the league last season is likely to make strides again this season as they've added even more firepower. The defense also looks improved after a big spend in free agency and the Cowboys have only covered 3 of their last 14 games. Also, Dallas has long been known for struggling in their home stadium and they are actually and ugly 1-7 ATS in home openers! These teams are bitter rivals and the Giants have lost to the Cowboys in a season opener 3 of the last 4 years and now it is payback time as NY has the big edges in this season opener. Let's also not forget we're fading a Dallas team here that won only 4 games last season and that has struggled so badly when Romo is not under center. More of the same here. 10* NEW YORK GIANTS

Early Shocker - Rickenbach NFL Game #458 - 8* Philadelphia Eagles (-) vs Cleveland Browns @ 1 ET Sunday - After being favored by 7, the Eagles are now down to as a low as a 3 point favorite as of Saturday evening. This is simply an insane line drop and one I will gladly take advantage of. Carson Wentz is not a typical rookie. The Eagles first rookie QB to start the first game of a season since 1939 ran a pro-style offense in college. Additionally, the guy is wise beyond his years and is an extremely intelligent player. He has grasped the Eagles offense much quicker than even the most ardent Wentz supporters could have expected. Not only that but let's not forget this is still an Eagles team that has averaged 9 wins per season the last three years. They're AT HOME and hosting a Browns team that has not won more than 5 games in ANY of the last 8 seasons. It is going to be a phenomenal atmosphere at The Linc in Philly as the fans are thrilled to see Bradford gone and welcome in the Wentz era. The Browns are 14-50 SU in road games the last 8 seasons and this is a very small number in this one after the line move so a Browns loss is very likely to lead to an Eagles cover! Keep in mind that Cleveland will be without WR Josh Gordon for the first 4 games of this season (suspension). The Browns have lost 11 straight season openers by an average margin of a dozen points per defeat. Cleveland enters the new season having lost 10 of its past 11 regular season games and the Eagles have won their season opener in 4 of the last 5 years. I am calling this one a shocker because seemingly everyone has bought into Cleveland since the opening line came out and then AGAIN after the Bradford trade. You know what normally happens in the NFL when the masses are lining up on one side! Give me the Eagles. 8* PHILADELPHIA

Rickenbach NCAA FB Game #373 - Non-Conf Game of the Year - 10* Top Play North Carolina Tar Heels -7.5 @ Illinois @ 7:30 ET Saturday - North Carolina put up quite a battle at Georgia last week but, after leading 24-14, the Tar Heels then allowed the final 19 points of the game to the Bulldogs. I had Georgia last week and was not surprised by the end result. However, what did surprise me is that, even though Heels starting QB Trubisky struggled some, the Tar Heels truly battled hard against a quality opponent and they now take a big step down in class as they face Illinois. Of course the Illini are now led by head coach Lovie Smith who had spent many years in the NFL. While I have plenty of respect for Mr. Smith it is going to take awhile for him to build this team in the way he wants. Illinois is off of an impressive win in Week 1 but that came against an over-matched Murray State team. Also, the Illini certainly were also helped by a turnover factor of 3-0 in favor of Illinois. The line on this Week 2 game opened up at a 10. Of course the betting markets see a road fave of double digits that ended up blowing their game at Georgia and they see an Illinois team off of a 52-3 win and now a home dog and we all see what then happens to this line. As of Friday afternoon it is down to a 7.5 and though I'd like to have a 7 here it is "go time" for me with this one. While the Illini may be feeling a little too good about themselves after last week's dominating win the Tar Heels come into this game very hungry for a win and they only have James Madison on deck. They blasted Illinois 48-14 last season but coach Larry Fedora has his troops ready for this one and certainly has warned his team that this will be a different Illini team with Lovie Smith at the helm. The problem for Lovie is he returns only 9 starters from last year's team and they are projected to be among the bottom feeders in the Big Ten while the Tar Heels are expected to finish near the top of the ACC. The Illini only returned one starter from their back seven on defense this season and they're trying to stop a UNC offense that ranked 2nd in the ACC and 18th in the nation last year with 487 yards per game. As you can see, this should prove to be a road rout! 10* North Carolina -7.5 Saturday evening

Rickenbach NCAA FB Game #337 - Contrarian Cashout - 8* Northern Illinois Huskies +15.5 @ South Florida Bulls @ 7 ET Saturday - The Bulls have been a popular choice. this week. They are a solid team but to rise from a 12 to all the way about a two TD spread here is a little much. I am certainly well aware of the fact that the Huskies had a very late game at Wyoming last week for more reasons than one. Not only was the game time pushed back by bad weather in the area but also it ended up being a triple-overtime thriller. While certainly a game like this that ends (literally) the next morning can be impacting to a team, lets keep in mind a few key points here. One, the Huskies lost the game and are very focused on getting into the win column this week. Two, it is very early in the season (of course) and so this type of effort (while certainly a significant effort) is not going to leave a team totally spent in what will now be just their 2nd game of the season. The Huskies are hungry and they're focused and it also doesn't hurt that this is an evening game Saturday. Much better than had it been a Noon ET start (11 AM on UNI body clocks). Another positive factor here is that Northern Illinois was only an 8-5 team in the regular season last year but they did reach double digits in victories each of the FIVE prior seasons. Yes, they are "only" a MAC team but this is a team that is use to winning. Also, last year they did beat Toledo (a 10-2 team) and their losses to Boston College and Ohio State came by only a combined 10 points! South Florida played "only" an FCS team last week and also running back Marlon Mack is not 100%. Additionally, the Bulls are now the hunted and this is not a role they are use to being in. A lot of points being laid here for a USF team on a 6-14 ATS run as a home favorite. Note that the Huskies are on a 15-4 ATS run as an away dog. I'll grab the big points with a solid QB (Hare back from injury) leading the way in what should be a much closer game than odds makers are calling for. 8* Northern Illinois Saturday evening

Rickenbach NCAA FB Game #340 - Daytime Dominator - 8* Duke Blue Devils -5 vs Wake Forest Demon Deacons @ 3:30 ET Saturday - Both teams are off of season opening wins but while Wake Forest struggled against a Tulane team that has won 3 games or less in 4 of the last 5 years, Duke absolutely blew out their opponent. Granted it was an FCS shool but NC Central was no match for the Blue Devils and allows them to build up confidence heading into this match-up with the Demon Deacons. In last year's meeting Duke never trailed the entire way and they are now 4-0-1 ATS in the last 5 meetings with 5 straight SU Blue Devils victories. Wake Forest used two quarterbacks in last week's game against Tulane and neither played well as evidenced by the Demon Deacons ending up with a yardage deficit of 280 to 175 versus the Green Wave. Duke did not fare well ATS as a home favorite last season but they had gone 12-3 as a home fave in the three prior seasons so, as you can see, they have generally fared very well in this role. The Demon Deacons are on an ugly 14-24 ATS run as a road dog. Also, Wake Forest's first road game the last 7 years has seen them lose every single not only straight-up but also ATS. 8* Duke Saturday afternoon.