Thursday Total - Rickenbach NFL Thursday 10* Top Play UNDER 54.5 in Seattle Seahawks vs Los Angeles Rams @ 8:20 ET - I know the Seahawks defensive numbers have not impressed but they have played 3 of their 4 games on the road. Generally speaking Seattle tends to play better defense at home. That was not the case in their lone home game when this season when they lost to the Titans 33 to 30. That said, I expect them to make up for that poor game with a much better effort here on defense. The Rams are off an ugly loss to Arizona. The over is an uncharacteristic 4-0 in LA games this season. I don't see that continuing in this big rivalry game but we get a big total to work with here of 54.5 which is very significant. Consider that none of the last 4 meetings have topped 50 points and they have averaged 42 points. We have good cushion to work with on this total in my opinion and I expect both defenses to step up big here in this one. 10* UNDER 54.5 in Seattle

ESPN Smash Pass - Rickenbach CFB Rotation #303 Thursday 10* Top Play OVER 59.5 in Tulane Green Wave vs Houston Cougars @ 7:30 ET - The Green Wave have a solid offense but can't stop teams on the other end of the field. The Cougars look like they have a fantastic defense but really they have been helped by facing a super weak schedule. Houston allowed 38 in week one but has since faced a lot of weaker foes and it is overestimating their defense as a result. The Cougars D is not nearly as strong as their numbers would suggest. Another key here is the Tulane offense averaging more yardage than Houston offense so don't be surprised when the Green Wave score plenty here but, again, that Tulane defense is a major problem and they are allowing nearly 500 yards per game. The Cougars have gone over the total in each of their two true road games. The Green Wave are 4-1 to the over this season. Cougars scored 44 or more in 3 of last 4 games. Tulane has scored 35 per game this season. The fact this total opened up in nearly the mid-60s and has dropped into the 50s is an added value as well. Look for a shootout. 10* OVER 59.5 in Tulane

Primetime Punisher - Rickenbach NFL Monday 10* Top Play Las Vegas Raiders (+) @ Los Angeles Chargers @ 8:15 ET - The Raiders much-maligned defense was really bad last season but they are a little better this season. Statistically, based on yardage allowed, they are right about even with the Chargers. That said, I like the fact that Las Vegas does have the more potent offense and, sitting undefeated on the season, they are playing with a ton of confidence right now. I am not sold on this Chargers team. They are off to a good start this season as well but they faced two NFC East teams to start the season and then faced a Chiefs team that handed them the game on turnovers. Give Los Angeles some credit for sure but I am just saying they might be slightly over-rated at this early juncture in the season. The Raiders faced a strong Baltimore team, impressed with a road win in eastern time zone, and then suffered no letdown last week when they defeated Miami. Getting the 3 points is a strong value here as the Raiders potent offense insures their ability to stay in this game all the way through and I sense a road upset. Note that the road team has won each of the last 3 meetings between these teams. I don't see that changing here but will grab the points as added insurance. I know Chargers QB Justin Herbert is not on the injury report for this game but he did have his throwing hand iced and bandaged after the game at Kansas City last week. Perhaps a little bit of an issue for him in this game and, either way, I like the road dog that has shown a knack for finding a way in tight games this season. Give me the points. 10* LAS VEGAS +3

Sunday Night Total of the Month - Rickenbach NFL Sunday 10* Top Play OVER the total in New England Patriots vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers @ 8:20 ET - The Patriots should have scored a lot more than 13 points last week but QB Mac Jones was done in by turnovers. He still threw for a ton of yardage though and the Pats did score 25 points in a win the week before. Also, Jones is taking on a Buccaneers defense that has been susceptible through the air this season. The Bucs ground defense has been solid plus New England likely to be playing catch up here so I expect them to be forced to throw the ball a lot. I know a lot is being made of Tom Brady's return to Foxboro and I get that 100% but the fact is this Bucs passing attack is a machine right now and I am expecting them to move the ball very well all night long against a Pats defense that has not faced a quarterback anywhere close to the level of Brady this season. Granted Brady is in a class of his own but my point is none of the teams the Patriots have faced this season had even what one could refer to as a strong QB presence. Now they face one of the NFL's greatest of all time at that position and TB is off a loss and threw like crazy against a solid Rams defense. That said I am looking for a ton of passing from the Bucs here and the Pats will be forced to throw as well for the two reasons I noted above. I am aware of rain expected in the area tonight but the heavier stuff is expected in the overnight hours and also the winds are expected to be light. So really this shapes up well for both offenses to excel and I look for a shootout here. 10* OVER 49.5 in New England

AFC Game of the Month - Rickenbach NFL Sunday 10* Top Play Baltimore Ravens PICK'EM @ Denver Broncos @ 4:25 ET - I know the Chiefs are just 1-2 this season but Kansas City is still a very good football team. What does that have to do with this play? Kansas City is one of the teams the Ravens beat and the Chiefs were in the Super Bowl (again!) last season! As for Baltimore's lone loss it came in OT and in a very tough setting at Las Vegas in Week 1 when the Raiders finally were able to have a stadium full of fans and it showed. Also, LV is now 3-0 on the season. Speaking of 3-0 records, so too are the Broncos. However, let me know when they play somebody meaningful! Actually, that is happening this week and that is the point! The Broncos are highly over-rated right now in my opinion because they are undefeated this season but they have played 3 teams that are now a combined 0-10 on the season! Denver has faced the Jaguars, Giants, and Jets! Now the Broncos finally face a tough football team and I do not expect this to go well at all for them. The fact the Ravens are on the road for this one is even better for us because the line is a pick'em as a result. If the game was in Baltimore that means we would likely be laying 6 or 7 points in this one which I would still recommend but I much prefer this situation. The Ravens are riding the positive emotion of a dramatic last-second win last week and they come to Denver and take care of business in this one. The Broncos finally face a real challenge and that changes everything. 10* BALTIMORE PICK'EM

Earliest Cash - Rickenbach NFL Sunday 8* Kansas City Chiefs (-) @ Philadelphia Eagles @ 1 ET - The Chiefs are offering a lot of line value here because they are on a long ATS slump. I know that might make it enticing to play on the streak here but this Eagles team is starting to show its true colors. They won in Week 1 but that was against a bad Falcons team. Philly then lost at home to the Niners and then got blasted at Dallas on Monday Night. This is a short week of prep for the Eagles and they face former head coach Andy Reid and the Chiefs are angry off back to back losses. They suffered a late game loss at Baltimore and then lost to Chargers because of a 4-0 turnover deficit. Kansas City is much better than they have shown of course. The Chiefs have faced 3 teams that are all 2-1 on the season and playing quite well early on. That said I feel we have good value in going against an Eagles team that fell apart last season and is going to take some time to rebuild. The Chiefs are annual super bowl contenders while the Eagles are now in rebuild mode. We are only having to lay less than a TD here because of the bad ATS streak for KC and, that being said, this looks like the perfect spot to pound them. 8* KANSAS CITY -6.5

Total of the Week - Rickenbach CFB Saturday 10* Top Play OVER 64 in Hawaii Warriors vs Fresno State Bulldogs @ 11 PM ET - These two teams both capable of scoring in bunches. The Fresno State offense has been even better than advertised. The Bulldogs have the better defense, also why they are favored by double digits here, but note they did just allow 30 points to UNLV and had to rally for the win. Hawaii will take momentum from scoring 41 points in last week's win but their defense going to struggle to stop a Fresno State offense that, other than a tough loss at Oregon, has scored an average of 46.5 points in its other 4 games - all wins. So, look at this way, if Fresno State expected to win this game by double digits and they have averaged mid-40s in wins then that puts this game around a 45 to 35 type game which is well over the mid-60s total posted on this one. Both team play at a quick pace on offense and the Warriors will likely be playing catch-up here so that forces the tempo a bit. Fresno averaging over 500 yards of offense this season and particularly strong through the air and the Warriors are allowing nearly 300 passing yards per game! I know the Bulldogs have some decent defensive numbers but that was helped in part by facing Connecticut and Cal Poly Slo this season! In the other 3 games the Bulldog allowed at least 30 in each one. More of the same expected here. 10* OVER 64 in Hawaii

SEC Game of the Year - Rickenbach CFB 10* Top Play Auburn Tigers (+) @ LSU Tigers @ 9 ET - I lost a lot of respect for this LSU team when they lost at UCLA early in the season. I know they ended up getting the win last week against Mississippi State but LSU was outgained in that game and it was a very fortunate win. So the Bruins and the Bulldogs were the only two tough games that LSU has had this season and they should have lost both games. I am well aware of the fact that Auburn lost their big game at Penn State earlier this season but that was a strong game from them! The stats were roughly equal in that game and Auburn is a perfect 3-0 on the season and could very easily be 4-0. Of course LSU is out for revenge after getting blasted by Auburn last season but revenge tends to be over-played. The fact is Auburn is the much better defense in this match-up and, on offense, has the vastly superior ground attack. I love taking road underdogs that play solid defense and can run the ball on offense. I know this is a night game in Baton Rouge and being played with revenge, etc. but this is not the same level of LSU teams we have seen in the past. I feel we have excellent line value here with the road team getting a full field goal. I also like the fact that QB Finley is a former LSU players and if Nix plays I also look to him be better after being benched last week. That was a wakeup call for him and this is a well-coached Auburn team capable of punching LSU in the mouth all night long. 10* AUBURN +3

Earliest Cash - Rickenbach CFB 8* OVER 72.5 in North Carolina Tar Heels vs Duke Blue Devils @ Noon ET - The Tar Heels are off a loss and are known for bouncing back with huge victories when off a defeat and also have performed well ATS as a home favorite. That said, I am certainly not comfortable laying a spread of 3 TDs though I do expect North Carolina to score a ton of points here. The Heels have scored 59 points in each of their last two home games. However, UNC has allowed 42 points per game in their last two games overall. The Blue Devils come into this one having scored 39 points per game this season but their defense was horrible against Kansas (yes, the Jayhawks!) last week so I expect the Tar Heels to score a ton here but Duke to hang around a bit. The Blue Devils have played at a very fast pace on offense this season plus been very efficient. Duke ranks among the leaders in the nation in terms of plays run on offense per game. The Tar Heels rank among the leaders in the nation for yards per play. Yes this is as big total and it has inched up a little bit higher too but there is still value here. If UNC is in the 59 range like they have been in other recent home games plus they did score 56 against Blue Devils last season, keep in mind a 20 point spread means to expect a 59-39 type game here. We have a lot of cushion with this over in my opinion. 8* OVER 72.5 in North Carolina

Reichenator Rout - Rickenbach CFB Friday 10* Top Play Maryland Terrapins +3.5 vs Iowa Hawkeyes @ 8 ET - When a team is favored by a field goal it is not quite the same as being a pick'em but the point is most games are decided by 3 or more points in football. The reason I mention that here is because I find it quite interesting that a team ranked #5 in the nation is favored by such a small number here. That said, the public is likely to be enticed to play Iowa here. Don't be fooled by this line! Yes, the Hawkeyes have played the tougher schedule so far this season but do not underestimate these Terrapins. They are undefeated on the season, just like Iowa, and statistically their defense has not been that far behind that of the Hawkeyes. The key statistical variance in looking at these two teams is actually on the other side of the ball where Maryland has been the much stronger team. The Terrapins offense, based on yardage, ranks among the best in the nation while the Hawkeyes offense production ranks among the worst. Iowa does hold the defensive edge but I am expecting a big game from Tagovailoa here and the QB helps lead the way to a home win in this one. If they do fall short I expect it to be by the slimmest of margins so I am grabbing the points here. 10* MARYLAND +3.5

Thursday Thrasher - Rickenbach NFL Thursday 10* Top Play Jacksonville Jaguars +7.5 @ Cincinnati Bengals @ 8:20 ET - The Bengals are 2-1 on the season plus at home and they are facing a winless Jacksonville team. This should be easy, right? Absolute blowout for the home team, right? No not at all! In fact I would not be surprised to see this one result in an outright upset for the underdog but I am grabbing the generous points being offered. The Jaguars are 0-3 but there are only five 3-0 teams in the league at this point in the season and Jacksonville faced two of them. Conversely, the Bengals have faced three teams that all have losing records now at this point in the season. Also, Cincinnati's win over the Vikings in Week 1 was a fortunate one and it took OT to get it. Also, the Bengals win last week at Pittsburgh was driven by turnovers. The Steelers actually outgained Cincinnati in that game. As you can see, big value with the underdog in this one and it is a big of a hidden value which is what makes it even better as I expect the line to stay in the 7.5 or 8 range and, keep in mind, this line had opened up at a 6.5 which was for a reason as I like to say! 10* JACKSONVILLE +7.5

Reichenator Rout - Rickenbach CFB Thursday 10* Top Play Miami Hurricanes -5.5 vs Virginia Cavaliers @ 7:30 ET - The Hurricanes are playing their first ACC game while this is the 3rd one for the Cavaliers. However, I expect this actually to work to Miami's edge in this case. That's because Virginia is 0-2 in ACC action already and the handwriting is on the wall early for them this season. As for the Canes, they are expected to perform well in the ACC this season and enter this one at 0-0 with everything in front of them. Yes, they have two non-conference losses but they were to Michigan State and Alabama - a pair of 4-0 teams. Note that Miami just thrashed an FCS school last week which is a big confidence boost heading into this game. Also, D'Eriq King should be back after sitting that one out and his shoulder has improved. He was solid on the ground and through the air when the Canes beat a solid Appalachian State team a few weeks ago. I feel we are getting good value here with the better team and the home team and we get that value because they have two losses but to two undefeated teams. The Cavs defense has simply been atrocious this season and the Canes better defense at home will be the difference maker here even if King did not play or was limited but I do not expect any issues with that here. Either way, 10* MIAMI -5.5

Primetime Punisher - Rickenbach NFL 10* Top Play Philadelphia Eagles +3.5 @ Dallas Cowboys @ 8:15 ET - Value with the points here. First divisional game for each of these teams and it is an early-season battle for first place in the NFC Least as I like to call it! Both of these teams have looked a little better than expected early this season but like the fact that, though both teams went 1-5 ATS in divisional games last season, the Cowboys are laying 3 plus the hook here and they went an ugly 1-6 ATS as a favorite last season. Philadelphia has been the better team defensively early this season and I also like the fact that they have been running the ball well early this season. When you have a road team that can establish the ground game on offense plus play very strong on the other side of the ball, you have a good shot at a road dog cover if not upset win. Also note that Dallas is 2-0 ATS this season but look around the league after yesterday's results and you can see how rare it is for teams to be perfect 3-0 ATS after 3 weeks. In other words the odds a bit stacked against the Cowboys here and I do like the fact that the road teams are a perfect 2-0 ATS this season in both Eagles games and Dallas games. Those trends continue here and the road dog relies on solid defensive play as well as a strong ground game on offense to grind out the win (at least ATS win) in this one. 10* PHILADELPHIA +3.5

Primetime Punisher - NFL Sunday 10* Top Play San Francisco 49ers (-) vs Green Bay Packers @ 8:20 ET - The 49ers burned their backers when they let the Lions get a miracle backdoor cover in Week 1. Green Bay then burned Lions backers last week with a big 2nd half to get the money. Still the Packers were outgained by Detroit in that game and also looked very ugly in their season-opening 38 to 3 loss to the Saints. The point is that I still do not think things are as they should be in Green Bay just yet and we are getting a lot of line value here as a result. The Niners got embarrassed by the Packers when these teams met last season but this is much more than a revenge spot for San Francisco. It is also their home opener and they get Green Bay on a short week as they are coming off a Monday night win versus Detroit. If you look at the Packers statistically it is quite ugly. As for the Niners stats a lot of the yardage allowed to the Lions was in garbage time of what was otherwise a blowout win. Then last week SF battled hard for a win over a resilient Eagles team that is playing solid defense early this season. I feel we have excellent line value with the home team now dropping to a -3 here after being as high as a -4 in early trading action earlier this week. Keep in mind the public still remembers the 6-10 SF team of last season and the 4-12 team that preceded the 49ers big season in 2019. As for the public's viewpoint on the Packers all they can remember is the 13-3 records of the past two seasons but that Aaron Rodgers holdout situation has effected the team chemistry of this team and last week's win was not reflective of how the game should have played out - just look at the stats - and again this was the same Lions team that the Niners really destroyed in week one before letting them in for a miracle backdoor cover. Tremendous line value here. 10* SAN FRANCISCO

Total of the Month - NFL Sunday 10* Top Play OVER 43.5 in Las Vegas Raiders vs Miami Dolphins @ 4:05 ET - I know Brissett did not look good in relief of the injured Tagovailoa last week but he is a veteran QB fully capable of a bounce back here. Also, he goes from facing one of the best defenses in the league to facing one of the worst. Miami's numbers are poor on offense this season but they faced the Bills and Patriots and those two defenses have been very solid early this season. The Raiders, on the other hand, have a very questionable secondary but I do love their offense and expect plenty of success in this one for the Las Vegas offense at home. The key to the over is we have seen this total drop from the upper 40s to the low 40s and we have great value as a result. Las Vegas, at 2-0 and with a divisional game at the Chargers on deck, could make the mistake defensively of being a bit flat in this one. After all, they hung on for a dramatic OT win in week 1 over the Ravens and then went on the road and beat the Steelers. The set up is now ideal for the Dolphins to surprise and have a very good game on offense. However, I do not trust their defense against a Raiders offense that is very dangerous. As a result, plenty of points in this one and we have a great value with a low total that has been driven even lower in trading. 10* OVER 43.5 in Las Vegas

NFL Sunday 8* Chicago Bears +7.5 @ Cleveland Browns @ 1 ET - Bears 24, Rams 18. Final score? No those were the first downs in a very deceiving 34-14 loss at the hands of LA in week 1. This Chicago defense is underrated right now and they will be up for the challenge at Cleveland. The Browns offense has looked great early this season but they faced a Chiefs team that has not looked good at all on defense yet this season plus a Texans team that looks like a complete mess and is just fortunate they played Jacksonville in week 1 so they at least have 1 victory early this season. Houston has been horrible in their other two games. I think the Bengals are better than people realize and that is why they are only a 3-point dog at Pittsburgh this week. The point is that Chicago just beat the Bengals and that was with a horrible performance on offense. Now Fields is the starter after QB Dalton got hurt last week. That said, he'll be better after a full week of practice with the offense and after getting his feet wet in game action last week. Browns might win this game but I don't see them winning by more than 1 score and like having 7 plus the hook in this one! Like having the better defense in this one and expect complete effort as Bears make up for the 20-point thrashing at Los Angeles which everyone remembers but was a deceiving final! 8* CHICAGO +7.5

NFL Sunday 8* Cincinnati Bengals +3 @ Pittsburgh Steelers @ 1 ET - Long-time followers know I am a contrarian and this has been particularly beneficial to my long-term success in the NFL. This line is saying that the Bengals are equal to the Steelers because Pittsburgh is favored by just 3 on their home field. So think about that for a minute and think about how the public is going to view this game. Of course the public is going to be all over the Steelers which means, of course, you should be on on the Bengals. When something looks too good to be true it usually is and this is particularly true in the NFL. Nothing is 100 percent of course but I love the odds in cases like this as usually the public loses. Think about it again. This line is saying these two teams would be equal on a neutral field. The Bengals are 6-25-1 the last two seasons. The Steelers are 29-18-1 the last three seasons. Statistically the Bengals have been the much better defense. Pittsburgh was lucky (look at the stats!) when they won at Buffalo in week one. That showed up last week when, at home and catching the Raiders in a letdown spot, the Steelers watched Vegas trounce them on their own field. This game priced this way with good reason. Grab the points. 8* CINCINNATI +3

NFL Sunday 8* Kansas City Chiefs -7 vs Los Angeles Chargers @ 1 ET - I do not like to lay many points in NFL games so when I am willing to lay 7 the situation has to be very strong and that is the case here! The Chargers are 1-1 to start the season and they played two teams from the division I refer to as the NFC Least! Facing Dallas and Washington is a lot different from facing a Chiefs team that is annually a Super Bowl threat and that, for this one, is at home and coming off a loss. I look for this game to be blowout city. I know KC is 0-2 ATS and failed to cover their home opener but their defense is normally much better when at home and I look for them to bounce back here. As for the offense, the Chiefs are averaging 34 points a game and will roll to a blowout win here over a team that is a bit over-rated early this season in my opinion. 8* KANSAS CITY -7

CFB Saturday 10* Top Play USC Trojans -10.5 - The Trojans lost their most recent home game to Stanford and it got their head coach fired. Still shell-shocked from that, USC traveled to Washington State and spotted the Cougars a 14-0 lead. Their response? Southern Cal, let by interim coach Donte Williams, rattled off 45 straight points in the huge 45-14 win! That was against the same Cougars team that won at Oregon State by double digits last season and that was the only win Washington State had in their shortened 4-game season. The point is that the Beavers are not a great football program. They have gotten a little better but still they particularly are lacking on defense and I expect USC to have a huge day on offense as they are rolling with confidence after how last week's game played out. The Trojans have won 23 straight games at Memorial Coliseum when hosting the Beavers. That said, of course we still must cover the spread here but I love the fact that the line has dropped from 13 to near 10 now and QB Kedon Slovis is back for the Trojans here and pronounced 100% ready to go after dealing with a neck injury. Southern Cal just has too much talent and too many weapons at the skill positions for Oregon State to be able to keep up in this one. Yes the Beavers are off to a 1-2 start but they lost their only challenging game (at Purdue) and the Trojans have played the tougher schedule. Also, USC is hell bent on making up for their embarrassing home loss in their last game here so I look for the Trojans to keep their foot on the gas throughout this game and win by at least a 3 TD margin! Lay the big points and look for a home blowout in this one. 10* USC -10.5

CFB Saturday 10* Top Play OVER 64.5 in Georgia Tech - Yellow Jackets off a low-scoring battle with Clemson but look for this one to be a "track meet" with facing North Carolina. The Tar Heels have scored 59 points each of the last weeks but also gave up over 550 passing yards and 39 points last week. Georgia Tech did throw for over 200 yards versus a stellar Clemson defense last week and I expect the Jackets to enjoy success through the air here. I also suspect that the Yellow Jackets will be forced to throw a lot in this one because they will be playing catch-up throughout this game. The Heels offense is a quick-strike group that is simply too good and too explosive and they won't be slowed down on the fast track at Mercedes Benz Stadium for this one. In years past the Jackets used to run a triple option attack and would be running a lot and also running clock as a result. This is a different team these days and I expect a shootout to be the ultimate result in this game. 10* OVER 64.5 in Georgia Tech

CFB Saturday 9* TOP Mississippi State Bulldogs +2.5 - Revenge game for LSU on the one hand as the Bulldogs beat the Tigers in Louisiana last season. However, lets not forget what happened the year before than when Mississippi State was the host and lost by 23 points despite the first downs in the game being equal. The point is that the Bulldogs have been reminded of that home loss beatdown heading into this game and I feel we have the stronger team at home and in a great spot. Mississippi State is off a loss at Memphis that never should have happened as they outgained those Tigers by more than 200 yards! Now they get a chance to dominate these Tigers and I do feel LSU is a little over-valued right now. The Bulldogs have played the tougher early season schedule and the Tigers are of back to back wins but against Central Michigan and McNeese State. In the only tough game LSU has had they lost to UCLA by double digits. Simply put, this is not the LSU teams of old and they are facing an up and coming Mississippi State team that has impressed early this season and won't make the same mistakes this week at home which they made last week on the road. 9* MISSISSIPPI STATE +2.5

CFB Friday 10* Top Play OVER 56 in Charlotte 49ers vs Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders @ 6:30 ET - The Blue Raiders benched QB Hockman last week and his back-up Cunningham and led MTSU to a pair of late touchdowns. Granted it was too little too late but with I look for Middle Tennessee (with Cunningham at QB) to build momentum on offense after wrapping up last week's game well. Hockman has quit football so Cunningham is the guy and MTSU has not been able to run the ball well at all this season. That means we should see plenty of passing in this game. The Blue Raiders defense has allowed 31 points per game on the road and as for the 49ers, their defense allowed 437 yards last week. Definitely Charlotte should have allowed more than 20 points last week and, keep in mind, they did allow 28 points in Week 1 this season. I look for the MTSU defense to continue to struggle but their offense, rejuvenated with Cunningham under center, will perform well and lead the way to a high-scoring game. 10* OVER 56 in Charlotte

NFL Thursday 10* Top Play Houston Texans +8 vs Carolina Panthers @ 8:20 ET - This is a typical contrarian play for me. Everyone will be high on the Panthers because they demolished the Saints last week. Everyone will be down on the Texans because they lost by double digits at Cleveland last week plus they lost their starting QB to injury. Give me Houston here! For one thing they are at home and they played very well in their first game of the season here. For another thing Carolina is on the road for the first time this season. Yes they have impressed so far this season but the Panthers faced a bad Jets team in week one and then caught the Saints off a big win over Green Bay. Lets not forget the Panthers lost 9 of last 11 games last season. Carolina also went 0-2 last season when off a win in which they allowed 13 points or less. Now here the Panthers are laying 8 points in that exact situation! Houston went only 2-4 in final 6 home games last season but 3 of the 4 losses were by 6 or less points. This means if you would have had Houston plus 8 in each of their last 7 regular season home games you would have gone 6-1 ATS. We have a lot of value here with the home dog and, keep in mind, their #2 QB played his college ball in the Pac-12. It is not as if this rookie QB, Davis Mills, has not faced some tough competition in his career. He'll be ready for the big stage here especially after getting some playing time last week and now this week he is at home for this start. Texans make this one helluva game and should cover the spread along the way. I look for this game to be decided by a one-score margin. 10* HOUSTON +8

CFB 10* Top Play Appalachian State Mountaineers -7 vs Marshall Thundering Herd @ 7:30 ET - Revenge game from last season as the Mountaineers lost 17-7 at Marshall despite having an edge in first downs in the game. Look for payback to be delivered here as Appalachian State has played the tougher early season schedule and also has been the stronger defense early this season. When the Mountaineers played East Carolina they dominated and the final score could have been even more dominant as the Pirates simply got some late meaningless scoring. That same East Carolina team just faced Marshall and the late scores were far from meaningless as the Pirates got the 42-38 upset win by rallying in the 4th quarter. The way each of these teams fared against East Carolina says a lot and I like the fact that Marshall just gave up 42 while the Mountaineers are allowing an average of only 19 points per game this season. Home team rolls here and wins this one by double digits. 10* APPALACHIAN STATE -7

NFL Monday 10* Top Play Detroit Lions +12 - I know that the Packers are generally strong at home and should bounce back here. But for Green Bay to respond and win this game by double digits is what I am doubting. The Packers have some issues. I am not sure how cohesive this group is ever since the Aaron Rodgers off-season saga. This team just looks a bit disjointed. Undoubtedly, talent-wise Green Bay is the better team in this match-up. However, the Lions gained confidence and showed a lot of character in battling back against San Francisco last week. Yes it was a fortunate ATS cover for Detroit but that does not change the fact that it gave new QB Jared Goff and this Lions offense some confidence heading into this week's match-up. Keep in mind Green Bay was turnover-prone last week and just overall it was an ugly performance against the Saints. That said, consider that New Orleans then went on the road yesterday and looked very bad against the Panthers. As for the Niners they went on the road and beat an Eagles team that is playing inspired football early this season. The point is Detroit's cover against San Francisco might be more impressive than first realized and Green Bay's demolishing at the hands of New Orleans might be even worse than originally thought. I would not be surprised to see these teams trade scores a bit and for the Lions to hang around throughout this contest. Look for a game decided by a margin of about 7 points which means we have great value with the big points offered here. 10* DETROIT +12

NFL 10* Top Play Baltimore Ravens +4 - The Ravens are off a disappointing OT loss at Las Vegas on Monday Night. For all intents and purposes, their season is now over. I am being sarcastic of course but I am simply pointing out public perception here as this line has risen on the Chiefs from -2.5 point favorites to being as high as -4.5 point favorites. Keep in mind Kansas City went 14-2 SU last season but only covered 6 of the 16 games. There is a lot of value here in the home dog in this one. Baltimore is off a road loss and now back home and, keep in mind, they got the cash in 10 of their 16 games last season. KC, of course, is a great team but the public is so enamored with them that it often drives their lines too high. I strongly believe that will prove to be the case again here. Last year Mahomes outplayed Jackson and the Chiefs got a dominating road win at Baltimore last September. So everyone expects this game to be the same. The KC defense did not look good at all last week and gave up substantial yardage to the Browns both through the air and on the ground. Keep in mind, when a home dog can get their ground game going they are particularly dangerous. The Chiefs defense was at home last week and still did not look good. They are generally known for being tougher at home but that was not the case last week. That spells trouble as they now take to the road to face a Ravens team that is angry off a loss plus hell-bent on revenge from last season's home loss to these Chiefs. Keep in mind, Ravens were on a 6-0 ATS run prior to losing to the Raiders last week. Look for them to get back into the SU win column here but I will gladly grab the points as added insurance here as well. 10* BALTMORE +4

10* Top Play OVER 50.5 in Tampa Bay - The Falcons got embarrassed last week by the Eagles. Their defense here stands no chance against this Bucs offensive machine. Tampa Bay looked great on offense against the Cowboys on opening night. However, the Buccaneers defense certainly had some issues against Dallas. I am well aware of the fact that Atlanta scored only 6 points last week and this week they must throw the ball much more than they did against the Eagles. Too many rushing attempts were getting them nowhere against the Philadelphia defense. Forced to play catch up again this week, look for the Falcons to be much more focused on an aerial attack against TB in this one. The Tampa Bay defense was on its heels some against Dallas and Matt Ryan is a veteran QB whom I expect to be better this week after a tough effort versus Philly. Still adjusting to life without Julio Jones but Atlanta does have some weapons. Tampa Bay threw the ball 50 times last week and only ran it 14 times. With Falcons forced to play catch up in this game (double digit dog for a reason) they will be forced to throw a lot too. That said, games with heavy passing tend to be high-scoring and I like the downward line move on this total as it was even higher before coming down a little. I look for this game to get into the upper 50s. Look for a 35 to 24 type game here at a minimum. 10* OVER 50.5 in Tampa Bay

NFL 8* Buffalo Bills -3 - The Bills lost at home to the Steelers but dominated statistically and were done in by a blocked punt returned for a Pittsburgh TD. Buffalo is much better than the scoreboard showed last week. The Dolphins are off a big divisional win at Foxboro last week but they were statistically dominated by the Patriots. In other words, these teams are off disparate results last week and that is helping to offer line value this week on the better team. Yes Buffalo is on the road but I am happy for that as this is keeping the line manageable. If this game was in upstate New York the line would be nearly double digits and I do not like to lay big points in the NFL. The Dolphins have lost 7 of last 8 versus the Bills and I expect that streak to continue here and look for the road favorites to pull away for big win as Miami gets caught still celebrating big upset win over New England last week. 8* BUFFALO -3

CFB Saturday 10* Top Play OVER 76 in Ole Miss Rebels vs Tulane Green Wave @ 8 ET - Huge total posted on this game. I know this might make it seem risky but this is simply not the case when you consider the potency of these two offenses and the fact that both defense have big-time question marks too. Tulane averaging 52 points per game this season and Ole Miss averaging 48.5 points per game so far this season. Both teams like to play fast on offense. This game should have a very fast pace and the defenses will wear down as the game goes on. Yes Tulane played a weak team last week but their first game was at Oklahoma and they put up 35 points but allowed 40. Ole Miss looks as potent as ever on offense but don't be fooled by their early season point totals allowed on defense. They faced an FCS team, Austin Peay, last week. Also, the Rebels were fortunate the prior week as they held Louisville to just 24 points but the Cardinals missed a number of scoring chances early in the game which completely changed the complexion of this game. With the potency of the Green Wave attack, as well as that of the Rebels, don't look for many missed opportunities offensively in this one. It should turn into a back and forth very high-scoring shootout! Ole Miss has a bye on deck and then faces Alabama. The Rebels will not hold back here as they can rest up next weekend courtesy of the bye. That means a relentless Ole Miss attack could get into the 50s here but I expect the Green Wave to also hang around in this one. With this line at two TD's don't be surprised if we see a 51-37 type game in this one. That still clears this total by double digits and that is why this is a top play for me! 10* OVER in Ole Miss

CFB Saturday 10* Top Play Penn State Nittany Lions -5 - Not only has Penn State won at Wisconsin, the big win they had over Ball State means they did defeat the MAC Champions of a year ago quite handily. Granted Auburn is a very strong SEC team but this game is at Happy Valley where PSU is known for being a tough team to face. The Nittany Lions hold a key edge here too and that is the fact that the Tigers QB has struggled on the road. While the Auburn QB has solid overall numbers in his career, the positive production has come at home whereas on the road Bo Nix has thrown as many picks as touchdowns. It is no wonder the Tigers have had some road struggles during his time under center. Long term this Auburn team has only covered 32% of the time the last 25 times they have been a road dog. Look for Penn State to carry momentum from their strong start to the season right into this game. This is a night game at Beaver Stadium and the crowd will be roaring with the ESPN cameras on hand. The Nittany Lions defense returned the majority of key contributors from last season's team and I look for this D to make things very tough on Nix and the Tigers offense as his long-term road struggles continue. The line from a 7 down to a 5 is leading to solid line value here as well! 10* PENN STATE -5

CFB Saturday 8* Purdue Boilermakers +7.5 - I am not sold on this Notre Dame team. Not at all. They barely hung on to beat Florida State in their season opener. Keep in mind the Seminoles then lost to Jacksonville State last week so that Fighting Irish tight win over the Noles looks even more concerning right now. Then last week, even though at home, the Irish barely hung on to beat Toledo. While the Rockets are generally a respectable program, that is still a MAC team. Now ND renews an old rivalry with Purdue. Generally speaking, I like having the points in rivalry games if I feel the programs match-up quite well. In this case, I certainly like the fact that Notre Dame has been struggling to win games and the Boilermakers are off to a solid start. Yes the Boilers played a bad UConn team last week but they faced a respectable Oregon State team in their prior game. Boilermakers QB Jack Plummer has been playing very well and not making mistakes. This Irish team going to have trouble pulling away in this one and I look for it to go down to the wire. 8* PURDUE +7.5

CFB Friday 10* Top Play Louisville +7 - The Cardinals lost to an Ole Miss team in week 1 that has certainly looked very sharp early this season. I feel we have great home dog value here as a result. Yes the Rebels proved very tough on the Louisville defense in week 1 but they were one of the best offenses in the nation last year. Yes the Knights are a fantastic offense too but the Cards were more competitive in week 1 than the final score showed. They had chances to put points on the board early and did not and the game got away from them after that. I don't see that happening again here. Central Florida is not the exact same powerhouse when they are on the road and this game is going to be a challenge for them. I would argue that Louisville has the better defense in this match-up plus the better special teams units overall and when you add that to home field edge plus getting about a full TD here as a dog I like my chances with the hosts here. Look for UCF to drop to 4-8 ATS that last dozen times they have been a road favorite. It has not shown up yet from an ATS standpoint but this Cardinals team is improved this season but flying under the radar due to an 0-2 ATS start. The result is line value in this spot. 10* LOUISVILLE +7

NFL 10* Top Play New York Giants +3.5 - Remember at the end of last season when the Eagles former head coach Doug Pederson seemingly surrendered the last game of the season when it was very important to the Giants playoff chances? That game did not directly involve New York but it did directly involve Washington and it ended up handing the NFC East title to the Football Team rather than the Giants. Soon New York will have their chance at payback over the Eagles but, first things first, the Giants get a shot at the team that took the NFC East title over them last year. I like New York's chances to get some payback here! Washington will have their #2 QB going here as Heinicke gets the start because Fitzpatrick going to be out some time now with a hip injury. He will probably miss 6 to 8 weeks and Heinicke is now the guy. Though he has shown some flashes of strong play he is still rather inexperienced at the NFL level and there is a reason coach Ron Rivera had selected Fitzpatrick as the starter of course. Look for the Giants defense to force some errors on Heinicke's part in this one. Both teams off losses last week but Washington was statistically dominated while the stats differential in the Giants game showed slimmer margins. I also like the fact that New York has won 5 straight games over Washington and look for that to reach 6 in a row here. 10* NEW YORK GIANTS +3.5

NCAAF 10* Top Play Louisiana -20 - The Bobcats are a mess as long-time veteran head coach Frank Solich stepping down over the summer really seemed to hurt this program. While Tim Albin already was with the program, the head coaching experience here is new to him and Ohio University has really struggled. After a season-opening home loss to Syracuse by a 20 point margin the Bobcats should have been ready to respond. The fact they then lost again at home, and this time to an FCS program, speaks volumes about the state of this team right now. Certainly I also know that UL Lafayette did not look good last week and were also facing an FCS opponent. However, the difference is that the Ragin' Cajuns came into this season as a ranked team and were off a demoralizing loss at Texas to open the season. Louisiana was still getting over that defeat when they barely edged Nicholls State last week. That said, I look for ULL to finally play a complete game here and they will not take their foot off the gas here. The Bobcats have been particularly bad on defense early this season and ULL will pound away all game long. Also, Ohio U only scored 9 points in their only game against an FBS school this season. The stats of the ULL game at Texas show that the Cajuns were not as bad as the final score shows. That being said, we truly have value here even with this big number. I expect the home team to win by 4 to 5 touchdowns in this one as the Bobcats continue to suffer some early season growing pains under Albin. 10* LOUISIANA -20

NFL 10* Top Play BALTIMORE -4 - Way back in May when the NFL schedules first came out, the Ravens were in the range of a full TD favorite. Now the line is down to a -4. I'll take it! Defense wins football games. Take a look at the results so far in Week 1 to gauge what I am telling you. The teams that allowed 16 points or less went 10-0. Only one of the wins was by less than a 4 point margin by the way. But what about teams that score real well. Surely they do perfectly well also, right? Actually you would be surprised. There were 5 teams that scored 21 points or more and still lost their games. Those 5 teams averaged 27.2 points per game. That is not a bad scoring average but, as you can see, it is still defense that wins the games. Now look at this match-up. The Ravens are known for having huge preseasons and then opening the new season with a week one win in blowout fashion and I do not see this game being any different. Baltimore was one of the best defenses in the league last season. Las Vegas was one of the worst. The Raiders made some moves in the off-season to address their poor D but it will take some time for the units to jell on that side of the ball. I love the fact that the Ravens are on the road here because we get a much more favorable line. At home they would be a double digit favorite. Instead, on the road and because the betting public is enamored with the Las Vegas team being at home and having a potent offense, we get a low line of only -4. This one should be an absolute rout as the Raiders may hang around for awhile but this Ravens team too strong on both sides of the ball and that eventually wears down Vegas as this game goes on and the road fave should pull away for a win by a double digit margin. 10* BALTIMORE -4

10* Top Play Los Angeles Rams -7.5 - The Rams had the #1 defense in the NFL last season. The Bears and Rams had similar production on offense last season in terms of points per game but the Bears ranked 26th based on yardage while Los Angeles was 11th. Also, consider this key fact, Matthew Stafford is a gamer that played for a bad Lions team for years. The new Rams QB comes from Detroit where the Lions register double digits in losses year after year. Now he comes to LA where the Rams have averaged double digits in wins the last 3 years. Stafford could truly excel now on a much better team and this Bears defense is "okay" but still a little suspect in my mind. They are definitely not on the Rams level. That being said, you have the better defense and better offense and the much better overall team. Keep in mind Chicago is now going with Andy Dalton at QB. No disrespect to him as I have always felt he is a real gamer too but his best seasons are behind him. Coming to Chicago is not going to change his fortunes like Stafford going to the Rams will do. Dalton 30 tds and 22 ints last 2 seasons and one of those with a Cowboys team that had some talent. Look at Stafford's last 2 years, both with bad Lions teams, and he piled up a ton of yardage and threw for 45 td's against just 15 int's. This line is low as 7.5 which if you give the Rams say 3.5 points for home field edge that would mean the line is -4 on a neutral field. I feel, based on all the match-up edges here, LA is much better than 4 points in comparison with the Bears. I wish we could get -7 here of course but that won't happen but I am expecting the Chicago offense to struggle badly to score and that means Rams by 2 TDs in this one in my opinion so we still have great value here. 10* LOS ANGELES RAMS

10* Top Play OVER the total in New Orleans - This game was moved to Jacksonville because of the hurricane damage in New Orleans. This total is as low as 49 as of early game day morning and I love the value here. The Saints defense performed admirably well last season but lost a ton of veteran experience and now relying on some youth and inexperience. They'll be fine long-term but facing Aaron Rodgers and the top-scoring offense from last season is not how you want to open up your new season breaking in a lot of new guys on defense. While the Packers averaged 32 points per game last season, they also allowed 27 points per game in their first 7 road games of the season (last game held decrepit Bears offense to 16 points at Chicago). So the point is, away from Lambeau Field in particular, the Packers defense is not so special. I know the Saints offense (averaged 30 points a game last year) will not be the same without Drew Brees. However, this is still a well-coached team with a lot of weapons on offense and I except them to have success against a Packers defense that has proven to NOT travel well. 10* OVER the total in New Orleans

NFL 8* Indianapolis Colts +3 - Generally speaking I like home dogs in the NFL. This is particularly true when that home dog is a well-coached solid football team. The Colts check all the boxes in that regard and I expect Carson Wentz, re-united with former Eagles OC Frank Reich (now HC of Colts) to enjoy solid success here. The thing is he is on a much better overall football team as the Eagles were trending the wrong way and have truly turned into a dysfunctional organization. If Wentz stays healthy, just watch what he does with the Colts long-term. Maybe he won't have his best game right out of the gate here but he does not have to have his A game here. The Colts are solid defensively and also can be strong with ground game and through the shorter passing attack. Definitely I have respect for the Seahawks but they have covered just 3 times in theirs last 14 road openers. Seattle was great at home last season but ATS but struggled on the road. In fact, if you took the home team in every Seahawks game last season you went 12-4 ATS with your bets! Statistically the Colts were the better team last season for overall offense, overall defense, and in terms of pass protection. I know Seattle ended up with the better record but you can see why I am seeing line value here especially with the line move. I'll grab the home dog that went from being a -3 in this match-up to a full 6-point swing the other way and they are now a 3-point dog. I'll take it! 8* INDIANAPOLIS

10* Top Play OVER the total in USC Trojans vs Stanford Cardinal @ 10:30 ET - This is not the same Stanford teams of old. They will throw the ball more because they have to. The concern though is the Cardinal defense can absolutely be exposed by the talented USC offense. One of the keys I like here is that Stanford scored only 7 points last week but were done in by turnovers while the Trojans allowed only 7 points last week but were helped by turnovers. San Jose State threw for over 300 yards against USC last week and you know Stanford is likely to be forced to turn to their aerial attack here because they are likely to be playing catch-up. USC is a big favorite in this game with good reason. The Trojans just have too much talent at the skill positions and will be tough for the Cardinals defense to stop. For those of you that like historical data, which certainly does not hurt us here, the over is 11-3 in the last 14 meetings between these teams at USC. Note that Stanford allowed 200 yards rushing at Kansas State last week and that means Southern Cal can certainly gash the Cardinal D on the ground here and that will make the Trojans aerial attack even more dangerous. USC was very balanced on offense last week and had over 400 yards combined between the ground and through the air. The Cardinal allowed 32 points per game last season but also scored 32 points per game in the final 5 games of the season. Southern Cal did not have a single game finish with less than 50 points last season and 4 of the 6 totaled 55 points or more. I feel certain this one will too and we're getting line value here because each team off an under last week. 10* OVER the total in USC

10* Top Play Michigan -6.5 - The Wolverines lost star WR Bell to a season-ending injury last week but the situation at WR for the Huskies is much much worse right now! When you look at who was expected to be the top 3 wide receivers on the depth chart all 3 are out right now! Of the 2nd teamers another guy is out as well right now. No wonder QB Dylan Morris threw 3 picks last week. How can the Huskies be in sync on offense when all the guys they thought they would be relying on to catch the ball are all out? Making matters worse, last week's game was a home game for Washington and was against an FCS school. Now they go on the road to the Big House and take on a Wolverines team hell-bent on having a better season this year. Michigan already pounded out a win over Western Michigan last week. Yes that is a MAC school but it was an impressive win nonetheless and these Wolverines are much more in sync right now on both sides of the ball than the Huskies are. Keep in mind, Washington played only 4 games last season and that was with a first year coach. Compare that to coach Jim Harbaugh, who love him or hate him, is now in his 7th season in his current tenure as Michigan's head coach and he is now 50-22 after last week's win. The retooled coaching staff under him has already implemented some positive changes for this season and I look for this very hungry team to "bring it" again on Saturday night and win this game by a margin of 2 to 3 touchdowns as the Huskies problems in the passing games are a major concern because they can not turn to the ground game for an alternative. Last week they were outgained 127 to 65 on the ground by Montana. The Wolverines only have Northern Illinois on deck so they were fully focused on this game as their toughest one in the first few contests of the season. That is bad news for Washington. This one gets ugly! 10* MICHIGAN -6.5

8* East Carolina +2.5 - The Pirates opened up as a 2.5 point favorite here and have now swung around to being a 2.5 point dog. That is because they are facing a team from the might SEC. However, South Carolina is far from being a mighty team and just because they are in the SEC does not mean they go on the road and win this game. There are going to be struggles for the Gamecocks this season because they have a new head coach and new systems and they do not have much at the skill positions either. This East Carolina team is going to be much improved in their 3rd year under coach Houston. Pirates off 14-point loss but faced a respectable Appalachian State team on the road. The Gamecocks are off a 46-0 win, albeit against FCS opponent Eastern Illinois. The point is that the pubic is all over the SEC school in this match-up and you look at last week's results and it makes it seem the odds makers do not know what they are doing here. Long time followers know how I feel about that! A lot of respect for the odds makers and they had it right when they had the Pirates favored in this one. I am fading the line move and taking advantage of the line value. 8* EAST CAROLINA +2.5

10* OVER 56.5 in Boise State - The Broncos are angry off a loss at Central Florida. This Boise State can score points in bunches and this is particularly true when they are at home where they dominate. Coming off a loss, they will not take their foot off the gas here and they have no qualms about running up the score on teams. That said, UTEP is in trouble here. I feel the Miners defense, untested so far with two easy opponents to open the season, has no chance to stop the Broncos. One thing I will say though is the UTEP offense has a lot of returning starters and is capable of putting up some points here. I just see this one turning into a track meet with plenty of points. Of course the majority of the points will come from an angry Broncos team but they did not run the ball last week and that means plenty of passing throughout this game. The Miners also will be forced to pass to play catchup in this game and UTEP has essentially their entire offense back from last season so they will score some points here. I think the line is about right at a 4-TD margin but the over is the bet here because UTEP offense has capability especially in garbage time late in this game. 10* OVER 56.5 in Boise State

10* KANSAS +26.5 - I know the Jayhawks have been a horrible team but Lance Leopold is a great coach. Granted he got a late start with this team as he was hired later than most new coaches are hired coming into a season. However, he is still - especially with help of coaching staff he brought over from Buffalo - going to get more out of this team than his predecessors have been getting here. They did struggled to run the ball against an FCS foe last week but I like how the defense performed. I also like the fact that, even as bad as the Jayhawks have been the last two seasons, they won the yardage battle against Coastal Carolina last season and the yardage battle was nearly equal in the 12-7 loss the year before that. The point is that there is not such a great separation between these programs as you would be led to believe by the huge spread posted on this game. I look for the Jayhawks to still lose this game by a couple touchdowns but that still gives us some cushion with this line at nearly four touchdowns! This team is going to play hard for Leopold and his staff and last week's game against an FCS foe was a good chance for the team to work through some early season issues. No overnight miracles here with these Jayhawks but I expect a competitive effort here and feel the Chanticleers will also be content to turn to their ground game and just start running clock once they do have a big lead. 10* KANSAS +26.5

Thursday Thrasher - Rickenbach NFL Rotation #451 Thursday 10* Top Play Dallas Cowboys +8 @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers @ 8:20 ET - As long-time followers know, being a contrarian is ingrained into my long-term handicapping skillsets. That said, there is no sport more so than NFL where being a contrarian is a huge key to long-term success. I have also talked before about the sharpness of odds makers and about trusting their numbers in plenty of situations. Odds makers are known for being particularly sharp in the NFL and this is one of those cases where I am putting particularly strong faith in their numbers. Roll back the calendar 7 months ago and just imagine if the Super Bowl was on a neutral field and imagine if it was possible for two NFC teams to square off for the title and it was the 5-11 Cowboys against the 11-5 Bucs. Now make a line. Would your line have been -3? Of course not! Yet take a look at this now in the opening game of 2021. I could be proven wrong but I don't think I will but this could be the biggest "trap line" set in a long time. I am not a believe that the odds makers set trap lines on purpose. I am just saying when something looks "off" it generally fools the public and it is the sharps that end up cashing in. So back to that -3. When lines first opened on this game, and keep in mind the Bucs have all 22 starters back, the first number was a -6 in mid-May. Since this game is being played in TB that line is telling you the Bucs would only be a 3-point favorite on a neutral field. So now, according to the betting masses, the books have it all wrong. This line has been bet up to as high as an 8.5 and the odds makers just do not know what their doing. I am saying they did know what they are doing and the Cowboys are going to be a much improved team this season. The Bucs are, of course, still the better team but I look for this game to be decided by just a single score. Note that last season Dallas was without Prescott for 11 games and it was a disaster season in Dallas. This team will be much improved in year two under coach McCarthy. As for the Bucs, look for them to get caught being a little too "fat and happy" after last year's glorious season where everything seemingly broke their way for a clear path to the SB title. The Cowboys will punch them in the mouth a bit in this game and it will be a lot more competitive than most people are thinking. Keep in mind Tampa Bay went just 4-3 their last 7 home games last season and one of the wins was by 7 points and, overall, only 5 of the Buccaneers final 12 games (including playoffs) leading into their Super Bowl victory was a win by more than 8 points. Just a lot of value after the line move with this one and the odds makers had it right in my opinion so we'll happily grab the value on the other side in typical NFL contrarian style. 10* DALLAS

ESPN Smash Pass - Rickenbach CFB Rotation #225 Monday 10* Top Play Louisville Cardinals (+) vs Ole Miss Rebels @ 8 ET - I have plenty of respect for the coordinators for the Rebels but they could have their hands full without their head coach (Lane Kiffin covid) here and facing a Cardinals team that is on a mission for big improvement under head coach Scott Satterfield this season. The key about the Rebels is they have a very bad defense. The Cards are going to score points here. The other thing is that, is a good as that Ole Miss offense is, I expect the Rebels to get caught trying to do a little too much here. What I mean by that is mistakes offensively because, without Kiffin on the sidelines, the play-calling will not be quite the same. There will be pressure on offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby to call a great gameplan here but will this hurt the rhythm of the offense? Keep in mind Rebels QB Matt Corral had some great numbers last season but if you look at their non-home games last season (this is a neutral site match-up) the Rebels went just 3-2 and two of the three wins were by 6 or less points with one of the wins in OT. Also, Corral threw 11 of his 14 interceptions on the season in two of those road games - at Arkansas and LSU. The road game that was an OT win was at Kentucky. The other tight win was the bowl game against Indiana. We all just saw the Hoosiers get smoked by Iowa Saturday. As for Arky, LSU, and Kentucky - none of the 3 teams had a winning record last season! I am not saying the Rebels will not win this game but I feel hanging onto any type of margin will prove difficult. The porous Ole Miss defense also gives the Cardinals great backdoor cover potential should we need it. Tremendous respect for the Rebels capabilities on offense but also note that Louisville had the #1 pass rated defense in the ACC last season and ranked 17th nationally as they allowed only 189.2 yards per game through the air. This game should be a battle all the way to the end. Grab the big points. 10* LOUISVILLE +10

Money Line Marquee - Rickenbach CFB Rotation #224 Sunday 10* Top Play Florida State Seminoles Money Line +240 vs Notre Dame Fighting Irish @ 7:30 ET - No points needed here. We already saw a few upsets in Week 1 of CFB involving top 25 teams and we are going to see another one here in my opinion. This game is the chance to put Florida State back on the map in College Football. Why are they are only a TD underdog to a team that went 10-0 in the ACC regular season last year while the Seminoles went 2-6 in ACC action? Precisely! This Notre Dame team, of course, is still going to be a quality team this season. However, the Fighting Irish had so much turnover from last season's team. Particularly concerning are major losses on offense and they lost nearly their entire offensive line. That is bad news against a Seminoles defense hell-bent on playing much better this season. They added some key players through the transfer portal and this FSU defense is going to be much better this season. At home, with the nationally televised cameras rolling and being the only game on the big board, watch the Noles step up very big here and shock an over-rated Notre Dame team still living off last year's successes. This team is really a shell of its former self and is going to be knocked off right away here in game one. The Seminoles have a different look and different attitude coming into this season and have two quarterbacks available now with returning starter Jordan Travis and senior transfer McKenzie Milton both an option to start. ND has a new defensive coordinator who certainly comes in with a strong resume (was with Cincinnati!) but the loss of Clark Lea at DC and some key players on the defensive side of the ball that spearheaded the D before could certainly hurt. Keep in mind, in the first year under FSU head coach Mike Norvell, there were a lot of leftover players from the Fisher and Taggart days. A lot of those players, many unhappy, were dragging down the ship last season. Those guys are gone and there is a lot of strong talent happy to be here that is ready to step right in. I feel the Noles are going to surprise here in week one right away and Notre Dame lost more than half their starters from last year! Upset alert! 10* FLORIDA STATE +240

Bulldog's Best - Rickenbach CFB Rotation #213 Saturday 10* Top Play LSU Tigers -2.5 @ UCLA @ 8:30 ET - The Bruins have the edge of a game under their belt. Trouble is that game was against a Hawaii team that certainly did not look too good! This is the same UCLA team that only had 3 wins last season and the teams they beat went a combined 3-10 for the season. I still do not trust the Bruins QB against top tier competition. UCLA head coach Chip Kelly is going to have to prove to me that he can win a big game like this before I would hesitate to fade him. His Bruins just are not quite ready and this Tigers team comes into this game angry. Remember they just won the national championship but now are coming off a disappointing 5-5 season. Their defense was bad and they can not wait to make up for that. The process of the turnaround begins right here in Pasadena in Game One of the season and this highly talented SEC team goes on the road and makes a statement in their first game of the season. Love the fact that the line opened up in the -5 range over the summer but now is a -2.5 on gameday morning. We are getting great value here and keep in mind LSU projected to have a big bounce back season in a very tough SEC while the Bruins also play in a solid conference for sure but still UCLA nowhere close to the top tier programs like Oregon and USC in the Pac-12. Most of the rest of that conference nowhere close to SEC level and we have got great value with the Tigers here because everyone still remembering their disappointing campaign last season. 10* LSU -2.5

Money Line Marquee - Rickenbach CFB Rotation #207 Saturday 8* Georgia Bulldogs Money Line +130 vs Clemson Tigers @ 7:30 ET - Clemson the higher ranked team and laying only a field goal here. Looks easy does it not? Well this Georgia team is a very strong team that brings back more experience on offense in comparison with the Tigers. Also, about that Clemson defense, can the Tigers fully recover immediately from allowing over 600 yards to the Buckeyes in January? It won't take long for this well-coached Bulldogs team to really start getting in the heads of the Tigers defense with some big runs and big plays down field through the air. Of course Clemson is a fantastic team but Georgia is the better team early in the season in my opinion. Is going to take some time for the Tigers to recover from the losses of Lawrence and Etienne on offense. By the way, Clemson also lost their two best receivers too. This is an awful lot to replace in week one when you are facing a Bulldogs team that year in and year out is just a step behind juggernaut Alabama team that is the best team in the SEC and always one of the best in the nation. I do not see the Bulldogs being denied here and I am going for the plus money return with the money line in this one. 8* GEORGIA +130

Big Ten Total of the Month - Rickenbach CFB Rotation #173 Saturday 10* Top Play OVER the total in Iowa Hawkeyes vs Indiana Hoosiers @ 3:30 ET - The over is 6-0 last 6 times these teams have met in Iowa. Yes, the Hawkeyes are known for their defense but they lost some key guys on that side of the ball heading into this season. Of course Iowa is still going to still be a quality defense but this Hoosiers offense is one that is not afraid to take risks. Indiana, as shown last season and as seen this season with being ranked again, is a quality program that can put points on the board against anyone. I don't totally trust the Hoosiers defense here though, particularly on the road. This total is just too low in my opinion. The Hawkeyes scored at least 20 in all 8 games last season and averaged 32 points per game. The Hoosiers scored at least 20 points in 7 of their 8 games (including bowl game) and averaged 29 points per game. If each team gets to at least 20 and you have got a total in the mid-40s you have a solid chance of hitting your over! I feel we have the odds in our favor in a big way here because I expect each offense to move the ball better than most are thinking in this one. We also have nice weather in the forecast in Iowa and these offensive units each have plenty of confidence based on how they performed last season. Penix now back from injury at QB for the Hoosiers and Petras always seems to gut out wins at QB for Hawkeyes despite his unspectacular play. So look for the Hoosiers to get some big plays downfield and the Hawkeyes to be methodical but productive on offense and it all adds up to this game getting into the 50s, at least, in total points! 10* OVER the total in Iowa

NOTE: Match-up now going EARLY Saturday instead of Thursday EVENING so the write-up below just slightly modified for the schedule change: Earliest Dominator - Rickenbach CFB Rotation #229 Saturday 8* Temple Owls (+) @ Rutgers Scarlet Knights @ NOON ET - The Scarlet Knights were about an 11 point favorite when lines first were released on this match-up. Now Rutgers is favored by 14.5 points as of very early Friday morning. I am grabbing the points with Temple. Since 2014 (the last season Rutgers went to a bowl) the Scarlet Knights have only two wins over an FBS school by more than 11 points. Those two wins were over UMass in 2019 and Texas State in 2018. Annually those are two of the worst football programs in the country. Now I am well aware of the fact that the Owls are certainly not a football factory by any stretch of the imagination. However, Temple was one of the teams most hurt by the covid-19 restrictions last season and have a relatively new head coach compared to Greg Schiano who was beginning his 2nd stint with the Scarlet Knights after already spending a decade here through 2011. The Owls head coach is Rod Carey who was only in his 2nd season here at Temple after 7 years as head coach at Northern Illinois. The Owls have enough skill and athleticism on offense to keep this game closer than many are expecting. Temple is also strong enough in the trenches to go "punch for punch" with a physical Scarlet Knights team. This game will play out as a bit of a war and I really expect the Knights to struggle to pull away and expect this game to be decided by just a one score margin. Great value with this line moving past the +14 key number. 8* TEMPLE +14.5

ESPN Smash Pass - Rickenbach CFB Rotation #154 Friday 10* Top Play Northwestern Wildcats (-) vs Michigan State Spartans @ 9 PM ET - The earliest numbers that came out on this game showed the oddsmakers set Northwestern as a 7.5 point favorite and the Cats now are all the way down to a -3 as of very early Friday morning. That means the betting markets are saying these teams are even on a neutral field and the Wildcats are essentially still getting the normal 3 points teams are often considered to have as a home field edge. I am not buying that. The Wildcats lost last season's game with the Spartans courtesy of 4 turnovers. It was their only loss of the regular season and is the first time in nearly a decade that they have lost back to back meetings with Michigan State. Northwestern will get some payback here. First off they are extremely well coached and have an excellent coaching staff put together. Secondly they are a system based team. They can not get the same talent that the bigger Big Ten schools are able to attract and bring in with their top recruits but it is their systems, smarts, hard work, and execution that make them a tough team. The problem with Michigan State (my pick to battle Rutgers for the worst spot in the Big Ten East) is that they have a head coach (Tucker) in his 3rd year overall as a head coach (2nd year with the Spartans) and he is trying to implement his systems but with many veteran players left over that were Dantonio recruits. The Spartans only other win last season, other than upsetting the Wildcats, was winning their annual biggest game of the year (versus rival Michigan). Other than that the Spartans had 5 losses and were outscored by a combined 202 to 70. Yes that works out to an average score of 40 to 14. I am not necessarily expecting that big of a margin here but this one will get ugly for Michigan State fans. The Spartans may get better as the season goes on but this team still trying to adjust to Tucker and his systems. 10* NORTHWESTERN -3

FOX Annihilation - Rickenbach CFB Rotation #145 Thursday 10* Top Play OVER the total in Minnesota Golden Gophers vs Ohio State Buckeyes @ 8 ET - I am aware of the rain moving into the Minneapolis area tonight but it might not even start during game time and if it does I do not expect it to be the heaviest stuff as that will come later. Either way, NOT a lot of wind is in the forecast and I expect the offenses to perform just fine here. I know the Golden Gophers are inexperienced at WR but they did add a lot of speed there and, per head coach PJ Fleck, this is the speediest group of wide receivers he has had here. Don't be surprised if they break open for some big gains as we have seen the Buckeyes secondary exposed before. Don't get me wrong, Ohio State is of course one of the best teams in the country and they are solid on both sides of the ball without a doubt. However, the Buckeyes allowed 25 points or more in 5 of their last 7 games last year. Also, the fact this game is on the road will certainly help the Golden Gophers and this Minny team has a solid O-line and is strong at RB and solid at QB. The issue for Minny is their defense and certainly the Buckeyes potent attack can (and will!) exploit that all game long. Ohio State should score plenty but don't be surprised if the Gophers respectable offense keeps them in this game. If they stay right around the 2-TD spread mark in this one (which I feel they will) that should mean plenty of points because I expect the Buckeyes offense to go wild in this one! I also like the fact this total was as high as 66.5 but has settled in at 62.5 as of very early gameday morning. 10* OVER the total in Minnesota

ESPN Annihilation - Rickenbach CFB Rotation #907 Wednesday 10* Top Play UAB Blazers -15 vs Jacksonville State Gamecocks @ 7:30 ET - The Blazers are a strong CUSA team. The Gamecocks are a solid program but are an FCS team. This is a step up in class for them. Remember last year Jacksonville State faced Florida State and jumped out to a 14-0 lead partially benefitting from an INT return for a touchdown. The Seminoles, who only won two other games last season by the way, stormed back for a blowout win. This UAB team is rock solid on both sides of the ball and very strong in the trenches. The Blazers defense looks particularly solid this season. As for the strength along the O-line and D-line that is where UAB will get the keys to this victory. Jacksonville State does have a solid QB, he was formerly a back-up at Clemson, but if his teammates are getting beat everywhere else on the field there is not much he can do. UAB begins the season with 4 games away from home (this is a neutral site game) so I expect them to be fully focused here and am expecting them to wear down Jacksonville State as this game goes on. The Blazers can wear teams down on the ground and the Gamecocks might be able to hang around in the first half but eventually UAB is just too strong and has the big talent edge and will eventually pull away and win this game by 20+ in my opinion. 10* UAB Blazers -15

Game of the Month - Rickenbach CFB Rotation #299 Saturday 10* Top Play Nebraska Cornhuskers -7 @ Illinois Illini @ 1 ET - Certainly Bret Bielema at head coach is an upgrade over Lovie Smith at head coach for Illinois. However, that improvement is going to take some time to show up on the field. It will not be overnight and this is simply not a very good football team. I am certainly not high on Nebraska either. But, as it stands right now, this Cornhuskers team is certainly superior to the Illini. Additionally, they are out for revenge from an embarrassing home loss to Illinois last season. I also love the way we have seen the line react on this game. It opened up at nearly double digits and yet has since dropped to as low as a 6.5 but then every time it gets down to 6.5 the Huskers get market attention and it goes right back to 7. So, as of overnight Friday heading into Saturday what I am telling you is as follows: The Huskers opened up as a big road favorite for a reason. The odds makers are not stupid. The line dropping to 6.5 from nearly 10 but then always getting bet back to 7 is an indication that many believe, just as I do that, that the Cornhuskers win this game by at least 7 points and I am expecting a win by a double digit margin. The Huskers and Illini return plenty of defensive starters. I know the Nebraska offense is not a strength, especially through the air, but lets go back to those defenses for a minute. The Illini return plenty of guys but allowed 35 points per game and ranked as one of the worst defenses in the nation for yardage allowed. As for the Huskers, other than the Illini debacle and getting destroyed (like most teams do) by Ohio State, they allowed only 24 points per game in their other 6 games and never allowed more than 27 in any of those other 6 games. Do not be surprised if the better defense prevails in a big way in this match-up. Even including the beatdown against Ohio State in their numbers, the Huskers defense ranked 50th nationally in yardage allowed out of 130 teams. The Illini did NOT face Ohio State last year and still ranked 115th nationally in yardage allowed. The Huskers have their problems, but they are the better overall team and they have not forgotten what happened last year in Lincoln either. There is no better way to avenge a home loss than by getting payback on enemy turf and returning the favor. I fully expect the Cornhuskers to get their revenge in Champaign on Saturday. 10* NEBRASKA -7

Game of the Month - Rickenbach NFL Rotation #101 Sunday 10* Top Play Kansas City Chiefs (-) @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers @ 6:30 ET - The irony here is incredible. The Chiefs are looking to become the first team to win back to back Super Bowls since the Tom Brady-led Patriots beat the Andy Reid-led Eagles back in 2004. This is Andy Reid's 3rd Super Bowl in his career and he finally gets his shot at Super Bowl revenge against Brady and, in getting a win here, would displace a Brady-led team in the record books as the most recent one to go back to back in the biggest game of them all in all of sports. I don't see Reid and the Chiefs being denied. This will be Reid's 32nd playoff game as a head coach and, as noted above, his 3rd Super Bowl. Tampa Bay is led by Bruce Arians and he is making his Super Bowl debut as a head coach and also entered this post-season 1-2 as a head coach in playoff action. I know this post-season has gone well for Arians and the Bucs but lets take a closer look. They faced a Redskins team without their starting QB and that didn't even belong in the playoffs really. Then they had a +4 turnover ratio against the Saints. Then they got outgained by the Packers in Green Bay but won the game thanks in part to horrible coaching on the part of GB. That will not happen here against Andy Reid and the Chiefs. Also, I love the fact that the Chiefs are just 2-8 ATS their last 10 games while the Buccaneers are on a 6-2 ATS run their last 8 games. Watch that flip in the final game of the year. Also, we certainly do not want a push but do note that 4 of the 5 Bucs losses came by 3 or more points while 15 of the Chiefs 16 wins have come by 3 or more points. This line was a 3.5 earlier but has come down to a solid -3 as of the Thursday before Super Bowl weekend. In other words, it is now "go time" for us. Time to pull the trigger. The fact the regular season meeting was only a 3 point win for the Chiefs despite a yardage edge of 114 is also helping to give us line value here. In what should be a very entertaining game, don't be surprised if coaching and special teams play a key factor in the final outcome and BOTH of those factors FAVOR the Chiefs in a big way here. 10* KANSAS CITY

Playoff Game of the Year – Scott “The Bulldog” Rickenbach NFL Rotation #314 Sunday 10* Top Play Kansas City Chiefs (-) vs Buffalo Bills @ 6:40 ET – We are getting some line value here because of the Mahomes situation but honestly I expect the Chiefs to comfortably win this game even if Henne had to play the entire contest. But look for Mahomes to be back and just fine. As for the Bills, I do respect them but they have been living a charmed life. Teams that gained over 450 yards in a game and did not turn the ball over had been 11-0 all-time until the Colts did that to Buffalo in the Wild Card round and yet lost the game. Then Buffalo followed up that questionable win with another win. The Bills beat the Ravens thanks in large part to a 101 yard interception return for a TD that totally changed the game around. For the game, Buffalo was outgained 340 to 220 by Baltimore and yet still won. Again, charmed life so far for the Bills but now they face the defending Super Bowl champs off a non-covering win versus the Browns. That failed cover, despite a big half-time lead, has led to solid line value this week and the Chiefs at home are the play in this one. In their last 3 home games that matter (game versus Chargers was meaningless), KC allowed 17 points or less in each game. This is a Chiefs offense that averaged 33 points per game in their final 7 road games of the season. That is the sign of a powerhouse when you can score like that away from home and now the Chiefs are at home and off a frustrating offensive performance which is absolutely going to bring out the best in them today. I have not been as impressed with the Bills offense of late and that is why I see KC pulling away as this one goes on and I expect a win by a double digit margin and, at the very least, a TD margin for the home team. 10* KANSAS CITY

Total of the Month – Scott “The Bulldog” Rickenbach NFL Rotation #311 Sunday 10* Top Play OVER the total in Green Bay Packers vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers @ 3:05 ET – As of Friday evening, the forecast is for some snow in Green Bay Sunday but it should be finished by game time. Also, winds are not expected to be an issue at all. That said, I expect both offenses to have no issues in this one. The over is 3-0 in the Packers last 3 games and Green Bay has scored an average of 32 points per game this season and has averaged 36 points per game their last 3 games. The Buccaneers also have caught fire at the right time and have averaged 36.6 points per game their last 5 games. Of course I am not expecting 70s here in terms of total points but you can see why, based on the above, the number in the 52 range does indeed seem too low. The over was 5-1 in Tampa Bay’s last 6 road games prior to the game at New Orleans staying under the total. Of course the key reason that game stayed under is Drew Brees was turnover prone and the Saints turned it over 4 times in that one. He was not healthy this season. Aaron Rodgers is healthy and this offense is firing on all cylinders and the Packers will score plenty here but don’t be surprised when Tom Brady and the Bucs match them score for score too. Keep in mind, Tampa Bay hung 38 on the Pack when these teams met a few months ago down in Florida. 10* OVER the total in Green Bay

Primetime Punisher - Scott "The Bulldog" Rickenbach NFL Rotation #308 Sunday 10* Top Play New Orleans Saints (-) vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers @ 6:40 ET - there can be two theories as to why this line is dropping to a 2.5 on gameday morning, one would be that the Buccaneers are attracting some attention and primed for an upset, however the other theory is the one I am going with which I believe will prove true in this case, I believe the sharps are setting this one up by knocking it down a little to get that 2.5 everywhere and then they will pound it and we'll see this game at a -3 again before too long and certainly at kickoff, I could be wrong of course but we'll see and either way I like New Orleans a ton here, the Saints have owned the Buccaneers in recent meetings and also all the pressure is on Tom Brady and Tampa Bay here, that is because so much is expected of them and Brady wants to atone for a horrific performance the last time the Bucs were in TB, all that pressure is not going to help the Buccaneers and this is a team that went 1-4 in games against teams with a winning record this season, keep in mind TB lost to NO twice plus lost to KC and the Rams and another loss to a playoff team was to the Bears, though the Saints were not overly impressive last week the Bucs were arguably much worse, Tampa Bay should have annihilated Washington last week but struggled to put them away and I am just not sold on this TB team as they were facing a Washington team that had a ton of issues and question marks for that game, also the Saints defense has allowed 16 points or less in 7 of last 10 games while the Bucs have allowed 23 points or more in 8 of last 10 game, I will gladly lay the short home price here, 10* NEW ORLEANS

Afternoon Annihilation - Scott "The Bulldog" Rickenbach NFL Sunday 8* Kansas City Chiefs (-) vs Cleveland Browns @ 3:05 ET - the Browns just blew out a division rival nemesis when they crushed the Steelers last week, that was a turnover fueled win for Cleveland, one has to give them credit for that win for sure but they face a much tougher test here, Kansas City is coached by Andy Reid and they are coming off a bye week, in his career Reid's teams have thrived off bye week as they have gone 20-9 ATS and have won 24 of the 29 games SU, undoubtedly the Chiefs will be ready to go and they are the healthier too, the Browns have issues impacting their secondary and their offensive line, those are two areas you particularly don't want to be struggling in when facing these defending Super Bowl champs, the Browns are allowing 30.4 points per game on the road this season while the Chiefs have allowed 20 points or less in 5 of their last 7 meaningful home games, in other words the season finale that didn't matter does not count in those numbers, in fact that also means that KC has effectively been off for a full two weeks in terms of bye weeks and they will really be ready here both physically and mentally, in the Browns last 5 games against playoff teams they have allowed 35.8 points per game, look for a home blowout here, 8* KANSAS CITY

Primetime Punisher - Scott "The Bulldog" Rickenbach NFL Rotation #303 Saturday 10* Top Play Baltimore Ravens (+) @ Buffalo Bills @ 8:15 ET - The Colts last weekend were the first team ever to have over 450 yards of offense in a game with zero turnovers and still lose the game. Teams with those stats had been 11-0. In other words, the Bills got lucky...very lucky! Now their luck runs out this week. While I absolutely respect Buffalo QB Josh Allen and all this offense has done, there is simply no comparison between these defenses. The Ravens have the much better defense. Also, in terms of the Baltimore offense, a running QB like Lamar Jackson gives a defense like the Bills have absolute nightmares. The Bills have allowed 21 points or more in 6 of their last 8 home games. The Ravens have allowed 19 points or less in 6 of their last 7 games. In fact, Baltimore allowed an average of 13 points in those 6 games. Buffalo allowed an average of 27 points per game in those aforementioned 6 home games. I know the full season numbers make the defenses look comparable but I feel strongly they are not. Also, the Ravens had to battle with the Steelers and the Browns in their division while the Bills took advantage of a weaker division. Of course the Jets were garbage, the Patriots ended with a losing record, and the Dolphins (despite a winning record) were pretenders whose full season stats told the full story. Off the fortunate win last week, Buffalo's luck runs out this week and the Ravens advance to the AFC Championship Game. 10* BALTIMORE

Afternoon Annihilation - Scott "The Bulldog" Rickenbach NFL Rotation #301 Saturday 8* Los Angeles Rams (+) @ Green Bay Packers @ 4:35 ET - Jared Goff has had a little more time to heal his thumb. The Rams also have their run game going strong. Additionally, you are talking about what might be the best defense in the league. They just held a strong Seahawks team to 11 first downs and Seattle QB Russell Wilson to 11 of 27 with his passing. The Packers offense certainly presents a tougher challenge but the Rams defense will be up to the task. At the same time, the Green Bay defense is susceptible to strong ground games and I like what Los Angeles has been doing on that side of the ball in recent games. The Packers are just 3-3 ATS in their last 6 home games. The Rams, including playoffs, are 11-6 SU this season and only 3 of those 17 games was a loss by more than a 3 point margin for LA. In other words, great value with the big points here in my opinion. 8* LOS ANGELES RAMS

Bowl Game of the Year - Scott "The Bulldog" Rickenbach CFB Rotation #499 Monday 10* Top Play Ohio State Buckeyes (+) vs Alabama Crimson Tide @ 8 ET - Of course it is not easy to argue against a team that is 11-0 on the season but that argument is made a little easier when you're playing on a team that is 7-0 this season plus catching nearly double digits in points in the match-up. The fact is that Ohio State is a high quality program and there were a few times this season that Alabama's defense certainly was made to look susceptible. That said, with a potent ground attack and the dynamic Justin Fields at QB, I am looking for the Buckeyes to be in this game all the way. The Crimson Tide caught a break with facing an over-rated Notre Dame last week while Ohio State was very impressive facing a Clemson team that only struggled this season when Trevor Lawrence was not available at QB. That said, the Buckeyes huge win last week over the Tigers should do more than raise a few eyebrows. What it does is validate that Ohio State is not only strong enough to trade scores with Alabama, they just might be strong enough to get the upset win too. That said, there is no way I am passing up on taking more than TD in points here. The Buckeyes allowed 22 points per game this season. The Crimson Tide have also put some impressive numbers together this season (of course) but did allow an average of 35.5 points per game in their games against Texas A & M, Ole Miss, Georgia, and Florida. This should be a great game and I expect it to be decided by just a single score either way. Yes an upset would not surprise me in the least. That said, give me the big points. 10* OHIO STATE

Primetime Punisher - Scott "The Bulldog" Rickenbach NFL Rotation #152 Sunday 10* Top Play Pittsburgh Steelers (-) vs Cleveland Browns @ 8:15 ET - Following the money is not something I often do but there are exceptions. In this case, Pittsburgh is getting a lot of attention from the betting markets but rightfully so. Not only are the Steelers the much better defense, the Browns are dealing with a number of key issues. Cleveland has injury issues and has had covid issues which has impacted their preparation for this game plus forced guys out and has even forced their head coach out. That means the Browns interim head coach on the sideline will be their special teams coordinator. That makes for a very tall mountain to climb when you consider the Steelers wealth of playoff experience at head coach and as a team. Keep in mind, Mike Tomlin and Pittsburgh are playoff warriors while Browns QB Baker Mayfield will be making his first ever playoff start. Cleveland's pass defense is allowing 288 yards per game when on the road this season. Pittsburgh's pass defense is allowing just 104 yards per game this season. The Browns will turn to their ground game to try and take some pressure off Mayfield here but the Steelers allowed just 93 rushing yards per game when at home. Cleveland went 1-5 ATS this season when on the road and facing teams not in the NFC East...in other words, teams with a pulse! Pittsburgh went 5-2 ATS in their final 7 home games this season. The Steelers have a long history of dominating the Browns when they face them at Heinz Field and that continues here. 10* PITTSBURGH

Wild Card Game of the Year - Scott "The Bulldog" Rickenbach NFL Rotation #147 Sunday 10* Top Play Baltimore Ravens (+) Tennessee Titans @ 1:05 ET - Revenge can be overplayed for sure but when the situation is "just right" it certainly can be a major factor. This is one of those cases. Not only did the Ravens lose to the Titans in the post-season last year, they also lost again in the regular season this year. Also, though they lost to Tennessee in the playoffs a year ago, Baltimore actually significantly outgained the Titans in that game but turnovers were the difference. Now you can't (or shouldn't) just blindly play games because of a revenge angle. But in this case, other factors line up which lead to the value. The Ravens have the much better defense in this match-up as they allow only 18.9 points per game. Also, Baltimore went 6-2 on the road this season. Tennessee has allowed 33.3 points per game their last 3 home games and also lost 3 of their last 5 home games this season. The Titans truly don't show a big home field edge and also struggled against stronger teams including losses to the Steelers, Browns, Packers and Colts. The road team is 3-0 SU and ATS in the last 3 meetings between these teams and that trend continues here. The Titans defense, in my opinion, simply can not be trusted here. The Ravens allowed 19 points or less in 5 of their last 6 games. Tennessee allowed 38 points or more in 3 of their last 5 games. 10* BALTIMORE

Primetime Punisher - Scott "The Bulldog" Rickenbach NFL Rotation #145 Saturday 10* Top Play Tampa Bay Buccaneers (-) @ Washington @ 8:15 ET - While it may seem tough to lay more than a TD on the road in a playoff game you'll feel better about it after you read a few things here. First off, the Buccaneers went 6-2 on the road this season plus they have a great run defense and a fantastic passing attack. Secondly, they are taking on a Washington team that went 4-2 against their own division which is the NFC East which could easily be re-named the NFC Least based on how things went this season. The team that almost beat them for the division was the New York Giants and Washington lost both games with them. In other words, this is not a very good football team and one of their other wins was against a Bengals team that went 4-11-1 this season. Additionally, another win was against the 49ers but Washington was outgained by over 150 yards in that game and fortunate to win. Unlike Washington, Tampa Bay has plenty of quality wins on their resume this season and plus the Bucs only played one game (Giants) against an NFC East foe. That said, the Buccaneers absolutely played the tougher schedule of these teams. Also, although Alex Smith is back at QB for Washington he is not 100 percent. As for TB's Mike Evans he is listed as questionable but has progressed very well this week and has no ligament damage so the top wide receiver should be very ready to go here for this one. Washington went just 2-5 SU in their final 7 home games this season and one of those wins was against the 4-11-1 Bengals! The home edge for Washington is simply not there and Tampa Bay traveled very well this season. Also, the Buccaneers average margin of victory was 17.4 points per game in their 11 wins this season. Washington scored an average of 15 points per game in their 5 home losses this season and the Bucs averaged 31 points per game this season. You can see why I am expecting TB to win this game by at least a two TD margin here. Lay it! 10* TAMPA BAY

Earliest Cash - Scott "The Bulldog" Rickenbach NFL Rotation #141 Saturday 8* Indianapolis Colts (+) @ Buffalo Bills @ 1:05 ET - The Colts are very well coached and catching nearly a touchdown in this one. I know the Bills finished the season hot but Indianapolis is solid defensively. Also, the Bills faced some weak competition during their 6-game winning streak to close out the season. Don't get me wrong, Buffalo is certainly a very solid team, I am just saying that we have solid line value here with a very live dog in my opinion. The Colts went 5-2 SU/ATS in their final 7 road games of the season. Indianapolis also closed the season quite strong especially when you consider they dealt with some injury and covid-related issues over the final 5 weeks of the season. That is helping to give us some line value here in this one as is the fact the Colts blew a huge lead and lost to the Steelers a few weeks ago while Buffalo is off a big blowout win over Miami in the season finale. It all adds up to getting some additional line value with a road dog that travels well and plays solid defense plus has a future hall of famer, Rivers, at QB. Again, I like the coaching factor here too as I am impressed with Frank Reich and feel he could be an X-factor in this one too. The offensive mind of his trying to outsmart Bills head coach Sean McDermott who is a former defensive coordinator. Let the games begin, literally, and the dog takes the NFL Wild Card weekend opener - or at least takes the money in this one! 8* INDIANAPOLIS

Primetime Punisher - Scott "The Bulldog" Rickenbach NFL Rotation #102 Sunday 8* Philadelphia Eagles (+) vs Washington @ 8:20 ET - This line is simply an over-reaction to the fact the Redskins need to win and the fact that the Eagles looked like garbage at Dallas last week. Head coach Doug Pederson is supposedly staying with the team but a meeting is scheduled for Tuesday. However, defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz is contemplating retirement and, at the very least, going to take a year off from the game in his estimation. Either way, Philadelphia is likely to now give more of an effort than you would have otherwise anticipated here. Yes it is a rivalry game and, yes, the Eagles can play the role of spoiler. However, the Eagles might have "mailed it in" were it not for the coaching situation noted above. Additionally, Philly is continuing to develop rookie QB Jalen Hurts and would like to close the season with a win. The fact we're getting 4 points here, after this line opened up around a pick'em, means even more value with the home dog in this one and Philly does tend to play better at home. The Eagles are 3-1 SU in their last 4 home games and 4-1 ATS in their last 5 home games. Washington expected to have QB Alex Smith for this one but he is not 100% healthy and, overall, Washington is 2-4 ATS in true road games this season (7th game was on a neutral field). All the pressure is on the road team and the relaxed home team with nothing to lose is also catching sizable points in this one. The situation is too good to pass up on as an outright upset actually is quite likely here given the circumstances but grab the points for added insurance. 8* PHILADELPHIA

Divisional Dominator - Scott "The Bulldog" Rickenbach NFL Rotation #103 Sunday 10* Top Play OVER the total in Indianapolis Colts vs Jacksonville Jaguars @ 4:25 ET - The Colts had a huge lead last week and still lost the game. Granted that game was against the Steelers and not a 1-14 Jacksonville team but, still, the point is that Indianapolis is likely to keep their foot on the gas for the full 60 minutes. That should mean a ton of points  here because the Jaguars have allowed an average of 31 points this season and there is nothing "average" about this situation either. The Colts also have revenge from losing their season opener at Jacksonville. So there are multiple reasons to believe that Indy is going to certainly score better than the average that Jax allows. Also, the Colts are about a 14 point favorite here so you're talking about a 35-21 or 38-24 type game here. I could see Jacksonville scoring some points here in garbage time too and they won't be able to run on the Indy D so they'll be airing out all game long! What do they have to lose? Nothing as the Jags have already locked up the #1 pick in the draft and so they may as well air out in this one and let the chips fall where they may. That means a lot more points than many are expecting here and this one should get well into the 50s, if not 60s. 10* OVER the total in Indianapolis

Game of the Year - Scott "The Bulldog" Rickenbach NFL Rotation #131 Sunday 10* Top Play Arizona Cardinals (-) @ Los Angeles Rams @ 4:25 ET - Long-time followers know I am a contrarian so it would make perfect sense that I would have a contrarian play as my Game of the Year. The fact is that the Rams are on a perfect 7-0 SU/ATS run in games against the Cardinals. So my play in this all important must-win game is, of course, on Arizona and laying the points even though Los Angeles has had the upper hand in this series with Sean McVay as head coach. The key here is not only that Rams QB Jared Goff is out with a broken thumb and John Wolford will be making his first ever NFL start. It is also that the Rams are without other numerous starters and key players for this one. That means QB Kyler Murray and the Cardinals should have the upper hand (finally!) in this match-up and I look for Arizona to pull away as this one goes on. They are off a disappointing loss to the 49ers but the Cardinals entered that game off back to back victories and will respond here with a big win. They got themselves back into the playoff race and now want to make sure their divisional nemesis does not get into the post-season plus Arizona themselves can get in with a win here and a Chicago loss. So there is plenty at stake in this game and the Cardinals are the much healthier team and the Rams enter this one off back to back losses and have truly let their season sleep away and they know it. This will be tough for Los Angeles to bounce back from and they are short-handed here plus dealing with covid issues. It all adds up to a blowout win for the road favorite in this one. The Cardinals Murray will have a huge game and I know this may seem like a very contrarian play but the road team is favored for a reason over a team they have lost to 7 straight times. That streak ends here in convincing fashion. Lay the small number. 10* ARIZONA

Earliest Cash - Scott "The Bulldog" Rickenbach NFL Rotation #108 Sunday 8* New York Giants (+) vs Dallas Cowboys @ 1 ET - Did the Cowboys beat the Eagles last week or was it more that the Eagles beat themselves? It truly was more the latter than the former and I feel Dallas is being vastly over-valued in this spot. This game still matters to the Giants. With a win here and an Eagles home win over the Redskins tonight, New York is in the playoffs as the NFC East divisional champs. Dallas is favored on the road here but this is a team that was 1-5 SU and ATS in road games this season before destroying a Cincinnati team that was a mess when they faced them. I am well aware the Giants have lost 3 straight games but they also faced 3 tough teams that all have a winning record and are currently a combined 28-17 on the season. Prior to this tough stretch, New York had won 4 straight games SU and also was on a 7-2 ATS run. With all that is at stake here I look for a huge game from the home dog in this one. 8* NEW YORK GIANTS

Total of the Year - Scott "The Bulldog" Rickenbach CFB Rotation #497 Saturday 10* Top Play OVER the total in Texas A & M Aggies vs North Carolina Tar Heels @ 8 ET - Of course the Tar Heels are loaded with opt outs at the skill positions. However, aren't you surprised this total has dropped so little? It opened up near 70 and, yet, as of early game day morning it is still only down to a 65. The fact is that the Aggies defense may not be 100% motivated to give an intense effort here. There has to be some disappointment for Texas A & M overall as they were hoping for bigger things. That said, I expect North Carolina QB Sam Howell to still have a huge game here. He has had a huge season and the Tar Heels have had a few weeks of practice to work in other players at the skill positions to get ready for this game. This is a UNC team that scored an average of 43 points per game this season. Without their top running backs, there is no doubt the Tar Heels will be looking to win this game on the arm of Howell and plenty of passing = OVER! Speaking of plenty of passing, Aggies QB Kellen Mond has a chance to break Johnny Manziel's TD record in his final game at A & M. You know Mond and this Aggies offense has to be excited about facing a young Tar Heels defense whose top tackler, and key linebacker, opted out of this game to get ready for the NFL draft! That said, the Aggies did score an average of 35 points per game over their final 7 games (all wins) of the season and their taking on a young Heels defense that is absolutely the weakness of this team. This one, even with all the UNC opt outs, is highly likely to turn into a back and forth shootout as it becomes the Howell / Mond show! The combined ratio of these two highly successful quarterbacks if 46-9! That is 46 touchdowns against just 9 interceptions this season. Buckle up and enjoy the ride here as this one should see plenty of points and quick scoring strikes. The over is 5-1 in North Carolina's last 6 games against FBS opponents. Look for that streak to reach 6-1 here! 10* OVER the total in Texas A & M

Bowl Punisher - Scott "The Bulldog" Rickenbach CFB Rotation #496 Saturday 10* Top Play Iowa State Cyclones (-) vs Oregon Ducks @ 4 ET - The Cyclones have all the edges here in my opinion. They are the stronger team in the trenches on both sides of the ball. Iowa State also has the coaching edge with Campbell over Cristobal. The Cyclones are stronger at skill positions like QB and WR and also have the better overall defense. Iowa State allowed an average of only 13.3 points per game over their final 4 games of the season and just 18.1 points per game over their final 8 games of the season. As for the Ducks, they only played in 6 games this season and they allowed an average of 30 points per game over their final 5 games of the season. The Cyclones also faced a tougher overall schedule than Oregon did. Battle-tested Iowa State is also happy to be making their first- ever trip to the Fiesta Bowl while the Ducks have been here often plus, being a Pac-12 team, already play in plenty of games in Arizona on an annual basis. The situation here simply creates a hungrier team on the Cyclones sideline and given that plus the edges they have all over the field, I expect them to cover this number rather easily as they establish their ground game with Breece Hall leading the way. The fact the Ducks have to give a lot of respect to Iowa State's potent ground game of course means that things will be open for some solid opportunities through the air for veteran QB Brock Purdy. The result is a blowout win here as the Cyclones defense will also hold the Ducks in check here and that allows the favorite to pull away as this game goes on. 10* IOWA STATE

Game of the Month Primetime Punisher - Scott "The Bulldog" Rickenbach CFB Rotation #333 Friday 10* Top Play Ohio State Buckeyes (+) vs Clemson Tigers @ 8 ET - Of course I am well aware of the fact that Ohio State played only a half dozen games this season while Clemson will reach the dozen mark in games by playing in this one. While some look at that as a disadvantage for the Buckeyes or that they don't belong here, the fact is it actually may be a big edge. Ohio State could prove to be the fresher team plus they also are heavily playing the revenge angle and underdog mentality and the disrespect card heading into this one. That disrespect card comes, in part, from Tigers coach Swinney ranking Ohio State 11th in the nation because they only played 6 games. Look for Ohio State to use this as additional motivation here and I expect a valiant effort from the revenge-minded underdogs in this one. Of course Clemson is a fantastic team but the fact they barely beat Boston College and lost to Notre Dame (when the Tigers were without Lawrence) shows that if the Buckeyes do a decent job limiting big opportunities for QB Lawrence in this one, they will be more successful than most are expecting. I love all the revenge and motivational edges here plus the fact we are getting more than TD with the underdog Ohio State in this one. Prior to being held to 22 points by a very strong Northwestern defense, the Buckeyes averaged 46.6 points per game in their first 5 games this season. QB Fields and company can give this solid Clemson defense trouble and I am expecting an upset win here which means I certainly am comfortable grabbing the points. If the Buckeyes do fall short I expect it to be by only a single score. 10* OHIO STATE

Earliest Punisher - Scott "The Bulldog" Rickenbach CFB Rotation #328 Friday 8* Georgia Bulldogs (-) vs Cincinnati Bearcats @ Noon ET - This one should get ugly. Why is a 2-loss Georgia team favored over an undefeated Cincinnati team? Exactly! I have been patiently waiting for this one and now look forward to the onslaught. The Bearcats played such a weak schedule that is laughable. Even with that they only won their last two games by 3 points apiece but again my point is they might have won half their games if they played the same schedule Georgia did. The key word there is might! As I noticed in some of my prior write-ups in successfully going against the Bearcats, they were actually outstatted in a couple of their big wins but most don't look at that, most just look at the scoreboard finals. That is what is also helping to give us line value here in going against the Cats. I know Georgia has to win this by more than a TD for us to cash this ticket but I do fully expect that. They are the better team in all facets of the game and in their true road games this season they allowed 16 points or less in 4 of 5 games. The Bearcats had more defensive struggles in some of their bigger games than what showed up on the scoreboard but even just looking at their final two games they did allow 28.5 points per game to Tulsa and Central Florida. That said, Georgia would be a double digit favorite if facing either one of those teams. Given all of the above, I do expect the Bulldogs to take this one by double digits as well. 8* GEORGIA

Bowl Punisher - Scott "The Bulldog" Rickenbach CFB Rotation #211 Thursday 10* Top Play West Virginia Mountaineers (-) vs Army Black Knights @ 4 ET - The Mountaineers played a much tougher schedule than Army. Also, West Virginia is off a loss in their regular season finale but went 3-0 SU / ATS this season when entering a game off a loss. Coach Brown will be coaching West Virginia in a bowl game for the first time and I fully believe there is some extra incentive for him to get the win in this one. The line was as high as a 7.5 as it opened up and now it is down to a 6.5 as of game day morning. I feel this is giving us excellent line value in this spot as it crossed the key number of 7. Of course Army fits the classic role of a run-heavy underdog and they have a tendency to perform well in this role. However, Brown was previously the coach at Troy where current WVU DC Koenning was also the defensive coordinator. Brown and Koenning, as a result of experience in the Sun Belt Conference faced the option from time to time. Of course they also have had extra time to prepare for it here with this being a bowl game. That said, Army's offense is likely to struggle more than people realize here and they scored an average of only 16 points their last 4 games of the season. The Mountaineers are very solid defensively, especially considering some of the tough Big 12 offenses they faced, and they will hold Army's one-dimensional attack in check here. When West Virginia has the ball look for an all-out aerial assault as they averaged 277 passing yards per game. Also, coach Brown is 3-0 SU and ATS in bowl games and I look for him to make it 4-0 ATS in bowls while the Mountaineers also make it 4-0 ATS for the season when entering a game off a SU loss. This one is a blowout for the favorite. 10* WEST VIRGINIA

Contrarian Crusher - Scott "The Bulldog" Rickenbach CFB Rotation #315 Wednesday 10* Top Play Florida Gators (+) vs Oklahoma Sooners @ 8 ET - Of course I am well aware of all the issues that are impacting the Gators passing game for this one. However, this line is now all the way up to a +7 and this is a proud SEC team that enters this game off back to back losses to end the regular season. That was preceded by a 3-game stretch in which Florida won all 3 games and did not allow more than 19 points in any of the 3 victories. The Sooners ended the season on a red hot winning run and I know their numbers on defense have looked great. However, Oklahoma did face a lot of struggling and weak offenses to close out the season. Keep in mind, in games against Kansas State, Iowa State, and Texas the Sooners did allow a ton of points. Even with all the missing players, there is certainly hope for this SEC offense against that Sooner D and, at the same time, I definitely expect a bounce back effort from the Gators defense. They allowed 44.5 points per game over their past two games of the season and both were losses. Bounce back time here and, in terms of the big line, note that the Gators have not lost a game by more than 6 points all season. Grab the big points here as we go contrarian and fade the line move. 10* FLORIDA

Bowl Punisher - Scott "The Bulldog" Rickenbach CFB Rotation #298 Tuesday 10* Top Play Texas Longhorns (-) vs Colorado Buffaloes @ 9 ET - the buffaloes entered their season finale with a chance to play for the pac-12 title...instead, colorado blew a 21-10 lead and lost 38 to 21 to utah...after that disheartening loss i am looking for the buffaloes to get slaughtered here...yes, i know the longhorns had some defensive players opt out of this game but there are others behind them who have been waiting in the wings and chomping at the bit to get in there...watch the new blood on defense really step up in this game with an inspired effort...not only that, the strength of this horns team is its offense anyway and they will put on a show for the hometown faithful in this one...yes this game is in san antonio rather than austin but there is a huge contingent of longhorns fans in san antonio plus many will be driving down from austin for this game...the alamodome, even with restrictions due to covid, will still be loaded with texas fans...under coach herman, this is a 4th straight bowl trip and they were dog in each of the first three but not only covered those but won them outright...coach herman takes the bowls seriously and will again have his team ready here...they make it 4 in a row both straight up and against the spread with another big win here...last season the horns beat utah 38-10...yes it was the utes that just blasted the buffaloes in their final game this season and they are in for a rude awakening here as texas rolls...unlike ut, colorado is in a bowl for the first time in 4 years and they got blasted in that one by a 38-8 count and that was right here in this bowl...maybe things will change with head coach dorrell now calling the shots?...unlikely as he went 1-3 ats in bowls as head coach of ucla...this one is all longhorns to the delight of the home state faithful who will pack as many as they can into the alamodome in san antonio...with the line all the way down to a -7 after opening up near two touchdowns, the value is off the charts with this one...10* TEXAS

Contrarian Crusher - Scott "The Bulldog" Rickenbach CFB Rotation #295 Tuesday 8* Oklahoma State Cowboys (-) vs Miami Hurricanes @ 5:30 ET - The Cowboys Chuba Hubbard is missing this game. Hardly worth mentioning as he is very over-rated. Note that other Oklahoma State running backs Dezmon Jackson and LD Brown both gained a full yard more per carry than Hubbard did this season. Also, in the season finale against a Baylor team with a bad offense but respectable defense, Dominic Richardson gained 169 yards on the ground and ran for 3 touchdowns. The Cowboys are loaded at running back and, as for the passing game, Oklahoma State averaged 238 passing yards per road game this season while allowing only 177 yards per game on the road this season. They will dominate this game both on the ground and through the air and Miami's bowl struggles continue. The Hurricanes are getting a lot of attention here (Cowboys WERE a full field goal favorite in this game) but Miami is destined to lose a 4th straight bowl game as Manny Diaz is coaching just his 2nd bowl game. The Cowboys know a thing or two about bowls as this is their 15th straight bowl trip. Coach Mike Gundy is a fiery head coach who does not like to lose. Look for the Cowboys to improve to 10-5 ATS in his last 15 bowls as they get the win and cover here. Last year they covered but lost the game SU to Texas A & M by 3 points. OSU wants to get back to their winning ways in bowls and QB Spencer Sanders will have a field day against a Hurricanes defense that allowed an average of 39 points per game in their 1st 3 road games this season before facing two teams that finished the season with a combined 7-15 record. So how did Miami do in their final home game by the way? They allowed 62 points to North Carolina. More of the same here and the better defense which faced some tough Big 12 offenses, leads the way here as the Cowboys dominate this one and win this one easily. 8* OKLAHOMA STATE

Primetime Punisher - Scott "The Bulldog" Rickenbach NFL Rotation #482 Monday 10* Top Play New England Patriots (+) vs Buffalo Bills @ 8:15 ET - The Bills clinched the AFC East last week while the Patriots clinched missing the post-season! This is not the norm of course and certainly fits the bill as a role reversal. That said, New England is likely to be very motivated for this game. This is particularly true because Cam Newton's fumble in the red zone at Buffalo cost the Pats a chance to win the game in the first meeting this season. You know that coach Bill Belichick and the Patriots badly want this rematch while one could certainly question the motivation of the Bills here after clinching the division last week. I am well aware of the fact that Newton has struggled badly this season and that Buffalo definitely has the better offense in this match-up. However, I do expect Newton and the Pats to bring their A game in this one as they get a shot at the team that has dethroned them at the top of their division and they get that shot in a Monday Night game at home in Foxboro, MA. Note that the Patriots do hold the defensive edge in this match-up and that they are 4-2 SU at home this season. One of those home losses came by just 6 points and the line on this game is +7 plus New England's home wins include victories over Miami and Baltimore and those teams are each 10-5 on the season! The Patriots are fully capable of winning this game outright and the fact we are getting a full TD here thanks to the betting markets is simply tremendous added value in this spot. I expect the home dog to put up a helluva fight in this one and the Pats are 6-0 ATS the last 6 times they have been a host underdog. Also, the Patriots had won 9 of last 10 against Bills before the tough 3-point loss at Buffalo earlier this season. Payback time. 10* NEW ENGLAND

Primetime Punisher - Scott "The Bulldog" Rickenbach NFL Rotation #480 Sunday 8* Green Bay Packers (-) vs Tennessee Titans @ 8:20 ET - The Titans have a lot of pressure on them. Yes they are 10-4 on the season and tied for the top spot in the AFC South but they may not even make the playoffs! They haven't even clinched a post-season spot yet! That said, the playoff pressure absolutely could get to them here. As for the Packers, they sit at a sweet 11-3 on the season and have already locked up the NFC North. Yes, Green Bay still has incentive to win as they would love to lock up home field edge for the post-season but the pressure they feel is very minute compared to what the Titans are feeling here. Considering that as well as the Packers being the much better team defensively and having the home field edge here and the fact the line has gone from a -5 on GB to just a -3, yes I am backing the host in this one in a big way! Green Bay is on a 9-4 ATS run in games against AFC opponents. The Packers are allowing only 337.8 yards per game which ranks their defense in the top 25% of the league. Conversely, the Titans are allowing nearly 400 yards per game and they rank in the bottom third of the NFL defensively. Tennessee's most recent road game was against a very bad Jacksonville team but, prior to that, the Titans allowed an average of 28 points per game in 4 preceding road games. The Packers enter this game on a 4-game winning streak and have won 6 of their last 7 games overall and have allowed only 19.7 points per game in those 6 victories. The Packers defense doesn't get a lot of respect but they have been better than many realize and, as for QB Aaron Rodgers and this GB offense, they will have a huge day against the porous defense of the Titans. That sets this one up well for an absolute home blowout. 8* GREEN BAY

Rivalry Game of the Year - Scott "The Bulldog" Rickenbach NFL Rotation #477 Sunday 10* Top Play Philadelphia Eagles (-) @ Dallas Cowboys @ 4:25 ET - It seems crazy but the Eagles, even with a 4-9-1 record, are still alive in the race for the NFC East. That's because they play Washington next week. If the Eagles win this game and Washington and the Giants (at Ravens) lose today, then the Eagles control their own destiny. That said, there will be no quit in the Eagles today as they look to keep their playoff hopes alive. Of course, the Cowboys are still alive too but their back to back wins are very deceiving. They beat a very bad Bengals team when Cincinnati was still adjusting to life without Joe Burrow at QB. Then, last week's win over San Francisco was quite deceiving. The 49ers held Dallas under 300 yards of offense and the Cowboys had just 15 first downs in the game but won it thanks to turnovers. They now face an Eagles team that is off a loss at Arizona which was also an ATS loss for most as they were a 6.5 point dog for most in that game. That is noteworthy here as, since a rough ATS start to the season way back in September, the Eagles have had back to back ATS losses only once. They have been scoring more points with Hurts at QB instead of Wentz and he accounted for over 400 yards of offense plus 4 total TDs in the loss to the Cardinals last week. While the Cowboys have allowed 28 points or more in 4 of their last 5 games, the Eagles had allowed an average of only 22 points per game their last 7 games before the loss at Arizona. The Philly D will dominate the game here against a Cowboys offense that has endured a lot of struggles including in divisional action. In fact, Dallas is just 1-3 SU and 0-4 ATS in divisional action this season. Look for the Cowboys to drop to 0-5 ATS in divisional games this season as the Eagles bounce back from last week's loss with hopes still alive for being in the driver's seat for the NFC East division next week. 10* PHILADELPHIA

Contrarian Crusher - Scott "The Bulldog" Rickenbach NFL Rotation #469 Sunday 8* Carolina Panthers (+) @ Washington @ 4:05 ET - Typical contrarian play for me here. The Panthers have lost 8 of their last 9 games and yet are only a 1 point dog here against a Washington team that is trying to lock up the NFC East division and has won 4 of their last 5 games SU and 5 in a row ATS. Of course I am on Carolina in a contrarian spot like this and will fade Washington. The big issue for the host here is that QB Alex Smith is hurt and might miss this game. If he plays he won't be near 100 percent and if he doesn't play it means we're seeing Dwayne Haskins under center and he has struggled. I like the fact that Carolina, though struggling to get SU wins, has been very scrappy. The Panthers are still playing hard and they are hungry for a victory and they would love to play the role of spoiler. Adding up all those factors plus being the healthier team (Washington also without top WR Terry McLaurin for this one), Carolina is the play in this one. The Panthers are on a 5-1 ATS run as a road dog and also outgained the Packers in their loss at Green Bay last week. Additionally, Carolina has revenge from losing to Washington each of the past two seasons despite the Panthers having more first downs in each game. Payback time here as they play the role of spoiler on the road Sunday. 8* CAROLINA

Primetime Punisher - Scott "The Bulldog" Rickenbach NFL Rotation #462 Saturday NFL 10* Top Play Las Vegas Raiders (+) vs Miami Dolphins @ 8:15 ET - The Dolphins are off a huge win versus the Patriots last week. Not only does that make this a potential flat spot for Miami, note also that the Dolphins were only 2-2 SU in their 4 preceding games. Also, those two wins came against the Jets and Bengals. Those teams have a combined 4-23-1 record on the season. I know the Dolphins have some solid numbers on defense this season but they are still fortunate to be 11-3 this season as they have a weak offense and also have played a much weaker schedule than the Raiders. That said, I love having Las Vegas as a home dog in this match-up. Plus, Carr is expected back at QB for this one and note that Mariota did play well in relief of Carr last week and is a dual-threat QB. Either way, I expect this talented Raiders offense to put a lot of pressure on the Dolphins. That said, Miami's anemic offense will struggle to keep up in this game. Miami is averaging just 313 yards in road games this season while the Raiders are averaging 386 yards in home games this season. Las Vegas has scored 27 points or more in 6 of its last 7 games while the Dolphins have not scored more than 27 points in any of their last 5 games. From a situational standpoint, with Miami off a huge divisional win and the Raiders off back to back home losses, this one sets up perfectly for a big top play on the home team. Grab the home dog in this one. 10* LAS VEGAS

Bowl Punisher - Scott "The Bulldog" Rickenbach CFB Rotation #283 Saturday 10* Top Play Liberty Flames vs Coastal Carolina Chanticleers @ 7:30 ET - The Chanticleers complained about their ranking and their bowl game. Now watch this undefeated Coastal Carolina team lose outright. That is what I fully expect but I will grab the points as added insurance here especially since the line has moved to a full +7. I know that the Chanticleers feel disrespected but this Liberty team is on their level and is likely to surprise here given that Coastal Carolina could be lamenting their bowl position. When you are more worried about what could have been or what should have been rather than the task at hand you often are setting yourself up for disappointment. I fully believe that will prove to be the case here with the Chanticleers. Yes Coastal Carolina is undefeated on the season but they faced a weak schedule and now face a Liberty team that went 9-1 on the season. Also, the Flames did face 3 ACC teams and they won two of those games outright and lost the 3rd by just a single point! Liberty is a high-quality team but the marketplace is wrapped up in Coastal Carolina's 11-0 record. Of course we can use that to our advantage and grab the line value with the big dog Flames in this one. 10* LIBERTY

Afternoon Annihilation - Scott "The Bulldog" Rickenbach NFL Rotation #459 Saturday 8* San Francisco 49ers (+) @ Arizona Cardinals @ 4:30 ET - Keep in mind, the 49ers have already been playing their "home" games at this venue in Arizona due to covid-related restrictions imposed in California. That said, this isn't much of a "road" game for the Niners and I love the fact that they are a sizable dog here despite the fact they deserved much better than what they got at Dallas last  week. That loss to the Cowboys was despite a huge yardage edge of 167 yards and is helping to give us line value this week. Keep in mind, the Cardinals are off a key win over the Eagles last week and could fall flat here. The 49ers will be up for facing a divisional foe and with the ability to play the role of spoiler and note that Arizona is just 2-6 ATS the last 8 times they have been a home favorite. The Niners have covered 7 of their last 10 road games. Look for those trends to continue here. 8* SAN FRANCISCO

Christmas Day Special - Scott "The Bulldog" Rickenbach NFL Rotation #452 Friday 10* Top Play New Orleans Saints (-) vs Minnesota Vikings @ 4:30 ET - The Viking season effectively came to an end last week with their home loss to the Bears. That defeat eliminated Minnesota from post-season contention. As for the Saints, they are off a loss last week but it came against the Super Bowl Champion Chiefs. Not only that, New Orleans now has Drew Brees back under center but they also are trying to hold off the Buccaneers for the NFC South division title. That said, coming off back to back losses but at home and highly motivated, I fully expect a blowout win for the Saints in this one. New Orleans has the much better defense in this match-up plus they catch a Minnesota team that could be flat after their disappointing result last week ended their playoff hopes for this season. Given the emotional letdown for the Vikings as well as considering their struggles on defense, Minnesota can be expected to drop to 1-5 ATS the last 6 times they have been a road dog. As for the Saints, they had won 9 straight games SU and 5 in a row ATS before this two game skid against the Eagles and Chiefs. With their leader, Brees, back in the fold you will see a very determined New Orleans team in this one and they will keep the hammer down all game long. 4 of the Vikings losses this season have come by at least 9 points and this one will too. Remember the Saints have revenge too from the playoff loss to the Vikings in OT last season! Also, 4 of the last 5 wins for NO have come by a margin of at least 2 TD's. Look for another huge margin victory in this one. Lay it! 10* NEW ORLEANS 

Perfection Play - Scott "The Bulldog" Rickenbach CFB Rotation #279 Friday 10* Top Play Marshall Thundering Herd (+) vs Buffalo Bulls in Camellia Bowl @ Cramton Bowl in Montgomery, AL @ 2:30 ET - Both teams played weak schedules this season but the Bulls schedule was even weaker. Also, Buffalo allowed 38 points or more in 2 of their last 3 games while the Thundering Herd never allowed more than 22 points in a game this season. On the full season, Marshall allowed an average of only 12.6 points per game and they do match up very well with the Bulls. That is because Marshall's strength on defense is against the run and if Buffalo struggles to establish their ground game here they could be in trouble. I am well aware of the fact that the Marshall offense struggled in their final two games of the season which were their only 2 losses on the year. However, the Thundering Herd did average nearly 38 points per game in their 7 victories this season. This team has plenty of confidence and has an excellent track record in bowls and so does their head coach Holiday. I also like the fact that Holiday had won 5 straight bowls before last season's bowl loss while Buffalo was 0-3 in bowl games until they won last season. That sets this one up perfectly for an upset here. Grab the points with the better defensive team in this one. 10* MARSHALL 

Thursday Thrasher - Scott "The Bulldog" Rickenbach CFB Rotation #277 Thursday 10* Top Play Hawaii Warriors (+) vs Houston Cougars in New Mexico Bowl at Frisco, TX @ 3:30 ET - Believe it or not an underdog is going to eventually cover in a bowl game in this bowl season and I expect that to finally happen today. Compared to the closing number (and with Nevada reflected as a -1 in their win over Tulane), there has not been a single underdog cover in the bowls yet. That changes today. Windy conditions expected for this one this afternoon in Frisco, TX. That will make it difficult for pass-happy Houston to pull away in this game. The Cougars are being asked to cover a double digit spread here and I just don't see that happening here. While one could argue that the location of this game favors Houston since it is in their home state, I question the Cougars motivation here. How happy can they be to go to a pre-Christmas bowl game and not even leave their home state? Teams want bigger and better things! In other words, Hawaii is likely more excited to be here and playing in a bowl game far away from home than a Cougars team that certainly wanted something more than playing a bowl game in their home state and sitting with a 3-4 record on the season. It also does not bode well for Houston that their head coach (Holgorsen) does not have a good history in bowls with just 2 wins in 7 tries and only a 1-6 ATS record in bowl appearances. The Cougars wrapped up the season on a disappointing 1-3 SU and ATS skid while the Warriors won 2 of their last 3 games SU and also had an 8 point loss to Boise State that saw them cover as a big double-digit dog. Look for the hungry dog to get the money in this one. 10* HAWAII

Perfection Play - Scott "The Bulldog" Rickenbach CFB Rotation #275 Wednesday 10* Top Play Florida Atlantic Owls (+) vs Memphis Tigers in Montgomery Bowl in Montgomery, AL @ 7 ET - The Owls are 4-0 SU and ATS all-time in bowls. The Tigers are 0-5 SU and ATS their their last 5 bowls. Indeed this is literally the perfect spot to fade Memphis and play on Florida Atlantic. I know the Owls are off an embarrassing season-ending loss which also was their 2nd straight defeat after going 5-1 in their first 6 games of the season. However, FAU was on short rest when they faced Southern Mississippi and, prior to that game, the Owls had not allowed more than 20 points in any game this season. In fact, Florida Atlantic had allowed an average only 12.4 points per game on the season. That said, the fact we are catching nearly double digits here with the Owls as a big dog against Memphis is certainly intriguing. FAU went 2-2 ATS in road game this season and scored 31 points or more in 2 of their last 3 games away from home. Memphis went 0-4 ATS in road games this season and averaged only 17 points per game in those games. The one edge the Tigers have against the Owls here is on the offensive side of the ball BUT Memphis did not travel well this season. That said, how much of an edge is it really? Exactly! That is why I like the stronger defense and more successful bowl team to continue their solid run in post-season affairs with yet another ATS cover - their 5th in a row - while the Tigers drop their 6th straight bowl game ATS. Memphis might finally get off the schneid and get a SU win here but look for it to be just a single score if they do. The Owls defense comes to play in this one and keeps them in this game. The Tigers strength is their passing attack but FAU has a solid pass defense. 10* FLORIDA ATLANTIC

Afternoon Annihilation - Scott "The Bulldog" Rickenbach CFB Rotation #269 Tuesday 10* Top Play Tulane Green Wave (-) vs Nevada Wolf Pack @ 3:30 ET - Tulane is the more rested team here. I realize the location of this game favors Nevada but the Green Wave have had plenty of time to prepare for and travel to this game. I like the fact that this will be just the 2nd game for Tulane since November 20th while, keep in mind, all 8 of Nevada's games have been played from October 24th onward. The fact that Tulane started their season way back in early September is an advantage here. Also, the Wolf Pack will be playing for what is essentially the 9th straight week with just a couple extra days of rest mixed in there. Note that in Tulane's last 9 games, the favorite is a perfect 9-0 SU. In other words if you just played the favorite straight up in the last 9 games for the Green Wave you have gone 9-0 and the line on this game is only a -2 as of early game day morning. Tulane is a perfect 5-0 ATS the last 5 times they have been a favorite this season. I like the fact that the Green Wave have won each of their bowl games the last two seasons under coach Fritz and also that they wrapped up this season on a 4-1 SU and 6-1 ATS run. Conversely, the Wolf Pack lost to a MAC team in the bowls last season plus wrapped up this season with losing 2 of their last 3 games. Nevada enters this bowl off a very disappointing effort against San Jose State. Even though the Green Wave defense is missing a couple players for this game they are still the much better team in this match-up and there is a reason the 5-loss team is favored over the 2-loss Wolf Pack. Don't let the line fool you. The line move shows the public took the bait and I am happy to now grab the extra line value after the market movement. Lay the short number. 10* TULANE

Primetime Punisher - Scott "The Bulldog" Rickenbach NFL Rotation #370 Monday 10* Top Play Cincinnati Bengals (+) vs Pittsburgh Steelers @ 8:15 ET - The Bengals lost to the Cowboys last week but actually held the yardage edge in that game. Also, Pittsburgh is off back to back losses and will be happy just to win this game which means the victory will not necessarily come in blowout fashion! The Steelers have a tough home with the surging Colts on deck so they will leave a little in the tank for that one coming up on Sunday. As for facing Cincinnati, this is simply a "game management" type game for Pittsburgh in my opinion. Just grind out a win, don't make big mistakes, stay healthy, and move forward to bigger and better things. For the Bengals, it is anything but that. This is Cincinnati's chance to get a big primetime upset win over a division rival. Of course I am not saying that will happen as I certainly don't expect an outright win. But I do feel that the spread of 14.5 on this game is too much. I am looking for a loss in the 7 to 10 point range. The Steelers are actually on an ugly 0-5 ATS run as a road favorite in divisional action. Also, the Bengals have covered 6 of the last 8 times they have been a divisional home dog. Prior to the loss to the Cowboys (ugly defeat but yardage edge for Cincinnati), the Bengals were on a 4-0 ATS run in home games. Note that the Steelers enter this game on an 0-3 ATS run. Look for this one to be a bit ugly and for it to remain a much closer game than many are expecting as the home team goes all out in this rare primetime game as a host. 10* CINCINNATI

Bowl Dominator - Scott "The Bulldog" Rickenbach CFB Rotation #267 Monday 10* Top Play OVER the total in Appalachian State Mountaineers vs North Texas Mean Green @ 2:30 ET - The Mountaineers have a solid defense but that doesn't mean they will shut down a dangerous Mean Green offense. Appalachian State has allowed 24 points or more in 3 of their last 4 games and, in fact, allowed an average of 28 points per game in those 3 games. The Mountaineers are 21 point favorite here with good reason. So we absolutely could see a 49-28 type game here and, as you can see, that would put this total about 10 points over what it is posted at. I just don't see many defensive stops in this game. North Texas has allowed an average of 45 points per game in its last 3 games and allowed at least 42 in all 3 games. On the other side of the ball, the Mean Green have scored at least 31 points in 6 of their 9 games this season. In fact, North Texas has averaged 42 points per game in those 6 games. Look for points aplenty in this one as the Mean Green will enjoy some success on offense but will struggle mightily to get any stops against the Mountaineers. 10* OVER the total in Appalachian State

Primetime Punisher - Scott "The Bulldog" Rickenbach NFL Rotation #361 Sunday 8* Cleveland Browns (-) @ New York Giants @ 8:20 ET - The Giants, especially without QB Daniel Jones (expected to be out again) just do not have the offensive firepower to keep up with this red hot Browns offense. That is why I am willing to lay the points here with Cleveland on the road. I just don't see the Giants scoring enough to hang around in this game. Granted, the New York defense has some great numbers on the season and I do respect their D. But they also have been helped by facing a lot of weak and struggling offenses including those of their fellow NFC East counterparts. That said, facing a Browns team that put up over 40 points in back to back weeks and has averaged 33 points their last 4 games presents an entirely different level of challenge to the New York defense. Also, the Giants are allowing 25 points per game in home games this season so they actually have been better away from home. I know the Browns defense has some scary bad numbers but the New York offense is really hurting without a healthy Jones under center. And Colt McCoy? Sorry but he has never been a quality NFL quarterback and especially now in his mid-30s and with little playing time in recent years he is even less of a back-up than he use to be in his prime. So here you have a Giants offense that has averaged 14 points per game their last 3 games and that doesn't many weapons and lost their best one, RB Barkley, early this season. New York faces a Cleveland team that is off a loss and hasn't lost back to back games this entire season. The Browns are clearly on a mission this season and the better team pulls away as this game goes on. Lay it! 8* CLEVELAND

Game of the Month - Scott "The Bulldog" Rickenbach NFL Rotation #363 Sunday 10* Top Play Philadelphia Eagles (+) @ Arizona Cardinals @ 4:05 ET - The NFC East is still up for grabs. Certainly the Eagles have put themselves in a hole but the win over the Saints last week with Hurts now in at QB has breathed life into the Eagles. If the Redskins - about a TD dog to Seattle - lose in early action Sunday then Philadelphia could move to within a 1/2 game of first place in the NFC East and, keep in mind, they face the Redskins in the final game of the regular season. In other words, at least at this point in time, the Eagles still have life courtesy of the win over New Orleans last week. Now Philly takes on an Arizona team that is off a win but that victory was preceded by a 1-4 SU run and 0-5 ATS run. In other words, the Cardinals have been struggling badly and the Eagles are 5-5 ATS in their last 10 games. They can remain competitive in this game even if they ultimately fall short. Philadelphia, before an ugly loss to Tampa Bay, had seen 3 of their 4 prior losses come by a margin of 6 or less points. This one will fall into that category too or could even be an outright Philly win. Why? Well the Cardinals are allowing 29.5 points per game when at home this season and simply can't be trusted here. Before Arizona's win over a Giants team with a punchless offense, the Cards allowed 31 points per game their preceding 6 games. The Eagles enter this game having allowed an average of 22 points per game their last 7 games. Also, Philly has positive energy again after the win over the Saints. That will show up on the field here this week as Arizona drops to 1-7 ATS the last 8 times they have been a home favorite. 10* PHILADELPHIA

Contrarian Crusher - Scott "The Bulldog" Rickenbach NFL Rotation #352 Sunday 8* Atlanta Falcons (+) vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers @ 1 ET - A lot of nice angles for the Falcons in this one. Though it did take OT for Atlanta to win the most recent meeting they did hold a 28-14 first down edge in that game at Tampa Bay. Also, the Buccaneers are off a win but that was preceded by losing 3 of 4 games. The Falcons are off back to back losses but that was preceded by a solid 4-2 SU/ATS stretch. In other words, lets not be too quick to judge just based on last week's results and note too that the Bucs were actually outgained in their win over the Vikings last week. Atlanta has covered 6 of the last 8 times they have been a home dog in divisional action and this line is moving to as high as a +7 for this one! Plus their interim head coach, Morris, use to be a head coach for TB about a decade ago but then was fired after only a couple seasons. You know this one means a little extra for him! The Falcons lost on a field goal as time expired at LA against the Chargers last week but now they can regroup at home where they haven't lost a game by more than 7 points since their season opener! Excellent home dog value here as Tom Brady and the Bucs continue to be over-rated. 8* ATLANTA

Primetime Punisher - Scott "The Bulldog" Rickenbach NFL Rotation #344 Saturday 10* Top Play Green Bay Packers (-) vs Carolina Panthers @ 8:15 ET - The Panthers have been successful as a road dog but they also have been fortunate. They have forced 2 turnovers per game on the road this season. That is unlikely to happen against these Packers as they have turned the ball over just 3 times in 6 home games this season! Also, Carolina has nothing to play for now. Up until last week they still had some hope of maybe making a run. But the loss to Denver guarantees a losing season and guarantees that the Panthers are going nowhere this season. That is tough for a football team when reality sets in and so Carolina goes on the road right after finding out their season is officially finished. Green Bay wins this game as they are 5-1 SU at home this season but of course the all important question is whether or not they cover. I feel strongly they will because I expect a very disinterested effort from the Panthers here and note Green Bay so often wins big. 4 of their 5 home wins this season have come by a margin of 14 or more points! The last time that Carolina faced a strong team they were at home against Tampa Bay and got blasted by 23 points! Since then they have faced nothing but teams with a losing record and I now look for them to struggle against a Packers team that is still playing hard for home field edge in the NFC. Their 10-3 record has them tied with the Saints for top spot in the conference. Green Bay caught a break when New Orleans was knocked off by the lowly Eagles in a big upset. That good break has brought even more positive energy to a Packers locker-room that has already been surging with momentum thanks to three straight wins and victories in 5 of their last 6 games. These two teams will prove to be at opposite ends of the motivation spectrum for this game and that means Lambeau Field turns into Blowout City for the home team when the final whistle sounds on this one. Lay it! 10* GREEN BAY

The Game of the Year - Scott "The Bulldog" Rickenbach CFB Rotation #237 Saturday 10* Top Play Tulsa Golden Hurricane @ Cincinnati Bearcats @ 8 ET - I know the AAC Championship Game is being played at Cincinnati's home stadium but this is too many points. Tulsa has played the tougher schedule this season and the Bearcats were quite fortunate in the turnover battle in their wins when they did step up in class. If you take a look at their stats in those match-ups you will see what I am talking about but lets just say they have led a bit of a 'charmed life' so far this season and I fully expect their luck to run out here. That doesn't mean they will lose this game outright but I do feel strongly that Tulsa will be in this game all the way. The Golden Hurricane defense is arguably just as good as Cincinnati's and this is particularly true when you factor in strength of schedule. That said, the Bearcats are in for a dogfight in this game. Tulsa has won 6 straight games SU and is also 6-1 ATS this season. The Golden Hurricane also have an advantage in that they have played a game in the past two weeks while Cincinnati has not played a game since a month ago! Tulsa lost by 11 points at Cincy last season but they actually outgained them by 60 yards but were done in by 5 turnovers in the game. I certainly do not expect a repeat of that as the Golden Hurricane are only turning the ball over 1.5 times a game on the road this season. About the scheduling and breaks, here is an excerpt from my write-up on Central Florida when they lost by just 3 to Cincinnati in the Bearcats most recent game 4 weeks ago: "Though the Bearcats won big at SMU in their lone road game, they actually had just 17 first downs in that game while the Mustangs had 22. Cincinnati is absolutely a very good team but they have had it quite easy so far this season with scheduling and all the breaks seeming to go their way too." This is going to be an all-out war and the only loss the Golden Hurricane have is as a 23 point dog against Oklahoma State in their season opener and they covered easily as they only allowed 16 points to the Cowboys in that game. Don't be surprised if this game goes down to the wire so grab the big points. 10* TULSA

Big Ten Punisher Game of the Year - Scott "The Bulldog" Rickenbach CFB Rotation #208 Friday 10* Top Play Rutgers Scarlet Knights (+) vs Nebraska Cornhuskers @ 7:30 ET - Rutgers QB Noah Vedral would love to face his former team but is dealing with an ankle injury. Though I do expect him to go here, Artur Sitkowski has played well this season and helped lead the way to an overtime victory at Maryland last week. The key for me here is that the Scarlet Knights continue to fight hard and give strong effort week after week. Conversely, the Cornhuskers are off an inexcusable home loss to Minnesota last week as an 8 point favorite. Now Nebraska is on the road and this line has risen as high as a 7 and that means it is go time with Rutgers here. The Scarlet Knights have won 3 of their last 4 games ATS and two of those were outright upset wins. Even though Rutgers has been giving strong efforts of late they still sit at 0-4 SU on the season in home games. Undoubtedly they will give it their all for coach Schiano in their home finale here and I fully expect them to improve to 6-2 ATS under Schiano as an underdog. Note that the Cornhuskers have dropped 11 of last 15 under coach Frost as a favorite. Statistically these teams are trending very close on the season and I look for them to build off the big road win last week while the Huskers have proven already that they are merely looking ahead to next season. Last week's home loss to the Golden Gophers says a lot. The home dog is the play here. 10* RUTGERS

Primetime Punisher - Scott "The Bulldog" Rickenbach NFL Rotation #301 Thursday 10* Top Play OVER the total in Las Vegas Raiders vs Los Angeles Chargers @ 8:20 ET - Look for a back and forth shootout here. Not only are the Raiders dealing with injuries on defense, the Chargers passing attack is averaging 270 yards per game this season and threw for 312 yards in their first meeting with Las Vegas this season. This is a revenge game for LA as they lost the first meeting despite a yardage edge of 120 yards. The reason I am on the over here is because I just don't trust the Chargers defense enough against a Las Vegas team that has averaged 267 passing yards and 29 points in their home games this season. I know the Chargers have some solid defensive numbers on the season but their road games have included facing weak offenses such as Cincinnati, Denver, and Miami. Also, in their 5 most recent road games Los Angeles has allowed 31 points per game. As for the Raiders defense, they have had one strong showing at home (against Denver) but have been throttled in their other 5 home games to the tune of 35.6 points per game. The Chargers most recent road game resulted in an under but, prior to that, it was a streak of 4 straight overs in Chargers away games! As for Las Vegas, only 1 of their 6 home games has resulted in an under. This is a big total posted on this game but don't let that big number scare you away. Both teams should move the ball well here as the Chargers offense also is looking a little healthier for this game and I have no doubts about the Raiders potent attack on offense at home but their defensive injuries will hurt them (literally) in this one as well. 10* OVER the total in Las Vegas

Primetime Punisher - Scott "The Bulldog" Rickenbach NFL Rotation #179 Monday 10* Top Play Baltimore Ravens (-) @ Cleveland Browns @ 8:15 ET - This is a contrarian play and, as long-time followers know, going contrarian is something I often do in the NFL. The fact is that the Browns are 2 games in front of the Ravens in the standings plus they are at home where they are 5-1 on the season. Also, Cleveland has revenge from getting hammered at Baltimore in their season opener. Additionally the Browns have the rest edge here since they have been playing Sunday games for weeks on end whereas the Ravens had the recent scheduling problems with their game against the Steelers. As a result, Baltimore will be playing for the 3rd time in a span of 13 days when they take the field tonight. However, considering all of the above, when the markets look at this game they will wonder how in the world it can be that it is the Ravens who are favored by a field goal on the road in this one? My response to that is...exactly! In other words, don't be fooled by the line here or the situation. The odds makers are telling you all you need to know here and that is that Baltimore is the better team and favored for a reason. I like the fact that they have allowed a total of just 36 points their last two games whereas the Browns allowed 35 points at Tennessee last week and 25 at Jacksonville the week before. Also, I like the fact that other than the win over Titans and a win over the Colts, the Browns other 7 wins have come against 6 teams (beat Bengals twice) with a combined record of 21-55-2 on the season! Now they take on a Ravens team that, though they've underperformed at times this season, are still a Baltimore team that is off a 14-2 season last year. Also, in road games this season when Lamar Jackson is under center, the Ravens have gone 4-1 this year. Give the Browns some credit for getting tight wins when they have needed to but also they have been blasted by a combined 92-19 in their 3 losses this season and I sense another one here. Off the big confidence-boosting win over the Cowboys last week, the Ravens are back in the saddle again and I fully expect a dominating road performance here and the better defense keys the victory here. 10* BALTIMORE