Matt Fargo

This is a play on the LOS ANGELES LAKERS for our NBA Saturday Enforcer. We won with Denver on Thursday as it blew out the Blazers but we will be fading the Nuggets on Saturday in a much tougher spot. They improved to 21-19 overall including 10-7 at home which is solid yet unspectacular and they remain in sixth place in the Western Conference, one game ahead of the Lakers and just two games out of ninth place. The offensive outburst we saw Thursday was unique as they scored 140 points on 63 percent shooting and we will not see that again as Denver is ranked No. 23 in scoring offense.  Following four straight wins, the Lakers have lost two straight games including a bad loss at Sacramento on Wednesday by nine points as a four-point favorite. That dropped Los Angeles to 7-10 on the road and it has struggled this season despite playing the easiest schedule in the league and a big reason for that is that the Lakers have played 25 games at home compared to the 17 games on the road. Since Anthony Davis went down with a knee injury, the Lakers are 5-6 and as mentioned, they are a game behind Denver and just one game clear of Minnesota to fall out of the playoff picture entirely. They have gone just 4-10 against the number when facing winning teams but that damage has mostly come at home where they are 2-7 ATS. Their six wins against teams ranked No. 23 or better are the second fewest in that group and the team having the fewest with five is Denver. Here we play against home favorites off a win by 10 points or more over a division rival, with a winning percentage of between .450 and .550 on the season. This situation is 36-11 ATS (76.6 percent) over the last five seasons. 10* (535) Los Angeles Lakers

This is a play on the NEVADA WOLF PACK as part of our CBB Saturday Afternoon Triple Play. Air Force hung with Colorado St., which was undefeated coming in, as it lost by eight points as a 21-point underdog. The problem is that game was on January 4th so the Falcons have not played a game in 11 days and being offensively challenged already, this is a problem. They return home where they defeated Utah St. in their last home game as a 13-point underdog to improve to 5-0 here but the other four wins were against garbage. Adding to the offensive woes is their 66 percent clip from the free throw line, No. 314 in the nation. Air Force is 1-9 ATS in its last 10 games after covering 2 of their last 3 against the spread. Nevada had a similar situation where it was off for 11 days and when it finally got back on the court, it was blown out at home against Boise St. by 15 points. This is a very veteran team that will bounce back against an inferior opponent as the Wolf Pack need a strong start in MWC action as it is sitting on a 7-6 record. They are 0-3 on the road but three teams are a combined 39-9 and while Air Force has a winning record, playing a schedule ranked No 316 has helped. Nevada is 10-0 ATS in its last 10 games after having lost two of their last three games. Here, we play on road teams off an upset loss by 15 points or more as a favorite, with all five starters returning from last season. This situation is 62-29 ATS (68.1 percent) since 1997. 9* (719) Nevada Wolf Pack

This is a play on the WAKE FOREST DEMON DEACONS as part of our CBB Saturday Afternoon Triple Play. Virginia is coming off a narrow two-point win over Virginia Tech following a blowout loss against North Carolina in its previous game. The Cavaliers are now 4-2 in the ACC and while the defense remains its mainstay, the offense has struggled for the most part as they are ranked No. 327 in scoring offense at 62.7 ppg. They are going to face a challenge here and while they will slow it down like usual, they have faced two of the top four offenses in the ACC and were lit up for 69 and 74 points. Virginia is 8-23 ATS in its last 31 games off a close home win by three points or less. Wake Forest is part of that high-scoring group as it is No. 2 in the ACC in scoring offense at 79.1 ppg which is good for No. 36 in the country. The Demon Deacons are 13-4 overall which includes a 3-3 record in the conference and those three losses came against three of the top teams in the ACC in Miami, Duke and Louisville. They are 1-2 on the road with that lone win coming against the Hokies by 19 points. The Demon Deacons are 7-3 ATS in their last 10 road games against teams with a winning home record. Here we play against teams in the second half of the season allowing 63 or fewer ppg and after scoring 55 points or less going up against an teams allowing between 67 and 74. This situation is 56-21 ATS (72.7 percent) over the last five seasons. 9* (717) Wake Forest Demon Deacons

This is a play on the EAST CAROLINA PIRATES as part of our CBB Saturday Afternoon Triple Play. East Carolina heads home following a pair of losses on the road at Temple and Cincinnati and the Pirates are a perfect 9-0 on their home floor. They have won some close games here and they are catching a great number to try and improve to 4-0 ATS against teams with a winning record. East Carolina has been solid on offense, averaging 73.7 ppg and its perimeter shooting has led the way as the Pirates are hitting 37.3 percent from long range which is No. 39 in the country. The Pirates are 6-2 ATS in their last eight games following an ATS win. Memphis is coming off a loss at UCF which snapped a three-game winning streak and the Tigers are now 3-2 in the AAC. They have played well at home but have struggled on the road where they are 1-4 and on the season, home teams are 11-2 in Memphis games. They too have a solid offense as they are averaging three points more per game than the Pirates but they are a bad free throw shooting team and that could come into play late in the game especially on the road where they are shooting just 67 percent. The Tigers are 2-7-1 ATS in their last 10 games overall. Here, we play against favorites of 3.5 to 9.5 points in the second half of the season averaging 17.5 or more turnovers per game going up against teams forcing 14.5 or fewer turnovers per game. This situation is 90-49 ATS (64.7 percent) since 1997. 9* (690) East Carolina Pirates

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This is a play on the CINCINNATI BENGALS for our NFL Saturday Game of the Month. The Raiders pulled off the unthinkable as it finished the season with four straight wins and all of those played a part in knocking those teams out of the playoffs. This included a huge road win at Indianapolis to stay alive and then a home underdog win over the Chargers to get into the postseason. The season could have been a lot worse as four of their 10 wins came in overtime while another three came by four points or less. On the flip side, of the seven Las Vegas losses, six were by seven points or more and overall, the Raiders were outscored by 17 ppg in those defeats. Las Vegas is middle of the pack in total offense and defense and in the bottom half in scoring offense and scoring defense and have a challenge here. Raiders are 3-11 ATS in their last 14 games after allowing more than 30 points in their previous game. The Bengals secured the AFC North title with a thrilling win over the Chiefs in Week 17 before resting their starters last week to get ready for their first playoff game since 2015. They will be seeking their first playoff win since 1990 as Cincinnati has gone 0-8 in its last eight postseason games. This team has the makeup to make a run as they won five of their last seven games prior to that Cleveland game, with one of those losses coming in overtime. The offense is clicking and the defense finished No. 9 in the league in quarterback pressures while they should be able to take away the Raiders running game as they finished No. 5 in rushing defense. The Bengals are 8-2 ATS in their last 10 games after allowing more than 150 yards rushing in their previous game. Here, we play against teams off an upset win over a division rival as a home underdog, with a winning record on the season. This situation is 85-36 ATS (70.2 percent) since 1983. 10* (142) Cincinnati Bengals

This is a play on the DETROIT PISTONS for our NBA Sunday Enforcer. After a miserable run, Detroit is playing pretty well right now as it has won five of its last eight games and has played the elite teams pretty tough, going 21-9 ATS in their last 30 games against teams outscoring their opponents by three or more ppg. The Pistons have been miserable on the road but have been competitive at home, getting outscored by less than four ppg and they are 8-4 ATS this season in this price range. On paper, it looks like a mismatch as Detroit has one of the worst offensive and defensive shooting units in the league but it is not often to catch a home team as a double-digit underdog. The Pistons have won and covered four straight at home including an impressive win over the Jazz. Phoenix has opened its five-game roadtrip with a pair of wins against Toronto and Indiana to improve to 15-4 on the road. The Suns are now leading the Western Conference by a game and a half over Golden St. and they could very well be looking past this game with a Monday meeting with the Spurs in San Antonio. Phoenix is ranked in the top five in scoring, shooting, three-point shooting and free throw shooting, in both offense and defense which is pretty remarkable and that is an obvious another reason for this number. The Suns are a pedestrian 4-3 ATS as a double-digit favorite this season. Here, we play against road favorites of 10 or more points with a winning percentage of .750 or better having won six or seven of their last eight games, playing a team with a winning percentage of .250 or worse. This situation is 45-18 ATS (71.4 percent) since 1996. 10* (574) Detroit Pistons

This is a play on the WICHITA ST. SHOCKERS for our AAC Game of the Month. Wichita St. comes into Sunday riding a three-game losing streak including a tough one-point loss against Tulane in its last game on Wednesday. The Shockers fell to 6-3 at home with that defeat and they have lost back-to-back home games for just the second time in the last decade and is looking to avoid its first three-game home skid since the 2007-08 season. KenPom ranks the Shockers defense No. 37 in the country in efficiency and they lead the conference in defensive rebound percentage at 73.4 percent and are holding opponents to 28.7 percent from three-point range which is the best in the AAC. The Shockers are 29-15 ATS in their last 44 games after failing to cover six or seven of their last eight games against the spread. Cincinnati is coming off a win last time out and it hits the road where it is just 1-2 on the season, the lone win coming at Miami Ohio by a single point. The Bearcats are off to a 2-2 start in the AAC that includes home victories over East Carolina and SMU with the losses against Tulane at home and on the road at Memphis. Cincinnati is solid on defense as well as the overall numbers are better than the Shockers but this has come against a schedule ranked No. 238 compared to a Wichita St. schedule that is No. 93 in the nation. The Bearcats are 0-4-1 ATS in their last five road games against teams with a winning home record. 10* (828) Wichita St. Shockers

This is a play on the PHILADELPHIA EAGLES for our NFL Sunday Enforcer. Tampa Bay will be a seeing a majority of the action here and it is already catching 62 percent of the bets as of Thursday night and that will go up once the public gets more involved. The Buccaneers enter the playoffs on a three-game winning streak, all against trash teams, and they have gone 7-1 over their last eight games but faced just one playoff team over that stretch. Speaking of which, Tampa Bay went 9-3 against non-playoff teams, showing the schedule one-sided toward poor teams as it was ranked No. 30 in the league, and while the Buccaneers went 4-1 against playoff teams, those wins came by 2, 2, 6 and 5 points and two of those were at home. Cannot be sold as this number. The Buccaneers are 5-15-2 ATS in their last 22 games following a straight up win of more than 14 points. The Eagles lost their regular season finale against the Cowboys as quarterback Jalen Hurts was a late scratch and while it hurt their seeding to an extent, being healthy was the right call and Philadelphia is catching a huge number and their rushing game, which is ranked No. 1 in the NFL, will be a big part for their success or lack thereof. Philadelphia also closed the season strong but like Tampa Bay, it came against a weak schedule but they have the makeup to make this game competitive throughout. In the regular season meeting, the Eagles lost by six and this was before they started relying on the running game as they had only 19 rushes but still averaged 5.2 ypc. Philadelphia is 12-3 ATS in its last 15 road games against teams averaging 29 or more ppg in the second half of the season. Here, we play against home favorites outgaining their opponents by 0.75 or more yppl, after gaining 400 or more total ypg over their last three games. This situation is 29-6 ATS (82.9 percent) over the last five seasons. 9* (145) Philadelphia Eagles