Scott Rickenbach

CBB Saturday 10* Top Play Villanova Wildcats +10 @ Creighton Bluejays @ 7:30 ET - The Wildcats recently got Justin Moore back and he is a senior guard who is a key player for them. Villanova also has been a better team since Cam Whitmore joined the playing rotation at the start of the season. What is happening with this line here is that Creighton is over-valued. Yes, the Bluejays are known for playing well at home and have revenge from last year's Big East title loss. But the key here with Creighton is that they are laying double digits against a Nova team that is getting stronger and more confident and healthier. Yes they just lost at Marquette but they had key guys in foul trouble plus it was just the 2nd game for Moore since he came back. He'll be even better here. Note that Villanova is only 10-12 this season but the average margin of defeat is 6.5 points per loss and only one defeat was by more than 10 points. The Wildcats are 0-4 against ranked teams but no loss was by a double digit margin. This is just too many points here. The revenge angle for Creighton is making this line higher than it should be. The Bluejays only scored 63 against a bad Georgetown team in most recent game and, again, the Cats likely would have won at Marquette if not for foul trouble "slowing their roll" in that game. They will be very strong in this game as they are off B2B tight losses but have their team together again with Moore back in the lineup and it is showing in how competitive they have been against ranked foes in the last two games. That continues here and the points are just too much here for the Bluejays to be laying. 10* VILLANOVA +10

CBB Saturday 10* Top Play Texas Longhorns Money Line -115 @ Kansas State Wildcats @ 4 ET - The Wildcats are ranked higher. Kansas State also is undefeated at home this season. The Cats also already beat the Longhorns at Texas earlier this season. All that and yet this line is right around a pick'em even though KSU is at home. Must be a mistake, right? No, not at all! The road team has won 4 straight meetings in this series. Also, UT is the better team defensively and you would never know that considering they allowed the Wildcats to put up 116 on them in Austin in the prior meeting this season. You think the Horns have forgotten that? Of course not! UT comes up huge on the defensive end in this one and gets a convincing win! Kansas State is a solid team for sure but the Longhorns are even better. The Wildcats have lost 3 of last 4 games against ranked teams. Texas has won 4 of 7 against ranked teams and they catch KSU off a disappointing big game loss to their biggest rival as they just lost to the Jayhawks. 10* TEXAS -115

NBA Saturday 10* Top Play OVER 226 in Detroit Pistons vs Phoenix Suns @ 7 ET - Yesterday's Pistons game had 137 points at halftime and yet stayed under the total. Yesterday's Suns game at Boston totaled just 200 points and stayed way under the total. Both Detroit and Phoenix won those games too. Also, as noted above, both those games were yesterday on Friday so this is a B2B spot for both clubs. All of these factors are situations where I like to take an over and they are all lining up right here on the same game so I am all over this over! The Pistons game was ridiculous in not going over the total yesterday. The Suns are off a very strong defensive effort in an upset win of Celtics on the road. Both teams off wins here so could let up on intensity on the defensive end. Last but not least, is back to back spot for both teams so could be some tired legs taking plays off on the defensive end too. Add it all up and you can see why I am going big on this one. 10* OVER 226 in Detroit

EPL Saturday 10* Top Play OVER 2.5 in Newcastle United vs West Ham United @ 12:30 ET - I know that the Hammers have not been scoring well this season but they are starting to score better of late with at least 1 goal in 4 of last 5 matches across all competitions and this includes 2 goals scored for West Ham in 3 of those 4 matches! Also, against Newcastle, the Hammers have scored at least 1 goal in 8 of 9 matches and, amazingly, scored at least 2 goals in 7 of those 8 matches! That said, the Hammers have a little extra confidence entering this one! The trouble for them is they are running into a red hot Newcastle club that has been particularly tough at St James' Park! Here they are averaging 1.8 goals scored per match in league action. Also, overall, Newcastle United enters this one having suffered one home shutout in last 6 league matches as a host but scoring an average of 2.4 goals in the other 5 home matches in league action dating back to early October. I am looking for a 2-1 match here at the very least but I expect the Hammers to open things up here and that helps lead the way to a match that could surprise many by being very high-scoring. Keep in mind, Newcastle's match with Southampton had 3 goals by the 29 minute mark earlier this week in tournament action. 10* OVER 2.5 in Newcastle United

EPL Saturday 10* Top Play OVER 2.5 in Brighton & Hove vs Bournemouth @ 10 AM ET - Brighton has scored at least 2 goals in 7 straight matches across all competitions and averaged scoring 3 goals per match during this stretch. Brighton is in fine form and Bournemouth continues to struggle in giving up a ton of goals. That said, it would not surprise me if Brighton gets us this win all by themselves as they have been scoring an average of 3 goals against competition that is much tougher than this Bournemouth team. However, don't be surprised if the hosts get caught looking ahead to upcoming bigger matches and that allows the visitors to find the back of the net once. In that case, this match should end at least 2-1 but, however it manages to get there, the key is I am fully expecting 3 goals in this one given the above. 10* OVER 2.5 in Brighton

Romania Liga 1 Saturday 10* Top Play OVER 2 in Rapid Bucuresti vs FC Voluntari @ 1 ET - Voluntari has scored at least 1 goal in 9 of their 11 road matches this season. So the good news for them is they are away from home for this one. The better news about that too is this is really no road trip either as Voluntari is a suburb of Bucuresti. That said, even though Voluntari is down in the table, you know they will push hard against their "big brothers" Rapid in this one. That is why I am projecting an over here as I do expect Voluntari to make the net ripple at least once and, at the same time, they will struggle to slow down a Rapid team that has been marching its way back up the table for a long time now. 8 of Voluntari's last 10 road matches have totaled at least 2 goals and they have allowed an average of 1.4 goals per match in those. As for Rapid, they are off a scoreless draw but this followed 12 straight games that totaled at least 2 goals and those dozen matches averaged 3 goals apiece. I am looking for a 2-1 type final here. 10* OVER 2 in Rapid

Romania Liga 1 Free Pick OVER 2 goals +120 in Hermannstadt vs FC Arges @ 7:30 AM ET - If you do your line shopping here there is actually over 2 goals available at solid plus money for this one. That is a great value because I do expect each club to score at least once and note that each time has only 6 draws in 23 matches this season. That is why I expect this match to find its way to 2-1 rather than ending in a 1-1 draw. FC Arges has scored at least 1 goal in 3 of last 4 road matches. The problem for FC Arges is they are winless in last 7 matches because they have allowed an average of 2 goals per match during this stretch. Hermannstadt has gone 3-0 in last 3 meetings with FC Arges and is scoring an average of 2 goals per match last 4 meetings with them. This sets up for plenty of goals as Hermannstadt was held scoreless in most recent home match but had scored 6 goals in the prior 2 matches as a host. Facing a struggling FC Arges club helps get the hosts back on track in the goal-scoring department. Free Pick OVER 2 goals +120 in Hermannstadt