Scott Rickenbach

TNT Annihilation - Scott "The Bulldog" Rickenbach NBA Rotation #711 Saturday 10* Top Play Denver Nuggets (+) vs Los Angeles Lakers @ 9 ET - Though the Lakers Anthony Davis is listed as questionable I am sure he is going to play here. Still I like the Nuggets in this one. Even though LA had a dozen more free throw attempts in Game 4, the Lakers still only won the game by a half dozen points. That says something right here. What we also know about this Denver team is there is no quit in them. They were down 3-1 in each of the prior two series and rallied to win both. I am not saying that happens here but I am expecting them to go toe to toe with the Lakers in this one all the way. If the Nuggets do fall short look for it to be on a buzzer beater type scenario like how Davis beat them on the late 3 in Game 2. The fact is the Nuggets have been hanging tough with the Lakers in each of the past 3 games and I see no reason that won't continue here. That being the case, give me the points! 10* DENVER

Total of the Week - Scott "The Bulldog" Rickenbach MLB Rotation #961 Saturday 10* Top Play OVER the total in Kansas City Royals vs Detroit Tigers @ 7:05 ET - The wind will be blowing out toward left-center field at a good clip on Saturday evening at Kauffman Stadium. This is a match-up featuring two teams that are staying home for the playoffs so the hitters certainly will be relaxed at the plate. That said, I like this pitching match-up to result in an easy over. The Tigers Matthew Boyd is facing the Royals for the 3rd time this season but the first time at Kansas City. Though his most recent start against KC was solid, that was sandwiched around 2 poor outings. That comes as no surprise as it has been a very rough season for Boyd and I expect the Royals to pound him in their 3rd look at him this season plus now facing him at home. As for the Kansas City starter, it is rookie Carlos Hernandez. He has not pitched more than 3 and 2/3 innings in any of his outings. His most recent one lasted that long and he only allowed 1 earned run but 4 hits and 3 walks so he was fortunate to say the least. Look for him to get crushed by the Tigers here but note that the Detroit team ERA is among the worst in the majors this season so this one turns into a high-scoring slugfest with the ball carrying very well at Kauffman Stadium tonight. 10* OVER the total in Kansas City

NBC Blowout Rout - Scott "The Bulldog" Rickenbach NHL Rotation #30 Saturday 7* Tampa Bay Lightning Money Line (-) vs Dallas Stars @ 8 ET - That was an inexcusable loss for the Stars last night and, in my opinion, a defeat that is nearly impossible to bounce back from. When they took the 2-0 lead very late in the first period Dallas absolutely can not allow the Lightning to score there to get back in the game but that is exactly what they did. Then in the 2nd period, it was another stupid penalty on the part of Oleksiak (he has been doing this throughout the entire postseason) and that allowed TB to tie the game at 2. Then the Stars don't score on a power play early in OT and the rest is history. Dallas just does not play smart hockey and the Lightning are too good of a team to be making so many mistakes. Tampa Bay sees blood in the water now and does not want to let the Stars get back into this series. The Lightning have been the much better team on special teams throughout this series and that was the case again last night as their power play was the difference in the game. Dallas had their chance last night and blew it. The Bolts are too smart and too well-coached to give the Stars another chance here. Of course this price is a little higher than I would like but that is why I am dropping my rating to just 7* on this play in a game which I feel will be the final game of the 2019-20 NHL season. It has been another good one for me and, already, I can't wait for next season! Until then, lets close out the season the right way...with a win! 7* TAMPA BAY 

Game of the Month - Scott "The Bulldog" Rickenbach CFB Rotation #454 Saturday 10* Top Play Virginia Tech Hokies (-) vs NC State Wolfpack @ 8 ET - This line was as high as a 10.5 earlier this week and now fell to as low as a -6. The fact it is below the key number of 7 as of early game day morning is leading to excellent line value in this match-up. I know NC State has an advantage in terms of having a game under their belt but they just allowed 42 points to Wake Forest. The Wolfpack hung on for the 3-point win but certainly were not overly impressive on the defensive side of the ball as the Demon Deacons piled up 32 first downs in that game. Now they take on a Virginia Tech team that returns nearly the entire defense from last season. The Hokies are undervalued here because some expect them to struggle in their first game without defensive coordinator Bud Foster. I definitely do not see it that way and I also like the fact that a lot of players got valuable experience last season by being "thrown into the fire". Enduring those growing pains last season has the Hokies positioned well for success this season. Justin Fuente is a solid coach and this is the best-looking roster he has had since the 2016 season and Virginia Tech won the ACC Coastal Division that season. History is certainly on the side of the Hokies as they have won 4 straight meetings with NC State and each of the last 3 were double digit wins. Virginia Tech can't wait to get back on the field as they were 8-3 last season before losing their season finale to Virginia and then the Hokies also lost their bowl game. They have waited a long time to again taste victory and they'll be ready here. As for the Wolfpack, they had actually lost 6 straight games to close out last season and barely hung on for 3-point win last week. NC State won't be so fortunate this week as they drop to 1-7 SU their last 8 games. Hokies roll to double digit win. 10* VIRGINIA TECH

Situational Slaughter - Scott "The Bulldog" Rickenbach CFB Rotation #451 Saturday 8* Texas State Bobcats (+) @ Boston College Eagles @ 6 ET - The Eagles are off a win at Duke but, though they won that game by 20 points, the yardage stats were nearly equal. That is helping to give some value with this line and, from a situational standpoint, I feel we have tremendous value here. The Bobcats are already rounding into mid-season form. Yes, it may be early in the season for many teams but this will be the 4th game already for Texas State. After two tight losses to open up the season, the Bobcats got a huge confidence boost with a road win at UL-Monroe last week. Keep in mind, Texas State lost the game prior to that in double-OT and then their season-opening win was an impressive hard-fought loss by a single possession to a solid SMU team. The Bobcats have a respectable offense with two QB's equally capable of leading the team to big points. With Boston College off an ACC win and having another big ACC game versus North Carolina on deck, I just can't see the Eagles being fully focused here. The Bobcats are in their 2nd year under head coach Jake Spavital and they already look much better in the 2nd year of his systems. Look for them to play the role of "scrappy underdog" in this one and, as a result, it will be tough for the Eagles to build up much of a margin in this one. 8* TEXAS STATE

Afternoon Annihilation - Scott "The Bulldog" Rickenbach CFB Rotation #416 Saturday 8* Oklahoma State Cowboys (-) vs West Virginia Mountaineers @ 3:30 ET - Never over-react to just one game but that is exactly what the betting markets have done in this case. A line that was nearly a 10 has dropped to under the key number of 7 and I won't hesitate to get involved here. Yes, I am aware of the Cowboys QB injury situation but they have options at the position as they proved in surviving a scare from Tulsa last week. That tight win over the Golden Hurricane is helping to give us line value this week because it was unimpressive. However, it was still a win and OSU allowed just 7 points in the game. I know West Virginia is off a bye and they won their first game of the season 56-10 but they played an FCS school, Eastern Kentucky, who has now lost their first two games by a combined score of 115-10. No the Colonels didn't play Alabama in their first game, they played Marshall and lost 59-0 to the Thundering Herd. The point is that Eastern Kentucky is not a good barometer for an FBS team to test themselves against. The Mountaineers take a big step up in level of competition this week in this Big-12 match-up and Oklahoma State is 5-0 SU/ATS in the last 5 meetings between these teams. The Cowboys, of course, are not happy with their performance in last week's win over Tulsa and will be much better this week as they roll to a big home win. 8* OKLAHOMA STATE

Total Dominator - Scott "The Bulldog" Rickenbach English Premier League Rotation #200113 Saturday 10* Top Play OVER 3 goals +110 in West Bromich Albion vs Chelsea @ 12:30 ET - West Bromich just got promoted to the EPL this season and certainly it has not gone well thus far. No team has conceded more goals than West Bromich Albion so far in the new campaign. Now West Bromich hosts a Chelsea team that is hungry to respond in Premier League season action after last weekend's 2-0 loss on their home pitch versus Liverpool. In other words, the set up truly couldn't be any worse for West Bromich and that is why I am grabbing the over at plus money in this one. I expect an angry Chelsea team to score plenty in this one but note that their newly signed goalie Edouard Mendy will not be available for this one. That means goalkeeping duties fall to a struggling Kepa Arrizabalaga or 38-year old back-up Willy Caballero. Either way I like my chances for West Bromich (scored 2 goals last week) to at least get 1 here. Keep in mind Chelsea allowed an average of 2 goals per game in road fixtures last season. The key here is that Chelsea won't take their foot off the gas even if they get up big. They want to erase the bitter taste of last weekend's shutout loss versus Liverpool where they were red carded and ended up down a man for much of the game. As you can, this one sets up well for plenty of scoring and I'll go over the 3 goals for the plus money return as well. 10* OVER the total in West Bromich