Scott Rickenbach

CBB Thursday 10* Top Play Wright State Raiders +6.5 @ Youngstown State Penguins @ 7 ET - The Raiders are well-coached and they are use to being at the top of the Horizon League. Youngstown State is having an uncharacteristically strong season thus far. The result is exceptional line value here because the Penguins also have hit threes at a crazy high rate in last two wins and can not maintain that clip. You can bet Wright State will be guarding tight on the perimeter in this one. Youngstown State is tied at the top of the conference for the top spot but one of their 3 losses was to Northern Kentucky and that is who they have on deck next game and the Norse are tied with Penguins in a 3-way tie atop the league standings. Wright State is off B2B wins. Yes, those were home games but the Raiders also have won 3 straight road games and 4 of last 5 away from home. This is a high-quality well-coached team that still has sights set on making a major move up the standings. Keep in mind, this is one of 8 remaining conference games so there is still plenty of time to make a big move before the conference tourney starts at the end of this month. I am looking for a big push from this Raiders team and would not be surprised if they make it 3 straight league wins here but, at the very least, they stay inside this inflated number. The Penguins won at Wright State earlier this season by 11 points but they outscored them by 21 points from 3-point land. That is not happening again here. The Raiders get revenge and, if they don't win outright, they at least stay within a bucket or two in my opinion. Note that Youngstown State, other than the first win over the Raiders, is currently 4-3 SU against teams that currently have a .500 or better record in the Horizon League. The Penguins are over-rated right now. We take advantage. 10* WRIGHT STATE +6.5

NBA Thursday 10* Top Play Indiana Pacers +1.5 vs Los Angeles Lakers @ 7 ET - Long-time followers know I am a contrarian so often and that is the case again here. The Pacers have lost 10 of 11 games. This line is about a pick'em on a Lakers team that has won 10 of 17 games. Looks easy right. You know that usually means! Also, though LeBron James and Anthony Davis are expected to play, neither are 100 percent and LA off that OT win over the Knicks. As for the Pacers, though Haliburton is listed as questionable, he is expected to make his return as the Indiana star player has been practicing fully and is ready to go here. What a great spot for his return. Home game versus LeBron and Company. This is a big game for the Pacers and I had them in their lone win in these last 11 games and am 2-0 with picks involving them in 2023. I feel strongly that this is the perfect spot to back them again and I just do not seem them being denied here in this bounce back spot at home. Look for them to rally around the imminent return of Haliburton as he should hit the floor tonight but, even if he did not, this Pacers team ready for a huge run. 10* INDIANA +1.5

La Liga Thursday 10* Top Play OVER 3 in Real Madrid vs Valencia @ 3 ET - Real Madrid facing a Valencia club with an interim manager. The hosts will certainly show no mercy here and should pile up the goals. Real Madrid is off a frustrating scoreless draw with Real Sociedad in most recent match. Keep in mind, this is one of the top teams in the league and they had scored at least 1 goal in 31 straight matches across all competitions. In fact, they averaged 2.2 goals per match in those 31 matches! Valencia, like Real Madrid, is also off a rare scoreless result for them in their 1-0 loss in most recent match. They had scored in 17 of 18 matches heading into that one and averaged about 2 goals scored per match in those 17 matches which they found the back of the net. The fact is Valencia may struggle to score multiple goals here but you can see why I expect them to get at least 1 but Real Madrid a big favorite with good reason. So, in other words, look for at least a 2-1 final here but I am expecting much more. 3 to 1 or 3 to 2. Something in this range. The hosts are off a frustrating 0-0 result and will show no mercy here. 10* OVER 3 in Real Madrid

CBB Friday 10* Top Play Kent State Golden Flashes +2.5 @ Akron Zips @ 9 ET - Love this play a ton because the "deeper dive" here reveals key factors that the markets are likely missing here. The markets will look and see that these two teams are tied at the top of the MAC and have identical records in MAC games and then they will look at Akron being at home for this one where they are 11-0 this season. You don't think the odds makers know all these facts too? Yet they set the line at right around a pick'em on this game and, of course, everyone jumping in on the Zips here. Now the line is as high as a 2.5 as of early gameday morning. Now the key factors the odds makers (and yours truly) are considering here! The fact is that Akron lost to Ball State and has yet to play Toledo! Those are the 2 other top teams out of the 4 top teams in the league (with Zips and Golden Flashes being the other 2). As for Kent State, unlike the Zips, they beat Ball State and also they have played the Rockets and they beat them too! So the point is that the records may be identical in the MAC but the Zips have played the weaker in-conference schedule. Also, in terms of overall records, Akron has 6 losses and the average margin of defeat was 12.5 points and they did NOT play the tough non-conference schedule that Kent State did! The Golden Flashes faced both Gonzaga AND Houston and they nearly beat both of them outright! Overall, Kent State only has 2 other losses this season and one was by 2 points in non-conference action and the other was an upset at hands of Northern Illinois but the Huskies shot a ridiculously high percentage in that game including from 3-point land. So the point is all the boxes are checked that this is a HIGH VALUE spot for grabbing the points with Kent State and then you have the final "kicker" that pushes this over the top! The Golden Flashes lost to Akron in the Championship Game of the MAC Tourney and that sent the Zips to the Big Dance where they got to face UCLA in the NCAA Tourney while it sent the Golden Flashes to play in The Basketball Classic and to ponder "what could have been". So all these factors considered plus the rivalry aspect with these two teams and I love the underdog in this spot. 10* KENT STATE +2.5

NBA Friday 10* Top Play Indiana Pacers +3.5 vs Sacramento Kings @ 7 ET - I know the Pacers are in a back to back but I love this spot. Indiana is finally getting healthy. They blew a 14 point 4th quarter lead last night to lose by just a single point. They felt completely ripped off on their home floor in terms of free throw attempts as the Lakers were on the line all night long and Indiana could not buy a trip to the free throw line. Additionally, they are catching a west coast team that has been on the road for a bit already and also will be without their leading scorer tonight as Fox is out for personal reasons. He is a key contributor all over the floor so this is a big deal. Last but, certainly not least, this is a revenge game for the Pacers. They recently lost by 23 points to the Nuggets about a week and a half ago. That tied their biggest margin of defeat this season as the only other time they also lost that big this season was at Sacramento when they fell short by 23 and lost 137 to 114. This will be a payback game for Pacers as their head coach and players are very fired up about the way they lost to the Lakers last night and could not get calls plus they want payback here against the Kings. They should get it but will grab the points here in case Pacers again fall just short of an outright win! 10* INDIANA +3.5

EPL Friday 10* Top Play OVER 2.5 in Chelsea vs Fulham @ 3 ET - Chelsea is a sizable money line favorite with good reason. This is a revenge match for them and it is also "put up or shut up" time Chelsea. It has been a disappointing campaign for them and they have spent a ridiculous amount of money including the January transfer window. That said, they must get rolling again in league action but do you really expect them to deliver a clean sheet here? No...me either! Fulham fears no one and already beat Chelsea 2-1 earlier this season. They will be aggressive on the attack here and score at least once but then I do feel certain that the hosts are going to give a very strong effort here and that means we see this match get to at least a 2-1 final. Keep in mind, Fulham matches have averaged 3 goals this season and they do score decently even when on the road. As for Chelsea, they have poor goal-scoring numbers on the campaign but have been better at home plus they are cognizant this is something they must turn around immediately. So look for quite an entertaining high-scoring affair here. 10* OVER 2.5 in Chelsea

Romania Liga 1 Friday 10* Top Play OVER 2 goals in U Craiova 1948 vs Universitatea Cluj @ 1 ET - Two teams near the bottom of the table but part of the reason for these clubs being low is they have a knack for allowing too many goals. Universitatea Cluj is off a rare scoreless draw with Rapid. Prior to this they had only one scoreless draw in last 9 matches and in the other 8 matches  Universitatea Cluj allowed an average of 1.5 goals per match! Also, 6 of those 8 matches did total at least 2 goals. We have value here with this total at just 2 goals because I just do not foresee either team managing a clean sheet in this one. Note that U Craiova 1948 has allowed at least 1 goal in 10 of last 12 matches. Overall, 7 of last 8 matches for these hosts have totaled at least 2 goals. U Craiova 1948 has seen their last 2 matches result in draws but, prior to that, only 4 of their first 20 matches were draws. That is another reason I expect a winner here as I look for this one to get at least a 2-1 final. 10* OVER 2 goals in U Craiova 1948