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This is a play on the MARQUETTE GOLDEN EAGLES for our CBB Star Attraction. Marquette peaked at No. 26 at KenPom after a 2-0 start but the Golden Eagles have gone 3-7 since then with two wins coming against teams rated No. 316 and No. 322 and they have fallen to No. 107. They are coming off a nine-point loss at home in their Big East Conference opener against Georgetown and they have not been getting it done at the window, going 0-7-1 ATS but only two of those losses were as underdogs and those were at Purdue and Wisconsin, which are rated higher than Creighton. The Bluejays are coming off a 41-point win in their conference opener at Xavier so this number is inflated because of that. It has not been a great start overall for Creighton as it is 6-5, four losses to the top 32 but it also includes four wins against teams rated between No. 230 and No. 346 and this number is too big against a major program. 10* (687) Marquette Golden Eagles

This is a play on the ST. THOMAS TOMMIES for our CBB Supreme Annihilator. St. Thomas has won three straight games, covering the two lined games, to improve to 9-4 which is nothing spectacular but three of the losses were true road games and the fourth a neutral court defeat. The Tommies are 5-0 at home and the schedule is easing up as they are favored to win 15 of their final 17 lined games. They are also playing with some revenge as they went to Riverside last season and lost by a bucket in overtime. UC Riverside is 6-6 with two of the six victories against non-Division I teams and the other four wins came against teams rated No. 325, No. 247, No. 265 and No. 236 and while three of those were on the road, now comes team No. 138. The Highlanders are in a tough spot coming off a non-Division I win following a 47-point loss at BYU and with a little brother game on deck against UCLA, separated by just an hour. 10* (678) St. Thomas Tommies

This is a play on the MERCER BEARS for our CBB Ultimate Underdog. Washington St. is coming off a state rivalry win over Eastern Washington which snapped a five-game losing streak and while it could bring some needed confidence, the opponent may not bring much motivation. The Cougars remain home where they are just 2-3 and while that includes losses in tough games against Washington and Nevada, those were big time blowouts while the other loss came against Idaho with the wins coming against St. Thomas and Southern Utah, the latter being rated No. 319. Mercer is coming off a pair of losses against Clemson and UCF on the road and while this is a tricky travel spot after just playing Wednesday, it is a bounce back spot. The KenPom ratings are within four spots so the line is way off and in the NET, the differential is greater at 82 spots with Mercer being higher rated by a big margin. 10* (657) Mercer Bears

This is a play on the BUTLER BULLDOGS for our CBB Signature Enforcer. Butler is coming off a 1-1 split to open Big East Conference action as it defeated Providence in double overtime and then was rewarded with a game at Connecticut where it lost by 19 points. The Bulldogs are back home in Indianapolis although this is being played at Gainbridge Fieldhouse and they are in an auto take spot as they have failed to cover the spread in any of their last four games. They are back home Monday but it is against NJIT so there is no lookahead. Northwestern is coming off a pair of double-digit wins and covers following three straight losses that included two losses to start action in the Big Ten Conference. The Wildcats moved to 5-1 at home and now back on the road where they are 2-3, the wins coming at DePaul and against South Carolina on a neutral floor, both rated lower than Butler and they are 0-4 in Quad 1 and 2 games. 10* (650) Butler Bulldogs

This is a play on the OHIO BOBCATS for our MAC Game of the Month. After a brutal 1-6 start, Ohio is starting to turn the corner with four straight wins and while two of those were a non-Division I win and a win over No. 342 Maine, but the other two wins were against two comparable teams as Bowling Green so the winning momentum is coming at the right time with MAC action getting under way. All four were at home where the Bobcats are now 4-2 and this is a big one to keep it going for a preseason conference contender. Bowling Green is expected to be a middle of the pack team once again but it is off to a solid 8-3 start yet it is skewed based on the schedule. The Falcons have a pair of non-Division I wins along with four wins against teams ranked No. 304 or higher. They are 1-1 on the road and that does include a big upset at Kansas St. but the Wildcats are in a clear down season and this is a sell high spot. 10* (638) Ohio Bobcats

This is a play on the TEXAS ST. BOBCATS for our CBB Rivalry Rout. South Alabama has had a rough schedule and not because of the opponents but the sheer travel. The Jaguars played Spring Hill at home on November 8th and then played seven straight games away from home before their next home game which came against North Texas on December 14th, a stretch of five weeks. They lost that game against the Mean Green and then it was back on the road where they faced UL-Monroe and snuck out a four-point win in double overtime on Wednesday right before this road game. Texas St. has had a rough stretch as it lost its SBC opener against Arkansas St. at home by 19 points which added to its recent 1-4 run which followed a five-game winning streak. The loss to the Red Wolves was their first at home as they are now 7-1 and this number is definitely in their favor for a bounce back. 10* (636) Texas St. Bobcats

This is a play on the CHICAGO BEARS for our NFL Saturday Primetime. This is another game, similar to the Rams and Seahawks divisional game, where we have seen this line flip back and forth and the most current move was going from Chicago to -1.5 to +1.5 in the early afternoon of Thursday as DK. Green Bay is coming off a loss at Denver last week which now puts it a half-game behind Chicago in the NFC North and a loss here could cost them the division. Many are going to expect the bounce back based on the loss and how good of a team Green Bay is this time of year as it is 21-5 under head coach Matt LaFleur in the month of December. Series bettors will not like this one as the Bears are 1-12 in their last 13 meetings with the Packers. The Bears bounced back with blowout win over Cleveland to retake first place in the division and this is the start of a brutal stretch for Chicago as after this, it is San Francisco and Detroit to close the season. Turnovers have been a big part of the success and while we cannot handicap them, we do know they are contagious. Here, we play on teams after allowing nine points or less last game going up against an opponent after a playing a game where 50 total points or more were scored. This situation is 47-23 (67.1 percent) since 2021. 10* (104) Chicago Bears

This is a play on the TEXAS A&M AGGIES for our Canes/Aggies Dominator. The home field edge here is going to be a big one even though it is being downplayed because of the early start. The running game will be important and the Aggies have a significant edge when looking past the top line numbers. The strength for Miami is the rushing defense as it is No. 7 in yards allowed and No. 10 in ypc but the metrics tell a different story as the Hurricanes are tied for No. 73 in EPA/Rushing. They go up against an Aggies offense that is No. 26 in EPA/Rushing. Texas A&M has rushed for over 200 yards in seven games and South Carolina was the only team to hold Texas A&M under 100 yards rushing with the reason being the Aggies had to abandon the run after falling behind 30-3 at halftime. On the other side, the Hurricanes are No. 100 in EPA/Rushing on offense so if there is talk being thrown around that Miami has the overall rushing advantage, it does not. A lot of the success for Miami came by way of not losing the turnover battle which it did only three times and had 20 takeaways. Texas A&M turned the ball over only eight times in its first nine games but coughed it up eight times in its final three games and we will call the latter an aberration so taking care of the ball will be the big edge. 10* (298) Texas A&M Aggies

This is a play on the JAMES MADISON DUKES for our Dukes/Ducks Enforcer. James Madison is not getting much of a chance here with a +1100 moneyline and not many are backing the big pointspread with 77 percent of the money and 82 percent of the tickets on Oregon. There is a certain formula that the Dukes will try and create and it is a simple one, play to their strengths which will shorten the game to keep it close into the final quarter. Looking at the defense first, James Madison is going to try and make the Ducks one dimensional and it has the defense to do that which follows the same script that Iowa did in its game against Oregon. The Dukes finished No. 2 in Rushing Defense which is the third time in four years they have finished in the top 5 and it is no coincidence two of those were with Curt Cignetti there and Oregon had its worst rushing game of the season this year against Indiana. Offensively, James Madison is No. 6 in Rushing Offense and tied for No. 2 in Time of Possession so it controls tempo and any success in the running game is going to shorten this game. A lot of the talk is about how head coach Bob Chesney is distracted with his new duties at UCLA but on the other side, offensive coordinator Will Stein and defensive coordinator Tosh Lupoi have taken head coaching jobs and are just as distracted. 10* (291) James Madison Dukes