Nick Parsons Premium Picks

This is a FREE PLAY on the Edmonton Oilers.

I think the Oilers are well worth the price of admission on Tuesday night.

Dallas is 13-5-4 overall, including 7-1-3 on the road, while Edmonton is 10-9-5 overall, and 5-1-2 at home.

This is the third game of a four-game road trip for Dallas, winning 4-2 at Vancouver, and then falling 3-2 in a shootout at Calgary most recently.

With a game at Seattle on Wednesday, there's a very real chance that Dallas could be caught looking ahead here.

Edmonton is finally returning home after a difficult seven game road trip in which it went 3-4.

But the Oilers were firing on all cylinders in their rematch against the Panthers in their final game, winning 6-3, and now I think that Connor McDavid and company will carry that momentum over here.

The Oilers play with the added incentive of "revenge" here as well after losing 4-3 in a shootout at Dallas back on November 4th.

Situationally, as I say, this one definitely sets up well for the home side in my opinion.

Edmonton has the early advantage offensively this year, ranked fourth in the league, while Dallas has the advantage on the defensive end, ranked eighth.

Admittedly, Dallas has been highly-successful as the visitor this year, but Edmonton comes in with revenge on its mind, and needing to still make up a lot of ground again here at the start of the season after a shaky start.

So I say all of those factors combine to overwhelmingly tip the scales in favor of the Oilers here and that makes this a price worth paying in what should be a comfortable win.

Consider the OILERS on Tuesday night.

Good luck, NP

This is a MAC GOW on WMU.

Eastern Michigan, at 4-7, will not qualify for a bowl, even if it does win this game. The Eagles have been 3-point favorites each of the last two weeks and they've dug deep to beat Bowling Green and Ball State, but I think they come up short here on Senior Night against the highly-motivated WMU Broncos.

Western Michigan is looking to move to 8-4 and 7-1 in conference action, which would seal the deal on the Regular Season title. Ohio and Toledo are 7-4 overall as well, but just 5-2 in conference play.

So, the Conference is theirs to win or lose tonight. Eastern Michigan would love to play spoiler of course, but after two straight wins and with nothing really on the line here, I smell an imminent letdown here from the Eagles.

The Broncos won this game 26-18 at home as 6.5-point favorites last year, but I'm expecting an even bigger final discrepancy in the score this season.

WMU averages 360 YPG, which ranks 112th in the country, while conceding 316.6, which ranks 13th.

Eastern Michigan is averaging 369.6 yards per game, which ranks 104th, but it concedes 419.7, which ranks 84th.

Clearly, the difference between these teams comes on the defensive end.

But, it is in fact a lot more than that, with Western Michigan getting the nod in the Special Teams department as well.

WMU quarterback Broc Lowry has 1,472 passing yards, seven touchdowns and two interceptions. Lowry also leads the ground game with 763 yards and 12 other rushing touchdowns.

Dealing with dual-threat quarterbacks is not something the Eagles have had much success with though.

Eastern Michigan is more one-dimensional on offense though, with quarterback Noah Kim throwing for 2,490 yards 16 touchdowns, but also eight interceptions.

Western Michigan is playing much better football and the Conference Regular Season Title is in its grasp, and I think the Broncos will step up here and take advantage.

Look for the combination of Lowry, the Broncos' superior defensive play, the ultimate reward of a conference championship to propel WESTERN MICHIGAN to win and cover here on Tuesday.

Good luck, NP