Matt Fargo Sports Handicapper Review & Free Picks

This is a play on the COLORADO ST. RAMS for our Friday Free Play. Colorado St. is coming off a 10-point loss at home against New Mexico which was its second straight home loss and the Rams have opened 1-3 in the Mountain West Conference after finishing 16-4 last season in their second place finish. Colorado St. lost head coach Nico Medved to Minnesota and that seems to be part of the issue but this team needs to regain its mojo following a 9-2 start with those two losses coming by two points each and regain its dominant home court. The Rams are one of 10 programs in the nation shooting over 50.0 percent overall, 35.0 percent from behind the arc and 75.0 percent from the free throw line. UNLV opened 2-0 in the conference but those wins were against Fresno St. and Air Force, two of the four lowest ranked NET teams in the MWC with the Rebels also holding down one of those four spots. They are coming off their first conference loss, a 32-point setback at Wyoming on Tuesday. While the Rams are No. 19 in the country in free throw shooting, UNLV is No. 329 at 66.3 percent. Play (894) Colorado St. Rams

16-10 L3 Days. CFB 28-13 run after Miami Winner and extended Friday with the Peach Bowl. CBB 112-96-1 Run with THREE winners for Friday. NBA 17-6-1 Run extended tonight. 241-209-10 NFL Run. THREE Wild Card Winners.

This is a play on the NEW YORK KNICKS for our NBA Star Attraction. We are going with the momentum as the Knicks got a shot in the arm with a win over the Clippers on Wednesday to snap a four-game losing streak right before getting out of town and this is a rare spot where we are taking a road favorite. It is a short road chalk price which is normally a fade but in this case, we are going to ride New York for one more game as the flight to Phoenix was a good one. The Suns are coming off a win at Memphis on Wednesday and are now 8-3 over their last 11 games and have been the hottest team in the league at the betting window, going 10-1 ATS over this stretch including a 4-0 ATS home record and we go contrarian with that. Here, we play on road teams with a winning percentage between .600 and .750 after being beaten by the spread by 36 or more points total in their last five games, playing a team with a winning record. This situation is 24-7 (77.4 percent) since 2022. 10* (571) New York Knicks

This is a play on the NEW ORLEANS PELICANS for our NBA Signature Enforcer. New Orleans comes into this game in a similar spot as Indiana last night, riding a big losing streak and facing a short number and in this case, the Pelicans are actually favored. They have lost nine straight games while going 1-8 against the number, the only cover being a home win against the Knicks at home. New Orleans is 0-4 straight up and ATS on the road during this skid and on the season, it is just 2-14 so this is the contrarian side. The Wizards dealt two players for Trae Young as they traded CJ McCollum, the leading scorer, and Corey Kispert and McCollum would have been questionable anyway but the line is based on that and Young is still on the shelf. Here, we play against home teams after a game where they failed to cover the spread going up against an opponent after failing to cover the spread in three or more consecutive games. This situation is 67-30 ATS (69.1 percent) since 2022. 10* (561) New Orleans Pelicans

This is a play on the USC TROJANS for our CBB Star Attraction. USC will wrap up its first, and longest, Big Ten Conference road trip of the season when the Trojans take on Minnesota and it needs to make this the get right game. The Trojans breezed through an 11-0 nonconference schedule wrapped around a 1-1 start in the conference where they split against Oregon and Washington and restarted Big Ten play in a bad way, losing to Michigan and Michigan St. by a combined 59 points. USC now takes a significant step down from those two games but cannot take Minnesota lightly and it will not. The Gophers have won five straight games including a 70-67 win over Iowa on Tuesday which moved them to 3-1 in the conference and the win over the Hawkeyes was the second time fans stormed the court. It is a cool tradition for the really big wins but victories over Indiana and Iowa should not instigate that. Letdown. 10* (891) USC Trojans

This is a play on the MILWAUKEE PANTHERS for our Horizon Game of the Month. Northern Kentucky is off to a 12-5 start but it has been behind a very easy schedule ranked No. 341 as in the nonconference, three wins were against non-Division I teams. The Norse opened the Horizon League with a win over Cleveland St. before dropping its next two but has responded with three straight wins to sit at 4-2 which puts it a half-game behind Wright St. and Oakland for first place. Two of their three road wins have been against teams ranked No. 267 and No. 324. The Panthers opened 3-0 in the conference but have dropped their last two games in the Horizon as well as a loss to Wisconsin with all three of those on the road and Milwaukee is back home where it is 5-1 with the loss coming against Indiana St. by two points. This is the start of three straight home games for the preseason favorites to get them back to where they want to be. 10* (890) Milwaukee Panthers

This is a play on the CLEVELAND ST. VIKINGS for our CBB Ultimate Underdog. Oakland is off to a 4-1 start in the Horizon League following a pair of valuable wins over Youngstown St. and Robert Morris, both of which are expected to contend in the conference which makes this a bit of a letdown. Even more important, the Golden Grizzlies have a game at home against 4-1 Wright St. on Sunday and it is an early revenge game as the Raiders are the only blemish on the conference schedule as Oakland lost there by 15 points less than two weeks ago. It was expected to be a down year for Cleveland St. and it has been as the Vikings are 5-11 overall including 1-4 in the conference. The lone win came against a bad IU-Indianapolis team two games back and they played well in a three-point loss at Purdue Fort Wayne. They are winless on the road but we are not asking for the win, just to keep it tight as the spot is one of the best they will have. 10* (881) Cleveland St. Vikings

This is a play on the OREGON DUCKS for our Ducks/Hoosiers Dominator. This is a rematch of the meeting from October 11 where Indiana went to Eugene and won 30-20. The Ducks shut down Texas Tech as they won outright 23-0 as a slight dog. Oregon has dominated since the first meeting with the exception of a two-point win at Iowa and the rematch is in their favor at this number where we do not even need to win outright. In the three rematches in the CFP, the team that won the first meeting is 1-2 in the rematch as Oklahoma and Georgia lost while Mississippi was the only team to sweep but that was against Tulane. The top line rushing numbers for Oregon were not good in the first meeting but it was quarterback Dante Moore that brought it down as the three running backs that ran for more than 10 yards rushed for 103 yards on 16 carries (6.4 ypc) so they can have more success with more running attempts. Moore was not good but the tape from the first game will help immensely. Here, we play against favorites of 3.5 to 10 points in the second half of the season in a game involving two teams averaging between 190 and 230 rushing ypg, after allowing 100 or less rushing yards last game. This situation is 26-6 (81.3 percent) since 1992. 10* (275) Oregon Ducks