Scott Rickenbach Free Sports Picks & Handicapper Review

Total Annihilation - Rickenbach Saturday MLB 10* Top Play OVER the total in Oakland A's vs Texas Rangers @ 9:05 ET - Sean Manaea gets the start for the A's. The Oakland southpaw has given up 10 runs (8 earned) on 17 hits in the 8 and 2/3 innings spanning his last two starts. Also, against the Rangers, Manaea has given up 13 runs (12 earned) in the 16 and 1/3 innings spanning his last 3 starts versus Texas. The Rangers will have a pitching "concern" of their own in this one as Miguel Gonzalez gets the start for Texas. The Rangers right-hander has given up 7 earned runs in 10 and 2/3 innings spanning his two starts at Oakland in his career. Also, Gonzalez has a 10.45 ERA and a 1.94 WHIP in his last 3 starts. Yesterday's game easily stayed under the total but the over had been 6-1 in Oakland's last 7 home games. The fact is that the A's have been hitting the ball very well at home. The Athletics have won 6 straight home games and they've averaged scoring 8 runs per game in their 8 home games this month! The over is 44-29 in Oakland's home games this season. Also, when off of a win, the A's are 42-26 to the over this season! 10* OVER the total in Oakland

Total Dominator - Rickenbach Saturday MLB 8* OVER the total in Chicago White Sox vs Kansas City Royals @ 7:10 ET - Danny Duffy had a great outing at Cleveland in his first start since coming off of the disabled list. However, he now faces a team that has given him all sorts of trouble this season. Duffy has given up 17 earned runs in his 16 innings versus the White Sox spanning his last 3 starts against them. As for the ChiSox starter tonight, Dylan Covey get the call. He is 0-6 with an 8.23 ERA as a starter this season. In his last two starts against the Royals, Covey has been rocked for 10 earned runs in 12 and 1/3 innings! You can see why I am expecting another wild one tonight after last night's 7-6 Chicago win. Also, temperatures in the 80s (very warm for late September in Chicago) means it will be another very hitter-friendly inning on Saturday. As a road favorite of -125 to -175, Kansas City is 6-1 to the over this season and an incredible 21-7 to the over the last 3 seasons combined! 8* OVER the total in Chicago White Sox

Contrarian Crusher - Rickenbach Saturday CFL 10* Top Play Montreal Alouettes (+) @ Toronto Argonauts @ 7 ET - I successfully played against Montreal last week as they had just made some wholesale coaching staff changes. This week I'll come back and play on the Alouettes as things have now settled down some within the organization and I look for Montreal to be "back in business" this week. With the mediocrity of the East division (and the fact Ottawa lost last night), there is plenty of incentive for both these teams as there are only 5 points in the standings separating worst from first in the East. Montreal is looking to avenge an embarrassing 38 to 6 loss at Toronto last month. In their prior meeting with the Argonauts this season (week prior to the ugly loss), the Alouettes had won 21 to 9. Though the Als are winless on the road this one has the looks of an upset, especially with the Argos off of a big home win versus Edmonton last week. Also, the Als have played well as a sizable dog and I look for them to improve to 4-2 ATS this season (and 11-7 ATS the L3 seasons combined) when they're a dog of 3.5 to 9.5 points. Also, Montreal is 4-1 ATS in Saturday games the L3 seasons combined. The Argonauts are on a 6-16 ATS run in home games and are over-priced here. 10* MONTREAL

Contrarian Crusher - Rickenbach Saturday 8* CFB Game #377: Arkansas State Red Wolves (+) @ SMU Mustangs @ 7 ET - Nice situation here for the Red Wolves. They're off their easy win versus an FCS team (Arkansas-Pine Bluff). Keep in mind, the Mustangs also had one of those earlier this season as they crushed Stephen F Austin. The key difference though is what happened in the other games for these teams. The Red Wolves fought hard in a 7-point loss at Nebraska in their season opener. As for the Mustangs, they actually did NOT outgain North Texas in their 22 point win over the Eagles. Then, in SMU's most recent game, they hung around with TCU for awhile but then fall apart as the game went on. It was a demoralizing loss because they felt it slip away as the game went on and TCU is their DFW rival. Each of the last 4 seasons, SMU has lost their next game after facing the Horned Frogs. The Red Wolves have a bye on deck and they are on an 8-3 ATS in their last 11 as they are 1-1 this season and wrapped up last season on a 7-2 run at the betting window. Even though Arkansas State is a Sun Belt team, they are up at the top of the conference each and every season and have a winning culture. As for SMU, they entered this season with an 8-28 SU record the last 3 seasons. Grab the undervalued dog here. 8* ARKANSAS STATE

Big Ten Network Day Game - Rickenbach Saturday 8* CFB Game #350: Nebraska Cornhuskers (-) vs Rutgers Scarlet Knights @ 3:30 ET - With the firing of their athletic director on Thursday, there are shockwaves going through Nebraska right now. However, one thing is for sure, the players know it is "put up or shut up time" and I expect a huge effort as a result. The Huskers didn't play well in their season-opening win over Arkansas State but their 7-point loss at Oregon certainly wasn't unexpected as they were a 14-point dog. Then in looking at their loss to Northern Illinois they outgained the Huskies 384 to 213 but were done in by turnovers. I firmly believe all this has served to give us fantastic line value here because now Nebraska, whom hasn't played as bad as the "bad rap" they're getting in some circles, is actually a manageable favorite against a bad Rutgers team that certainly has issues of it's own. The Scarlet Knights just don't belong as a Big Ten team. They are 6-18 the past two seasons and this season they already lost to a MAC team (just like Nebraska did last week) but, unlike the Huskers, Rutgers was outgained in their loss to a MAC foe. The Scarlet Knights are on a 6-13 ATS run as an underdog. Nebraska is 3-0 straight-up (and undefeated ATS) the past 2 seasons when they've entered a game on a losing streak of 2 games or more. Keep in mind too, this is the Scarlet Knights first road game this season. Also, this is a Big Ten opener so Nebraska will be fully focused and the Cornhuskers are 10-1 ATS when they are a favorite of more than 5 points coming off of a non-conference game. After being embarrassed by Northern Illinois last week, huge response here. 8* NEBRASKA