Will Rogers Handicapping Review & Free Picks Page

At 8:07pm Et, my NHL Center Ice Report is on the LA Kings. I supported the Wild on Tuesday when they defeated the Canucks. Last night, the Wild won again, as they defeated Anaheim 5-1. That's 5 straight victories. The streak ends tonight though. The Kings rested last night while the Wild worked. The Kings already defeated Minnesota earlier this season. The Wild have won 5 in a row but the Kings have won 4 straight themselves and their streak included wins over teams like Dallas and Winnipeg. Minnesota built up its streak partly against weaker teams. The Kings are 5-2 the past 7 meetings. Play on LA.

At 7:10pm ET, my Revenge Game Of The Month is on New Orleans. OKC pounded the Pelicans 106-88 a few weeks back. At the time, New Orleans was very short-handed. As a matter of fact, they were missing 4 starters and another 2 rotation players. The Pelicans are healthier now and they're looking for some payback. Guards CJ McCollum and Dejounte Murray missed the first game but both are now back. New Orleans received a big boost Thursday when leading scorer Brandon Ingram returned from a five-game absence. He was joined by Herbert Jones, the team's best perimeter defender, who returned from an 18-game absence. With those important players back, the Pelicans are a different team. They snapped their losing streak last game and that gives them some important positive momentum. Grab the points.

At 7:00pm ET, my Atlantic-10 Conference Game Of The Year is on St. Josephs. The Hawks are off their 3rd loss of the season. They've responded brilliantly to each of the first 2 losses. They upset Villanova off their first loss and destroyed Coppin State 83-54 off their 2nd loss. The Explorers are well-coached and they typically fight hard. The roster just isn't there to seriously contend in the A-10 though. They were 6-12 in Conference play last season and are very likely going to finish near the bottom of the A-10 again this season. The Hawks bring back 3 starters (including the top returning scorer in the conference and the last year's rookie of the year) from the team which had a strong run through the A-10 Tournament last year; they're confident and expecting a big season. The Hawks were 2-0 straight up and against the spread against La Salle last season. They won the game at Wells Fargo Center by 20. We can expect another big win today. Lay the points.

At 12:30pm Et, my EPL Game Of The Week is on Manchester United. The Red Devils lost to Arsenal last game. That was their first defeat of the "Rubin Amorim" era though. They'd been unbeaten in their previous 7 matches. Facing Nottingham Forest at Old Trafford provides a great opportunity to get right back to winning. These teams last met in February. United earned a 1-0 victory in FA Cup action, at the City Ground. The Red Devils have 6 wins and 1 draw their last 7 home matches, outscoring teams 20-6. The Red Devils also have 6 wins in their last 7 home top flight matches against Forest. Play on Manchester United. Forest will lost its second match in Manchester (also just lost to Man. City) in the span of 4 days. Play on Manchester United.

At 12:00pm ET, my Early Riser is on Wake Forest. The Demon Deacons are poised to blow out the Eagles at Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum on Saturday afternoon. They're 0-2 as the road team but 5-0 as the home team. Wake Forest is one of the stronger teams in the ACC this season. Boston College is one of the very weakest teams. Last season's only meeting was at Boston College and the Deacons won by 6. The talent gap is wider this season and now the Deacons play at home. Prior to the Deacons 6-pt win at BC last season, WF's previous 2 wins over the Eagles came by 22 and 30 points. Boston College is off consecutive losses and was routed 73-51 by South Carolina last game. Playing their first road game, this will be another tough afternoon for the Eagles. Lay the points. 

At 8:00 PM ET, my Conference Championship Game Of the Year is on Clemson. Dabo Swinney and the Tigers aren't happy. They're not happy with themselves for losing to South Carolina last week and they're not happy with hearing everyone talking about them backing in here. (After losing against the Gamecocks, they wouldn't be in this game if not for Syracuse upsetting Miami last week.) Swinney will use the talk to motivate his team. They're going to mess everything up (for the playofs) when they win too, as Clemson would then get the automatic berth leaving SMU's fate to be determined by the selection committee. Swinney had this to say: "We didn't accomplish all of our goals during the regular season, but we've got two goals left: Win the conference and win the closer. If we do that, we'll be national champions. We were the first 15-0 national championship team," Swinney said of the 2018 season. "Maybe we can be the first three-loss national championship team. Boy, that would upset some people." SMU's had a great season but Clemson has the talent to match the Mustangs and the Tigers experience here can't be overlooked. The Tigers have won eight of the last ten ACC championships. Don't forget that this game is played in Chalotte, which is only a couple hours away from Clemson. SMU is playing more than 1000 miles away from home. Grab the points.

At 8:00pm ET, my Conference Championship Total Of The Year is on Penn State vs Oregon under. Both teams were 7-5 to the under in the regular season. Oregon gave up 21 last game but has allowed just 78 points its last 6 games, an average of only 13 per game. Penn State gave up a mere 7 points last game and has conceded only 81 its last 6 games, just slightly more than Oregon. This is only the 2nd time all season that the Nittany Lions were underdogs. The first was their game against Ohio State. It had a total of 47 and finished with only 33 points. Last year's Big Ten title game finished with only 26 points. Play on the under.

My UFC Fight Of The Month is on Themba Gorimbo. Luque has been around a long time. He's had some big wins over some big name opponents. His career is going the wrong way though. He's off a loss and has dropped 3 of his past 4. Luque was originally supposed to fight Nate Diaz. That would have been a better option for Luque, given that Diaz is almost 40 and has also lost 3 of his past 4. Diaz had to pull out though so Luque has to contend with Themba Gorimbo. That's a tough matchup for him. Gorimbo is actually 1-year older than Luque. But he hasn't been around nearly as long and is still a fighter on rise, one who is continuing to get better. Gorimbo is a well-rounded fighter. He's got a height and reach advantage. He's had a difficult past and has referred to himself as "probably the hungriest guy in the UFC right now." That hunger will be on display Saturday night as the fighter on the rise secures his 5th straight victory.