Service Plays Friday 10/20/17

[Nashville1]

Gabriel DuPont

Tonight's winner...

My 30 Dime NHL Winner is the BUFFALO SABRES tonight in their home game against the Vancouver Canucks. As of 6:15 am pacific, the number I see on this game is Buffalo -145.

NHL Breakdown

The STORYLINE in this game today - I personally watched the Buffalo Sabres this past week, here in Las Vegas against the Vegas Golden Knights. The Sabres did what they could to make things tough on the NHL's newest franchise, scoring three goals in less than 10 minutes, including a game-tying goal with 8.9 seconds left to force overtime. The Knights won - in a game I gave you - and now the Sabres return home with a dismal 1-6 mark. Tonight they get win No. 2.


The X-FACTOR in making this choice on this game - The key for me will be tired legs. The Vancouver Canucks will be playing their third road game in four days, and second in as many nights, after losing 6-3 in Boston last night. They're not going to be able to skate along with a hungry Buffalo team that has had two nights to get home, unwind, see their wives and girlfriends and prepare for a home game before hitting the road. Since winning the season-opener, Vancouver has lost four of five, and will struggle here.

BOTTOM LINE is - I can't believe we're heading into the fourth week of the season, and we're already talking about the trade deadline. But Evander Kane's name is already being brought up, and the Sabres need to take a serious look at their best player. He leads the team in goals and overall points, and is working harder than ever to push and motivate his teammates on the ice. The other night, after losing to Vegas, he made it known he was not happy with the lack of effort, saying "the disappointing part is we didn't play (hard) for 60 minutes. You can't wait 'til it's 3-1 or 4-1 to get grittier. It's frustrating because I know we can play like that. We've proven it, we've showed it." Tonight the Sabres will show it for all 60 minutes.

[Nashville1]

Brandon Lang

Friday selection ...

My 40 Dime winner is Colorado State and New Mexico OVER the total. The current total at 12:35 pm EST is 59 1/2. Be sure to shop around for the best line available.

[Nashville1]

Al DeMarco - GM

FRIDAY

20 DIME play on Colorado State at New Mexico. The Rams are -7 1/2 as of 9 am pacific. Go ahead and buy down the 1/2-point on Colorado State if your price is either -7 1/2 or -7.


After opening the Mountain West portion of its schedule with easy road wins at Hawaii (51-21) and Utah State (27-14), Colorado State returned to its new on-campus stadium for homecoming last Saturday and needed to rally from a 13-point deficit to escape with a 44-42 victory against a 1-5 Nevada team in a game where its fans were leaving with the outcome still in doubt.


Colorado State isn't Ram-tough when it comes to playing defense, but how a team that held Alabama to 41 in Tuscaloosa and Colorado to 17 in Denver allowed Nevada to ring up 42 on in Fort Collins is unfathomable. The good news is CSU won't be seeing the Wolfpack's Air Raid attack tonight in Albuquerque where the Lobos are having problems running the ball let alone thinking about the forward pass.


New Mexico returns home following a 38-0 loss at Fresno State last Saturday, a game in which its ground game managed only 109 yards on 37 carries and the offense as whole was 2-for-14 on third downs and 0-for-2 on fourth down tries. No surprise considering the Lobos have converted at a 27 percent clip on the season when trying to get a new set of downs.


Inconsistency has plagued New Mexico this season. This is a team that lost at Boise, 28-14, and got upset at home by New Mexico State, 30-28, but managed to outscore a defenseless Air Force squad at home, 56-38.


While the Lobos have struggled offensively, Colorado State has had no such problem with quarterback Nick Stevens (63.8 percent completions, 2,255 yards, 18 TDs) and wide receiver Michael Gallup (59 receptions, 16.1 yard per catch) powering one of the nation's most potent aerial attacks. The latter is coming off a 13-catch, 263-yard, 3-TD performance in the comeback win against Nevada.


What makes the Rams so tough to stop is the diversity because Dalyn Dawkins (career-high 195 yards vs. Nevada; 6.5 ypc on the season) and Izzy Matthews (4.8 ypc) have combined nearly 1100 yards rushing this season. They're a big reason Colorado State is ranked 4th in the nation in third down conversions.


The Rams, as stated earlier, had all kinds of problems stopping Nevada's Air Raid attack as the Wolfpack shredded their defense for 526 yards with 299 of them through the air. New Mexico is not going to have that type of success passing the ball so Mike Bobo's squad can sellout against the run in an effort to contain the Lobos' option attack. However, their best defense might actually be a sustained, time-consuming ground game of their own to keep New Mexico's offense on the sideline.


Colorado State scored its seventh straight win in the series last season by rolling 49-31 at home, a game where the Rams were up 32 before New Mexico scored a couple of late garbage-time TDs. They're on ATS rolls of 9-1 in conference play and 20-8 on the road.

[Nashville1]

Steve Budin - CEO

Friday's Play

The Cali-Cartel has a 50 Dime Play on Western Kentucky at Old Dominion. The Hilltoppers are down to -7 1/2 as I put my site live at 12:00 pm eastern. This line was -9 overnight. With the price reduction I would now encourage you to purchase the 1/2-point insurance down on Western Kentucky if the price you get is -7 1/2 (or -7).

[Nashville1]

Sean Michaels

College Football
Total of the Year

50 DIME play on Nevada-Air Force to go Over. The total is 66 1/2 as of 9:15 Friday morning here in Vegas.Thank You!

[Duncan]

PICKS2PLAY

POD: Marshall -2

[Can'tPickAWinner]

Northcoast

3* Marshall -1

[Can'tPickAWinner]

New Orleans Group


NHL
Sabres team total over 2.5 -150
Capitals -125
Jets/Wild over 5.5 -115
Panthers/Penguins over 6 -110

NBA
Kings team total over 98.5 -110
Pelicans/Warriors over 220 -110

[Can'tPickAWinner]

Norm Hitzges' Picks of the Pole

Single Play

Marshall -2 1/2 Middle Tennessee St. (FRIDAY)

[Can'tPickAWinner]

Kelso

20 AF
20 Colorado St

Baseball 15 Houston

[Can'tPickAWinner]

Maddux

#708 - NBA - 10 units on Milwaukee +2

[Can'tPickAWinner]

Joe Gavazzi

3% Marshall

[Can'tPickAWinner]

SPS CFL

7-Unit Play. Take #652 Calgary (-10) over Saskatchewan (9 p.m., Friday, October 20)


3-Unit Play. Take 'Under' 51.5 Saskatchewan at Calgary (9 p.m., Friday, October 20)
The Stamps won again last week making it eleven in a row for the best team in the CFL. Bo Levi Mitchell and his running mates are playing with a sense of purpose they may not have had last season. They had a very similar regular season last year but failed to play their best in the Grey Cup and lost to a hot Ottawa squad in a huge upset. This season they are playing the same way headed towards the postseason but will have that in the back of their mind each time they play. Mitchell is due to light up the Roughriders after throwing two picks last week and didn't play his best game. Saskatchewan is looking like a playoff team but will need to play better on both sides of the ball if they want to avoid being a one and done if they get there. Kevin Glenn looked great last week in a loss to Ottawa but has been up and down. This should be a well played game throughout but the Stamps are too much for most teams and this is no different. Calgary gets number 12 in a row 30-13.

5-Unit Play. Take #654 Toronto (-1.5) over Winnipeg (4 p.m., Saturday, October 21)


4-Unit Play. Take 'Over' 56 Winnipeg at Toronto (4 p.m., Saturday, October 21)

Toronto is 7-9 on the year but will be playing in the playoffs next month and still have a shot to win the division. Ricky Ray and the offense has been pretty solid all season (25.8 points per game) but their defense has rarely showed up this year giving up 25.9 points per game. This game will be a story of the two offenses on paper as Winnipeg lights up the scoreboard with an average of 31.7 points per game but the winner will be the team that can get a few stops. There should no lack of offense as all three meetings have gone over this season so expect a shootout. Toronto should do just enough to get the job done and even though the Bombers have trailed off a bit in the last two games offensively (39 points combined) they will be sharper in this one. Argo score late to win this one 40-34.
Best of luck - Strike Point Sports

[Can'tPickAWinner]

Vernon Croy CFL

7-Unit Play. Take #651-652 Saskatchewan/Calgary GAME TOTAL OVER 51.5 (Friday, October 20th at 9:00 PM ET)

Take Calgary/Saskatchewan GAME TOTAL OVER as my 7-Unit CFL Smash for Friday night. This pick falls into one of my top CFL systems and I have this game flying over the posted total Friday night. The Stamps have averaged 39.7 ppg at home this season, and the Riders have averaged 29.4 ppg in Divisional games this season. The Riders have alos allowed an average of 28.2 ppg in Divisional games this season and opponents have averaged 403.2 ypg against them on the road this season. Reading between the lines the last time these two teams met the final score was Calgary 15 Saskatchewan 9 and the posted total was set at 54 points, and now the posted total is 51.5. The first meeting between these teams this season the posted total was 55 points and there was just 37 total points put up in that game. Now the last two times these teams met when the posted total was 51 to 52 points there was a total of 61 points and 65 points put up for an average of 63 ppg. I fully expect a high scoring game here Friday night with two teams that have their offenses rolling. (Calgary 43.5 ppg last two games, and Saskatchewan 29.5 ppg last two games) Play the OVER as we make it 3 straight winning weeks in the CFL.

[Can'tPickAWinner]

Warren Sharp
307] TOTAL o48(WESTERN KENTUCKY vrs OLD DOMINION)