Jim Feist

St Joseph's off to a 2-1 S/U and ATS start to their season. St Joe's opened with a home win over Bradley, 86-81, covering the 5-point dog line. Then they lost at Old Dominion, 69-82 and then pulled the big upset win at U Conn last time out, 96-87 as a 15-point dog. Loyola Chicago is off to a 1-2 S/U and ATS start.  LCI opened with a win over UC Davis at home, 82-48 and then followed that with two losses, at Furman, 63-87 and at home to Coppin State, 72-76. The latter they were installed as a 23-point favorite. St Joe's getting seven points here is a bargain to me. They have played better ball so far and Loyola has already shown they can't be trusted even as a big favorite. Play St Joe's.

Davidson will look for its first win of the young season here today as they play its first home game against UNC Wilmington. Davidson opened with a neutral site loss to Auburn, 66-76 and then lost on the road last time out, 58-71 to Charlotte, failing to cover either spread. Davidson begins the first of a four-game home set. Wilmington opened with a home win over Johnson and Wales, 103-83, then a loss to North Carolina, 62-78 before beating Campbell, 81-76. UNCW covered their two posted games including that game against North Carolina where they were a 22-point dog. Wilmington a whopping 17.5-point road dog here today. While my numbers have them about this line, one of my indicators have a much lower number. Right now, UNCW has shown they can play against the Big boys and getting this many points is too many to pass on. Play North Carolina Wilmington.

A big matchup here on Saturday as the undefeated Tennessee Volunteers take on the 20th ranked Washington Huskies as these teams meet North of the border in Toronto in the Naismith Hall of Fame Classic. UW has already knocked off a big team, beating then No 16 Baylor in the Armed Forces Classic, 67-64.  Washington then won their home opener against Mt ST Mary's, 56-46, failing to cover the 22-point line. Tennessee is 2-0 S/U and 1-1 ATS also. The Volunteers opened at home with a win over UNC Asheville, 78- 63 and then beat Murray State, 82-63. Washington is led by a pair of freshmen, Jaden McDaniels and Isaiah Stewart. The pair combined for 33 points in their win over Baylor.  Tennessee is unranked, but finds itself installed as the 2-point favorite here today.  I'm going to take the points with a Washington team that while young, looks to have plenty of talent. Play Washington.

Huge game here between ranked teams as No 5 and 8-1 Georgia takes on No 13 and 7-2 Auburn. Georgia cruised to an easy win last week at home over Missouri, 27-0. It was the teams 2nd cover in a row, as improved to 5-4 ATS on the season. This is really Georgia's final tough game. They finish with a home game against Texas A&M and then close on the road at Georgia Tech. They have an outside shot at the Final four, but either way will be in a top Bowl game. Auburn followed their 20-23 loss two weeks ago to LSU with a win last week at home over Ole Miss, 20-14. A little concerning is the offense that has now scored 20 or fewer points in three of the last four games. Two tough games left for the Tigers as they host Georgia today and then Alabama to close the year. Georgia laying a field goal or less is just too much to pass on such a quality club. Play Georgia.

 Undefeated No 12 Baylor hosts No 10 Oklahoma here on Saturday. The Sooners are 8-1 and even though they are on the road against an undefeated and higher ranked team, they are a 10 1/2 point favorite. No doubt Oklahoma will be tough to stop here on Saturday with the nation's top ranked offense in the country. Baylor is no slouch though, ranked 25th in the country. Oklahoma has the 41st ranked defense while Baylor comes in at 31. Oklahoma had a narrow win last week at home over Iowa State, 42-41, failing to cover the 14-point line. The teams only loss came the week prior at Kansas State, 41-48. Baylor had to work hard last week to beat TCU in OT, 29-23. The Bears trailed at the half and needed a 2nd half rally to take the win. The defense has been solid though, allowing over 21 points just two times this season. I don't expect them to be able to contain this Oklahoma offense, but 10 points on the road is too many to lay to an undefeated Bears team on their own turf. Play Baylor.

PAC-12 matchup as Washington State hosts Stanford. The Stanford Cardinal coming off a loss at home to Colorado, 13-16 as a 3-point favorite. The loss dropped the Cardinal to 4-5 S/U. The Cardinal have a tough slate left with Washington State on tonight, then home games against Cal and Notre Dame. They will have to win some games yet to become bowl eligible. Washington State also coming off a loss to Cal, 20-33. That loss dropped the Cougars to 4-5 and the same remains for them. They have home games with Stanford, Oregon State and then close on the road at Washington. The Cougars have won and covered the last three years of this matchup and covered the last four overall. Washington State has the 7th ranked offense in the nation. The difference in this game is the Washington State offense. I will lay the points at home. Play Washington State.

No 22 Texas takes to the road today to play at Iowa State. Texas lost two weeks ago at TCU, 27-37 and rebounded last week at home vs Kansas State, 27-24. The Longhorns are just 1-5 ATS in their last six games. Texas has two straight games on the road with today's game at Iowa State and then at Baylor before closing out the season at home vs Texas Tech. Iowa State dropped its second straight game last week in a shootout with Oklahoma, 41-42. The Cyclones almost pulled the upset win, but came up just short, still covering the two TD line. Iowa State could miss the Bowl season if they aren't careful. They host Texas today before close out at home with Kansas and then a tough road game at Kansas State. Two losses are a distinct possibility for Iowa State. Texas has the 20th ranked offense in the country with Iowa Sate coming in at 18th. This promises to be a high scoring game with these offenses. Texas getting a TD here today to me is just too many points. The Longhorns have too good of an offense to be spotted that many points by this 5-4 Iowa State team. Play Texas.

Iowa almost pulled off the upset win at Wisconsin last week, losing a narrow 22-24 game, but covering the 9.5-point line. The Iowa defense was solid again, though they allowed their most points this year in that game. Only two teams have score 20 or more points against them. No 7 Minnesota kept its perfect season in tap and proved they are for real with a huge home win over Penn State, 31-26. The Gophers quieted many critics who though they might not have been a legit undefeated team. However, they have to worry about the let down this week. They have to travel to Iowa here, a great defensive team. Iowa is a field goal favorite and really I think they are in the perfect spot to pull out the win over the Gophers. Play Iowa.