Scott Rickenbach

Contrarian Crusher - Rickenbach NHL Rotation #59 Sunday 10* Top Play OVER the total in New York Islanders vs San Jose Sharks @ 5:05 ET - Most will be thinking under here because of the recent trending of these teams. However, there is more than meets the eye here at first glance. In typical contrarian fashion, I am on the over. The Islanders didn't score well at all on their recently completed road trip. However, they are a different team when on home ice. The Islanders are 5-2-1 in their last 8 home games and have averaged 4.3 goals per game in those 8 games on home ice. The over is 5-1 in the Islanders last 6 games. Sharks goalie Martin Jones has played well in his two February starts but remember he allowed at least 4 goals in each of his January starts. He will likely be between the pipes here because Aaron Dell got the start yesterday in the 3-2 loss to the Rangers. Sharks had a 2-1 lead there and let it get away. They have been consistently outshooting opponents by a wide margin on this road trip and that continued yesterday. Look for that to result in more goals here too as the Islanders over trend on home ice continues. 10* OVER the total in New York Islanders

Daytime Dominator - Rickenbach NHL Rotation #55 Sunday 10* Top Play Winnipeg Jets Money Line (-) @ Buffalo Sabres @ 3:05 ET - Perfect set up here. The Jets ran into a red hot Flyers team yesterday and lost 4-2 at Philly. The Sabres were also in Pennsylvania yesterday as they faced Pittsburgh. Buffalo caught the Penguins looking ahead to their big divisional match-up with the Capitals taking place today. The Sabres took full advantage and beat the Pens 5-2. Now, off an upset win and hosting an angry Winnipeg team, the Sabres are likely to get beat by the Jets. The road team should have the edge in goal. Since Buffalo used Carter Hutton yesterday and Winnipeg used Connor Hellebuyck yesterday, the likely goalie match-up here would be Jonas Johansson against Laurent Brossoit. The Sabres Johansson has very little NHL experience. The Jets Brossoit enters this start off 3 straight strong starts in which he has allowed 2 or less goals in each start. Winnipeg has the situational edge (off a loss while Buffalo off upset win) here and also has the edge between the pipes in my opinion. The Jets have gone 3-0-1 in their last 4 games against the Sabres including winning each of their last two visits to Buffalo. Look for another road team victory in this one! 10* WINNIPEG

Afternoon Annihilation - Rickenbach CBB Rotation #858 Saturday 10* Top Play Ohio State Buckeyes (-) vs Maryland Terrapins @ 4 ET - Ohio State continues to show strong home/road dichotomy. The Buckeyes are a great team on their home floor but constantly struggle on the road. This game is at Columbus and unlike the recent miracle win for the Terps at Michigan State, there will be no miracles here. Give Maryland credit, they did play a good game against the Spartans. But they were down by 7 with just a couple minutes left and then ended the game on an insane 14-0 run. That is not happening here against an Ohio State team that is 13-2 SU (and 10-5 ATS) in home games this season. The Terrapins enter this game off a non-covering win versus a bad Northwestern team. Maryland has won 9 straight games and also defeated Ohio State when they hosted the Buckeyes early last month. Now it is time for payback and there there is a reason the higher ranked team is an underdog here. Don't let the line fool you. Ohio State gets revenge on their home floor and they get it in a big way. The Terrapins have won 3 straight match-ups including the most recent one at Columbus so payback is on order here. The Terps are shooting just 39.8% from the field in road games this season. The Buckeyes are shooting 48.9% from the field in home games this season. Look for that to be a difference-maker in the rematch. 10* OHIO STATE

Earliest Cash - Rickenbach CBB Rotation #821 Sunday 10* Top Play OVER the total in Indiana Hoosiers vs Penn State Nittany Lions @ Noon ET - The Nittany Lions had been rolling but enter Sunday off an ugly loss to Illinois. In that game Penn State scored only 56 points. This was preceded by a stretch in which PSU scored an average of 78 points per game during an 8-game winning streak. Now this total that opened up at 145 is down to a 143 and I feel we have great value with the over in this match-up. The Hoosiers have been scoring well at home but won't be able to stop an angry Nittany Lions team on the other end in this one. That means we should see plenty of points in this one. Indiana has scored an average of 76 points per game in its last 3 home games. You can see why I am expecting this game to get into the 150s given the above recent trending for these teams. Also, we're getting value here because the last meeting between these teams stayed well under the total but both teams had rare poor shooting nights from beyond the arc. With regards to the rematch, note that the Nittany Lions are hitting 36.3% of their threes in road games this season and the Hoosiers are knocking down 35.3% of their shots from long range in home games this season. Indiana has allowed an average of 80 points per game their last 3 games and this one has all the right ingredients to turn into a back and forth high-scoring affair. 10* OVER the total in Indiana 

Total of the Month - Rickenbach NBA Rotation #551 Sunday 10* Top Play OVER the total in Oklahoma City Thunder vs San Antonio Spurs @ 7:05 ET - The Spurs are off a win at Utah Friday which stayed just under the total. That was preceded by a stretch in which San Antonio games recorded 5 straight overs. As for the Thunder, they are also off a victory which stayed just under the total and this was preceded by a stretch in which Oklahoma City games recorded 3 straight overs. 4 of the last 6 meetings between these teams have resulted in an over. The Spurs have allowed an average of 116.6 points per game in their last 10 road games. The Thunder have allowed an average of 110 points per game in their last 10 home games. The over is 10-3 in games in which the Spurs are road underdog of 6 or less points this season. The over is 9-5 this season when the Thunder enter a game having scored 105 points or more in 5 straight games. The fact is that both teams are "feeling it" right now and will stay hot as this one turns into a high-scoring affair. These teams each scored 65 points in the 2nd half of their game two weeks ago and the up and down style featured throughout the 2nd half of that game carries right into the rematch as OKC seeks revenge for that home loss and is ready to run and gun for the full 48 minutes in this one. 10* OVER the total in Oklahoma City

Situational Slaughter - Rickenbach NBA Rotation #553 Sunday 10* Top Play Washington Wizards (+) @ Chicago Bulls @ 7:05 ET - I know the Wizards road record is ugly this season but, overall, Washington had been playing better ball before their home loss to Cleveland Friday. Keep in mind, that was a rejuvenated and strengthened Cavaliers team which the Wizards faced on Friday. Now look for the Wizards, whom had won 5 of 7 games prior to losing to the Cavs, to now take advantage of a struggling and hurting Chicago team. The Bulls lost at home to Phoenix last night. They are dealing with a lot of injury issues and now in a back to back spot plus overall Chicago was already struggling badly. The Bulls have now lost 8 straight games. Chicago has won 4 of the last 5 meetings between these teams so the Wizards, also still alive in the playoff race, have plenty of motivation here. Washington has lost their last two visits here. Now it is payback time. Look for the Wizards send the Bulls to their 9th straight loss. 10* WASHINGTON