Total of the Week - Rickenbach NHL Rotation #40 Tuesday 10* OVER the total in Buffalo Sabres vs Minnesota Wild @ 7:05 ET - I am aware of the injuries that the Sabres have but so too are the odds makers. You think they are throwing these numbers out there without knowing what is going on? The fact is they opened up this total at a 6 with good reason and yet it has now dropped to a 5.5 which is great value the way I see it. For one thing, a lot of the Buffalo forwards that are out are lower line guys. Yes, this is testing the depth of the Sabres but they still have plenty of top tier guys that can produce in the offensive zone and certainly this includes Jack Eichel who scored 5 goals over the weekend! However, he had the lone goal in Sunday's loss on the road and that means a determined and focused effort from Buffalo here on Tuesday now that they are back home. Watch them "rally the troops" because some of their teammates are currently out and you are going to see a huge effort here from the Sabres. However, Buffalo has been struggling to stop the opposition of late and the Wild have been potting plenty of goals so that is why I am expecting Minnesota to match the Sabres goal for goal in this one. The Wild have scored at least 3 goals in 6 of their last 7 games. Also, Minnesota's most recent low-scoring road loss was preceded by the Wild scoring 4 or more goals in 3 straight road games! The Sabres most recent game was a 4-1 loss that stayed under the total but their 3 prior games total an average of 7.7 goals per game. This one gets to 7 or 8 in my opinion as well and, if I am wrong, I am thinking 6 at a minimum and that still gets us into the win column here thanks to the market move. 10* OVER the total in Buffalo

Earliest Cash - Rickenbach NHL Rotation #41 Tuesday 8* Philadelphia Flyers Money Line (+) @ Florida Panthers @ 7:05 ET - I am not going to pass up on the opportunity to take the Flyers at plus money here considering they are off 3 straight tight losses and just suffered a brutally tough loss on home ice. Philadelphia blew a 3-0 third period lead at home against the Islanders on Saturday and then lost in the shootout. Philly has had to wait two days off to now get back on the ice for a game and they're going to be flying all over the ice against the Panthers tonight. Philadelphia has been getting much better goaltending this season than Florida has and I look for that to be the difference in this one. Also, while the Flyers have come up just short in 3 straight games, the Panthers are off a home win in their most recent game. Florida has lost 7 of 11 this season when off a game in which they scored 4 or more goals. Before their collapse against the Isles, the Flyers had allowed 2 or less goals in 6 straight games! Comparatively, the Panthers have allowed an average of 4 goals per game in their past 4 games. 8* PHILADELPHIA

Earliest Cash - Rickenbach CBB Rotation #635 Tuesday 10* Top Play OVER the total in Marshall Thundering Herd vs College of Charleston Cougars @ 7 ET - I had the over when Marshall played Notre Dame on Friday. The teams combined for 141 shots from the field but the game stayed under the total. Sometimes stupid things happen. In other words, the pace was absolutely there for an over but the Fighting Irish made only 24 of 76 shots! Even with that horrific shooting effort from ND, the Thundering Herd have allowed an average of 85 points per game their past two games. At home for this one, I expect Marshall to have a much better performance on the offensive end but look for the Herd to continue giving up a lot of points. The College of Charleston comes from the Colonial Athletic Association and that conference has led the nation in offensive efficiency the past two seasons! The Cougars are one of the top teams in the CAA and the only reason their numbers on offense are down a bit early this season is because of their most recent game as they faced a tough match-up with Oklahoma State. Prior to this one, Charleston had averaged 79 points per game in their first two match-ups this season. The Cougars have allowed 76.5 points per game their past two games. The over is 10-3 when Charleston is on the road with a line ranging from a pick'em to a six point favorite. The over is 6-3 when Marshall enters a game having played each of past two games as an underdog. Look for the Thundering Herd to tear it up on the offensive end after back to back tougher match-ups. This one will be a run and gun affair with the Herd shooting better courtesy of playing at home. 10* OVER the total in Marshall

Total of the Week - Rickenbach NBA Rotation #577 Tuesday 10* Top Play OVER the total in Memphis Grizzlies vs Golden State Warriors @ 8:05 ET - I am aware of the Warriors injuries but lets not forget that Golden State is allowing 119 points per game this season and the Grizzlies are allowing 118.8 points per game this season. Neither one of these teams do a good job defending. The Warriors have allowed 48% shooting this season including 39% from beyond the arc! Memphis had one good defensive effort in their last 6 games (against defensive-minded Utah) but allowed 46.7% or more from the field in their other 5 games. In those five games the Grizzlies 122.6 points per game! The Warriors come into this one having stayed under the total in 3 straight games but this was preceded by a 5-0 run to the over. Golden State is off a low-scoring loss at New Orleans but the over is 4-1 this season when the Warriors are off a road loss. Both teams view this game as a winnable game and I see the Grizzlies young guns pushing the pace in this one and we see a back and forth high-scoring game in this one as a result. 10* OVER the total in Memphis

ESPN Smash Pass - Rickenbach CFB Rotation #104 Tuesday 10* Top Play Northern Illinois Huskies (-) vs Eastern Michigan Eagles @ 7:30 ET - The Huskies are off a 31-28 win at Toledo but Northern Illinois actually led that game huge before the Rockets rallied late. It was a tight win but the point is that had the Huskies been at home for that one I would have expected the blowout to go on for the full sixty minutes. Now here they are getting a rare home game as they have had a very home-heavy schedule thus far. Northern Illinois finishes the season with a pair of home games and I expect them to make the most of it. Eastern Michigan is off a huge win but it came against an Akron team that is the worst team out of all 130 teams in FBS! The Zips are simply dreadful this season. Prior to that win the Eagles had lost 4 of 5 games with the average margin of defeat being 16 points. These teams each struggle on offense but the Huskies are the better defense and have home field here and have won 11 straight games in this series. I look for the streak to reach a dozen games and I expect the victory margin to be double digits just as the Huskies two prior home wins were this season. 10* NORTHERN ILLINOIS