Indiana had won seven of eight games until losing on the road to the Rockets and at home to the Bucks in its last two games. Now the Pacers go back down in class to take on the Nets. Indiana has covered five of the past six times when taking on sub-.500 opponents.
Brooklyn hosted Indiana back on Oct. 30 and the Pacers won, 118-108. The season was just beginning back then and the Nets were 3-point favorites. The Nets haven't been a good team so far yet this spread is higher. 
This is a favorable situation for Indiana and the Nets have an underrated key injury with guard Caris LeVert out until next month due to a thumb injury. He might be Brooklyn's second best player behind Kyrie Irving. The Nets finished a five-game, nine-day road trip by beating the Bulls two nights ago. Irving sat out that game because of a sore shoulder. I assume he's going to play here. It's an unexpected bonus if he doesn't. I'm taking the number now because if word comes out later that Irving won't play the line is sure to drop. The Nets' concentration level could be down a notch in their first game back from their long road journey.  
The Pacers rank sixth defensively, the Nets 27th. Indiana is giving up 12 fewer points per game than the Nets. Center Myles Turner is back from an ankle injury and looked good in his last game. Power forward Domantas Sabonis is having a strong season on a string of seven straight double/doubles. Turner and Sabonis give the Pacers a frontcourt edge. Indiana is minus injured guard Malcolm Brogdon. That's a significant missing piece. However, the Nets' guard advantage is reduced with LeVert sidelined.
The Pacers have covered in nine of their last 11 games against the Nets, including covering the last five times in Brooklyn.

The Lakers had to laugh at Atlanta if they were watching any of the Hawks-Clippers Saturday night game. The Clippers won, 150-101. It was the Hawks' worst loss since moving to Atlanta from St. Louis. 
The Lakers can't help but take the Hawks for granted. 
Look for the Hawks, though, to play the Lakers tough in this matchup. Not only is there the embarrassment factor from Saturday night, but the Hawks also shouldn't feel the normal fatigue associated with playing on the second of consecutive nights. 
Only one Atlanta player reached the 30-minute level Saturday due to the blowout. The game also was played at Staples Center, an arena both the Clippers and Lakers use as their home-court. So there is no travel involved for the Hawks. 
Note these trends, too: The Hawks have covered 11 of their last 16 road contests and are 9-5 ATS versus above .500 foes. 

The Blackhawks are playing better lately. But they still aren't a good team. The marketplace has bet the Blackhawks into a high enough range where I see enough value to back the Sabres.
Buffalo halted a six-game winless streak with a 4-2 victory against the Senators Saturday. That should provide the Sabres with a much needed confidence boost. 
Chicago also is coming off a Saturday victory, beating Nashville, 7-2. The Blackhawks' victory is misleading, though. They were outshot, 41-24, by the Predators. 
Buffalo has been tough vs. below .500 foes winning 10 of the past 14 times in those situations. 

I get that the Bengals remain the only winless team in the NFL and that their new QB, Ryan Finley, isn't even as good as Andy Dalton. 
But the Raiders aren't a team to lay this high of a number. Only once during the Jon Gruden era have the Raiders won a game by more than eight points. Oakland is in a flat spot, too, having narrowly won a huge home division game against the Chargers last week. This is the Raiders' third home game in a row. 
Finley could prove better now that he's had a start. He's going against the league's 30th-ranked pass defense. The Raiders are down their three best players in the secondary with safety Karl Joseph out with a foot injury. Earlier they lost safety Jonathan Abram to injury and traded cornerback Gareon Conley.
It's a huge added bonus if the Bengals finally get the services of star wide receiver A.J. Green and offensive left tackle Cordy Glenn for the first time this season.  
The Bengals have been money-makers on the road covering in seven of their last nine road contests. 

The Jets do one thing exceptionally well and that's stop the run. They rank No. 2 in rush defense. 
The Redskins have become totally reliant on a ground-and-pound approach under interim coach Bill Callahan. That means heavy duty work for 34-year-old Adrian Peterson. This might be a sound approach - if it were 2012.  
Washington is force-feeding not-ready QB Dwayne Haskins. This reminds me of what the Browns experienced during their winless 2017 season when they kept trotting out overmatched DeShone Kizer at QB. 
The Jets have  the superior skill position players. Sam Darnold is off to a slow start in this his second season. However, he still rates a strong edge on Haskins. 

New Orleans finally is at full strength on offense with Alvin Kamara and Jared Cook playing last week. That's bad news for a Tampa Bay defense that surrenders the most points and passing yards per game. 
The Buccaneers, though, are the No. 3 scoring team in the league because they have a dynamic passing attack. There may not be a better wide receiver tandem than Mike Evans and Chris Godwin. The Saints are without Marshon Lattimore. He's their No. 1 cornerback and he's out with a hamstring injury.
It's not a fluke the Buccaneers have gone Over in seven straight games.

St. Bonaventure can't shoot. The Bonnies are making just 35 percent from the floor and 23 percent from 3-point range. The result is they are averaging fewer than 60 points per game and are 0-3. I don't see St. Bonaventure ending its shooting woes against Rutgers.
The Scarlet Knights are 3-0 and ranked 32nd in the country in scoring defense holding opponents to 55.7 points a game. 
Note this game is being played in Toronto as part of the James Naismith Hall of Fame Classic. Rutgers is playing much better right now than St. Bonaventure. So I'll go ahead and ride the Scarlet Knights against the cold-shooting Bonnies. 

Early activity in the marketplace has been on the Over. I disagree. The total has now reached the point where there is value on the Under - and I'm getting involved. 
Both teams played on Friday and each won. The Canadiens had a highly-satisfying, 5-2, road win against the Capitals in a physical matchup. The Devils held off the Penguins, 2-1. 

That's the way things go for the Devils. They are offensively-challenged this season tied for the fewest goals in the NHL. New Jersey has scored only 10 goals in its last six games. They have failed to score more than two goals during any of those past six games. 
Montreal is likely to go with backup goalie Keith Kinkaid instead of Carey Price. The Nets could stick with hot goalie MacKenzie Blackwood. Perhaps that's why early money to the Over. But I'm fine with Kinkaid in net. He certainly knows the Devils well having played for them for six seasons. 
Blackwood has been a revelation in net. He faced the Canadiens last Feb. 2 stopping 37 shots in a 3-2 New Jersey victory.
I don't expect a fast tempo either in this matchup with both teams having played tough games last night. 

If you can't stop the run you can not stop Air Force. The Falcons are the No. 2 rushing team in the country averaging 324.1 yards a game. Colorado State ranks 111th in run defense allowing an average of 204.7 yards.
The Falcons have averaged nearly 35 points a game during the last five meetings between the two teams. The Over has cashed each of the last seven times the teams have met in Colorado Springs. The Over is 18-8 in Air Force's last 26 road contests. 
Colorado State's offense has picked up since Nebraska transfer Patrick O'Brien replaced injured Colin Hill at quarterback. The Rams have scored 37, 41 and 35 points during their last three games. O'Brien has averaged 302.5 passing yards per game since taking over as the starter. Warren Jackson has emerged as the premier wide receiver in the Mountain West Conference leading the league with 121.7 receiving yards per game.

Huge letdown spot here for LSU after the Tigers' great SEC showdown victory over Alabama last week. That effort was both physically and emotionally draining for the Tigers. 
If you discount its loss to Alabama, Mississippi has lost five games by an average of 6.6 points. The Rebels played both Texas A&M and Auburn close. 
Mississippi ranks No. 1 in the SEC and 13th nationally in rushing. Rebels freshman QB John Rhys Plumlee is a dual threat. He leads the team in rushing. 
LSU QB Joe Burrow can't produce points if his offense is on the bench watching Mississippi control clock with its ground attack.