Will Rogers

At 6:00pm ET, my CUSA GOY is on Liberty. These teams are very much at opposite ends of the Conference-USA spectrum. Liberty may be the most talented team in the conference and is the clear favorite to finish on top. The Flames were 13-0 last season and this year's team returned 14 starters. Last year, they won by 14 at UTEP. This year, they host the Miners. Plus, this year's UTEP team isn't nearly as good as last year's. Not only do the Miners have a new coach but they only returned 9 starters. Its a rebuilding year and that's been evident through the first 2 games. Getting smashed 40-7 at Nebraska was expected but the Miners also just lost at home to Southern Utah. The Flames were tested at New Mexico State last week but came roaring back in the 4th quarter. Off that close call, they will make sure to keep their foot on the gas the whole way here. This will result in a one-sided destruction. Play on Liberty.

At 3:30 ET, my Rivalry Rout is on WVU. Not surprisingly, West Virginia stumbled in its 34-12 Week 1 home loss to Penn State. The Mountaineers bounced back nicely in last week's 49-14 home win over Albany. Now 1-1, I think WVU carries over that offensive momentum here in Pittsburgh. The Panthers are 2-0, beating Kent State 55-24 in Week 1, before last week's 28-27 win at Cincinnati as a 2-point dog. Give them credit for the comeback win but they were a little fortunate. The Backyard Brawl" and it's a highly anticipated rivalry which was renewed in 2022 after and 11-year break. This year's game will have a big impact on the rest of the season for both teams. WVU RB CJ Donaldson has 170 yards rushing and two TDs already this season and I think a relatively inexperienced Pittsburgh defense (only 4 starters from last year) will have difficulty slowing him down. He ran for 102 yards and a TD in last year's win. The Mountaineers held Pitt to 6 points and 211 total yards in that game. WVU coach Neal Brown will have his team ready to play once again. Let's go WVU!

At 12:00pm, my Early Riser is on Wisconsin. I think that the Badgers will comfortably cover the generous number. This is the first meeting between the schools since 2015. The Badgers will be excited for the chance to host mighty Alabama. These opportunities don't come often as this is the first time the Tide played here since 1928 and the first time they played a road game vs a Big Ten team since 2011. The Crimson Tide are 2-0, hammering WKU 63-0 in Week 1, before last week's 42-16 win over USF, unable to cover the 30.5-point spread. But the Tide may be thinking they are better than they really are and easily could already be looking ahead to Georgia, who they face here after their bye next week. Understand that Bama is 0-5 ATS its last 5 road openers. Wisconsin is 2-0 SU, and 0-2 ATS. Both games have come against inferior opponents, winning 28-14 here vs. WMU as a 24-point fav, before then pulling away for the 27-13 victory over South Dakota last week as an 18.5-point favorite. The Badgers have been overvalued in back-to-back games to open the year, but I don't think that's the case here in Week 3. Alabama will bring out their best. The Badgers also have next week off before a conference road game at USC. This is a difficult place for Alabama to play its first road game and I don't think it can cover more than two TD's this weekend. I'm grabbing the points and expecting a solid cover for underrated Wisconsin. 

At 9:40pm ET, my UFC Fight Of The Month is on Ronaldo Rodriguez. I'm very pleased to get Rodriguez at this price. I felt he could easily be priced much higher. Rodriguez is 16-2. Osbourne is 12-7. Records aside, styles make fights and this should be a great matchup for Rodriguez. A well-rounded fighter with strong submission skills, Rodriguez has won 6 straight and 10 of 11. Two of his last 3 wins have come via submission. He's never been knocked out (or submitted). His 2 losses came by decision. Osbourne has lost 2 in a row and 3 of 4. He's lost 4 of 7 since moving down to the flyweight division. His last 2 losses both came via submission. He will have a big reach advantage in this fight but his (biggest) problem is that his take-down defense is terrible. Once on the ground, Osbourne really struggles. Full of confidence from his winning streak, the Mexican fighter will stifle Osbourne's striking and eventually take him down and very likely submit him. If it does manage to go to the scorecards, Rodriguez will have built enough control time on the ground to be comfortably ahead.