ESPN Slaughter - Scott "The Bulldog" Rickenbach CBB Rotation #752 Thursday 10* Top Play USC Trojans (+) vs Connecticut Huskies @ 7 ET @ Mohegan Sun Arena @ Uncasville, CT - The location of this game would seem to favor Connecticut of course. However, USC is the play here. Not only do the Huskies have a couple guys banged up, I also feel we have some value here in terms of who these teams have played so far. The Huskies haven't really been tested yet as they faced overmatched foes in Central Connecticut State and Hartford. Conversely, USC faced a tough BYU team in its most recent game. In fact, the Trojans were an underdog in that game and yet they dominated and won the game by 26 points. Whenever I see a line like this (UConn playing what is, in essence a home game and yet hardly favored) it grabs my attention. Upon closer inspection I see the contrarian value here given the situation. Having already been tested by Brigham Young, the Trojans will be better prepared to handle a challenging game. Also, the way Southern Cal played against the Cougars, they showed they came to Uncasville, CT to compete at the highest level and I expect that to lead to another convincing win in this one. 10* USC Trojans

Thursday Thrasher - Scott "The Bulldog" Rickenbach CFB Rotation #323 Thursday 10* Top Play OVER the total in North Texas Mean Green vs Louisiana Tech Bulldogs @ 6 ET - I am well aware that the Mean Green scored just 17 points in last week's loss but they did have over 400 yards in that game. Also, teams make mistakes in terms of defensive assignments after a long layoff and the Bulldogs enter this game having not played since Halloween! Look for the rust to lead to problems containing the North Texas offense in this one. Also, the Mean Green are out for revenge after getting thrashed 52-17 last season by Louisiana Tech. Though I do expect North Texas to have a huge game on offense I expect that if they prevail it will be on the strength of that O because I do not trust their D here. The Mean Green have allowed less than 31 points in a game just once in 7 games this season. In the other games they have allowed an average of 45 points per game and that included a game against Houston Baptist (an FCS school). Similarly, the Bulldogs have allowed less than 27 points in only one of their games. In the other 6 games they allowed an average of 34.8 points per game. This game is a strange set up for Louisiana Tech and I could easily see them playing it with an aggressive "whatever happens" style which means that we could see plenty of points in this one. Based on the averages, this one should get into the 70s at least. Look for a wild one at Denton, TX on Thursday. 10* OVER the total in North Texas