Sports Handicapper Matt Fargo's Picks & Predictions

This is a play on the VIRGINIA CAVALIERS for our Saturday Free Play. This is an odd scheduling spot in February with Virginia and Ohio St. playing in Nashville and this will likely have a more adverse effect on the Buckeyes. Ohio St. is coming off a pair of home games against Michigan and USC where it is now 8-6 in the Big Ten Conference and while this is a game that can be a resume builder, it can be a distraction. The Buckeyes have Wisconsin, Michigan St., Purdue and Iowa on deck and this is a tough travel spot for them as they are 5-5 away from home with the best win being No. 75 Northwestern, the only Quad 1 win as they are 1-7. While it is also a disruption for Virginia, the Cavaliers are coming off a very easy five-game stretch with Georgia Tech on deck so there is no letdown/lookahead. They are 10-2 in the ACC with the losses coming against Virginia Tech in triple overtime and against North Carolina after blowing a 16-point lead. Play (747) Virginia Cavaliers

14-9 Run. NBA 42-27-1 Run going into the break. CBB 26-16 Run. TEN CBB Winners. Matt was at the top of the boards in MLB last season! EARLY BIRD MLB Special available. Inclusive Package gets all plays in all sports.

This is a play on the UC IRVINE ANTEATERS for our CBB Late Powerhouse. UC Irvine had a four-game winning streak snapped with a loss at Santa Barbara last Saturday and followed that up with a bad loss at Cal Poly on Thursday to fall to 9-4 in the Big West Conference. The Anteaters are a game behind Hawaii for first place in the conference and return home in a smash spot where they are 5-0 in the Big West and they close with five of their last seven games in Irvine. Cal St. Fullerton has won three games in a row and five of its last six to go from 3-5 to 8-6 to put it into a tie for fifth place. The Titans are 4-9 on the road including 3-4 in the Big West, two wins against two of the four worst teams. 10* (782) UC Irvine Anteaters

This is a play on the CSU NORTHRIDGE MATADORS for our CBB Ultimate Underdog. This is the fourth of five weekend trips to the mainland for Hawaii and in the first three, the Warriors split their last and they started off this one with a victory over Cal St. Bakersfield so the split is another possibility. Hawaii is 10-3 in the Big West Conference which is good for a half-game lead over Santa Barbara for first place and again laying a number on the road against a very solid home team. CSU Northridge has won four straight games and has been off since last Saturday to get ready for this revenge game after losing on the island by 21 points right before the current win streak began. The Matadors are 11-1 at home. 10* (756) CSU Northridge Matadors

This is a play on the JACKSONVILLE ST. GAMECOCKS for our CBB Signature Enforcer. Jacksonville St. is coming off a home loss against UTEP on Saturday that put a halt to its 5-1 run and it was just its second home conference loss, the first coming against 8-5 Sam Houston St. The Gamecocks are also at 8-5 and those two teams are tied for second place which is the goal now as Liberty has a five-game lead in Conference-USA. New Mexico St. fell to 4-10 in the conference with a loss on Wednesday at home against Liberty by a bucket and it missed out on a great opportunity to hand the Flames their first conference loss. It would be better for the Gamecocks had they won but it is still a tough spot to bounce back from. 10* (716) Jacksonville St. Gamecocks

This is a play on the SOUTHERN INDIANA SCREAMING EAGLES for our CBB Platinum Pickem. Southern Indiana is coming off another tough loss and that has been a theme at home this season. The Screaming Eagles are 3-9 at home with four of the losses coming by four points or less and six of the losses have come against the six teams that are either 11-4, three by the aforementioned four points or less. This is the final home game of the season for Southern Indiana as it closes with four straight road games. Tennessee Tech comes in off a pair of losses to fall to 5-10 in the Ohio Valley Conference and that includes two road wins both by five points against the worst OVC team Western Illinois and rival Tennessee Tech. 10* (698) Southern Indiana Screaming Eagles

This is a play on the NC STATE WOLFPACK for our CBB Bounceback Baller. This is another buy low/sell high spot as we will be backing NC State after coming off its worst loss of the season as the Wolfpack were absolutely embarrassed at Louisville by 41 points on Monday which snapped a six-game winning streak to put them at 9-3 in the ACC. That loss will have them folly focused so there will be no chance for a lookahead to rival North Carolina on Tuesday. Miami is coming off a big win over North Carolina which was its third Quad 1 win so it was much needed. The other two were on the road but those were against Wake Forest and Syracuse while the three Quad 1 losses were all by double digits away from home. 10* (686) NC State Wolfpack

This is a play on the NORTHERN COLORADO BEARS for our Big Sky Game of the Year. Portland St. improved to 11-1 in the Big Sky Conference with a win at Northern Arizona on Thursday and the Vikings are now a perfect 6-0 on the road in the conference but it has been fortunate. They defeated a poor Sacramento St. team by one point, Eastern Washington and Idaho by seven points combined and Weber St. and Idaho St. in overtime and are now in a tough travel spot. Northern Colorado has won five straight games after a 1-7 start in the conference and the Bears remain home where they are 8-2. This is a revenge spot for Northern Colorado as well following a three-point loss in Portland just over a month ago and they get it. 10* (678) Northern Colorado Bears

This is a play on the CREIGHTON BLUEJAYS for our CBB Contrarian Crusher. Villanova will be the popular play here as it has won four straight games to move to 10-3 in the Big East Conference and while one of those losses was at home against Creighton, we are not backing the road revenge angle. The Wildcats have lost only two true road games at Michigan and Connecticut so they have been excellent but we will be backing a Creighton team that has failed to cover nine straight games against the closing line. The Bluejays are coming off a loss at DePaul which was their four loss in five games, three of those on the road. The home loss was against 13-1 Connecticut with the only other home loss against 12-1 St. John’s. 10* (648) Creighton Bluejays

This is a play on the IOWA ST. CYCLONES for our CBB Afternoon Attraction. This is the ideal buy low/sell high spot as we get an Iowa St. team coming off a bad loss at TCU which snapped a five-game winning streak and the Cyclones are now 8-3 in the Big 12 Conference which is two games behind Arizona and Houston. They have Houston on deck Monday but there is certainly no lookahead as this is a massive revenge game after losing in Lawrence by 21 points in a game it never led. Kansas is coming off an opposite game as it won at home against Arizona to hand the Wildcats their first loss and the Jayhawks have now won eight straight games and it will be anyone’s guess if Darryn Peterson will be on the floor. 10* (618) Iowa St. Cyclones

This is a play on the EAST TENNESSEE ST. BUCCANEERS for our CBB Supreme Annihilator. East Tennessee St. has won four straight games to improve to 11-2 in the SoCon with the two losses by six points combined and both against Western Carolina where it was favored by 7.5 and 9.5 points. The Buccaneers have a two-game lead in the conference and they remain home where they are 13-2, the other loss back in December. Samford is making a run as it has won five of its last six games to get to 7-6 in the conference following a 2-5 start. The Bulldogs have covered six straight games so it is fade time as they are back on the road where they are 4-8, two wins in overtime and another over No. 358 VMI. 10* (612) East Tennessee St. Buccaneers

This is a play on the OKLAHOMA ST. COWBOYS for our CBB Afternoon Dominator. TCU narrowly defeated 1-10 Kansas St. at home last Saturday but then took out Iowa St. in its next game so the Horned Frogs were guilty of looking past the Wildcats and now they will be guilty of a letdown. TCU did not play a road game until its 15th game and overall, it has gone 1-4 on the highway in the Big 12 Conference. Oklahoma St. pulled off the big home upset 10 days ago but then got rolled at Arizona and followed that up with a loss at Arizona St. and like TCU, the Cowboys have just one road win but now they are back home where they are 13-2 while playing with revenge from a three-point loss in Fort Worth last month. 10* (602) Oklahoma St. Cowboys