Rating: 2 Units

Kansas City's offense putting up more than five runs per game this month already gives them an advantage at the plate on Saturday. Then factor in their better play at home all season (.259/.322/.419 slash line), and they should tee off. Clarke Schmidt already gave up three runs against them in Yankee Stadium. He brings a 5.27 road ERA and 5.33 ERA in his last five starts to Kansas City with him. Expect the Royals to jump ahead early. Pitching has been a concern for Kansas City, but this year's Yankees aren't threatening at the plate at all. New York is scoring fewer than four runs per game in September and has been among the league's lowest-scoring teams all season. Home runs are their great equalizer, but Kauffman Stadium's dimensions should neutralize that. This game will be a Royals win.

Rating: 2 Units

The Marlins are trying to hang on to the final Wildcard spot. They won three of their previous four games against the Pirates this season. They have scored 17 runs in their last four games. They hit the ball well against right-handers and Priester has struggled on the mound in recent starts, giving up 10 runs in his last three starts. He gave up 20 runs in his last four home starts and will have a hard time slowing down the Marlins in this game. The Pirates offensive struggles will continue in this game because they are one of the worst hitting teams in the league and Miami’s pitching has been very good in recent games, with the team holding four of their last five opponents under four runs. They gave up 10 runs in four games against the Pirates this season and will keep their offense in check. Go with Miami to cover the money line.

Rating: 2 Units

This should be an interesting matchup today between the Jays and Rays. With a likely playoff matchup looming, neither team will likely look to play their starters the full game. Both starting pitchers are also likely to be pitching out of the bullpen in the wildcard round with neither in the top-three of their team's rotations. I expect both pitchers to be gone by the end of the fourth inning at the latest as each team protects their pitching staff. The rest of the game should be played by recent call-ups that will not be a part of the playoff roster. I like the home team Jays to be slightly more motivated after going through a bit of a tough stretch in recent games.

Rating: 2 Units

Defending National Champions are 8-14-1 ATS as undefeated double digit road chalk versus .750 or greater opponents. Auburn is 7-0 ATS in Game 5 vs. conference foes and has a 3-1 spread mark as conference home dogs of 6 points or more. Freeze is 28-12 ATS as a dog, including 13-5 ATS versus undefeated foes. 

Rating: 2 Units

Fisher is just 17-31 ATS versus avenging .500-or-greater conference opponents, including 2-12 ATS versus foes coming off a loss. Meanwhile, the Hogs cashed our 4-star Best Bet winner last week and they’re coming right back for more this week. They are in the right role, going 14-6 ATS as a dog under head coach Sam Pittman, including 8-1 ATS as a dog of fewer than 9 points.

Rating: 3 Units

Gamecocks appear to have lost their edge following a close-but-no-cigar loss to Georgia, as they are now 0-3 ITS (In The Stats) against fellow FBS foes this season. Keep an eye on the line as South Carolina is also a miserable 1-7 ATS as road dogs of 12 or less points. Tennessee has cashed in 4 of the last five series meetings and despite a wobbly 3-9 ATS record in its last 12 SEC games when seeking revenge, we’ll still lay the points in this major conference payback.

Rating: 3 Units

Texas is 0-7 ATS as conference favorites of more than 10 points, 1-5 ATS when coming off back-to-back wins, and 2-9 ATS at home before facing fellow conference defector Oklahoma. Kansas has covered 5 of the last six meetings in this series, is 5-2 ATS as conference dogs of more than 10 points, and 7-3 against the number overall with conference revenge. Finally, Kansas head coach Lance Leipold is 10-3-2 ATS in his career against undefeated opponents, including 6-2 SU and 7-0-1 ATS against foes coming off a SUATS win.

Big-10 Game of the Week

Rating: 5 Units

Vegas has made the Boilermakers the betting favorite, and that’s where things get ugly for Purdue. They are 1-6 ATS in the last seven games when laying points against avenging teams, 0-4 ATS at Ross-Ade last year and 0-3 SU at home this season. Purdue always seems tougher when they have the chip on their shoulder and here to knock it off is the fact that Purdue is 0-12 ATS as a conference favorite of 18 or less points.

SEC Play of the Day

Rating: 4 Units

Kentucky head coach Mark Stoops has worked wonders during his 10-plus years at Lexington but he’s a money-burning 8-14 ATS at home in conference games versus foes off an ATS loss. And when it comes to taking on a conference team playing with revenge, the Cats had cashed just three tickets in their last ten tries. Finally, consider that Florida's HC is 11-2 ATS as a dog in conference games, including 7-0 SUATS as a dog of 5 or fewer points