Parlays

The Toronto Maple Leafs will be in Nashville on Saturday night to take on the Predators in what is a very important game for the Leafs. After their 4-0 defeat at the hands of the Washington Capitals on Thursday, there were some pointed comments from head coach Craig Berube towards the leadership group of this team. Despite sitting only six points out of the top spot in the Atlantic Division, is seems like a change is forthcoming if the Leafs do not turn things around. Going up against a weaker opponent in the Predators, this game feels like a must win. The Predators are one of the worst defensive teams in the NHL. They average 3.49 goals against per game, which is second-worst in the league. The Leafs will need to expose this as they are not great defensively themselves, but they are the better offensive team. The Leafs average 3.18 goals per game compared to the 2.76 goals per game that the Predators average.

I expect to see some desperate hockey out of the Leafs tonight after their brutal performance on Thursday. Give me the Leafs on the money line in this one.

Leafs vs. Predators prediction: Leafs ML (-110) available at time of publishing. Playable at that number.

The Calgary Flames will be welcoming the Vegas Golden Knights to the Saddledome on Saturday night. The Golden Knights will be without two of their key players on Saturday as Jack Eichel and Shea Theodore are dealing with lower body injuries. Without Eichel in the lineup up front, other key players such as Mitch Marner and Mark Stone will need to step up. In the past in his time in Toronto, we have seen Marner step his game up when Auston Matthews was absent from the lineup, so it is well within his capabilities. They should have a fairly easy time shutting down the Flames offensively, as they are fourth-worst in that category in the NHL. They average only 2.54 goals per game. Their defensive play isn’t quite strong enough to make up for this as they average just under 3 goals against per game.

With the playoff race being as tight as it at the top of the Pacific Division, a veteran team like the Golden Knights will have a game like this against a much weaker team circled on the calendar as a must win. Even without Eichel and Theodore in the lineup, I trust them to get it done. Give me the Golden Knights on the money line in this one.

Golden Knights vs. Flames prediction: Golden Knights ML (-130) available at time of publishing. Playable at that number.

The Columbus Blue Jackets are set to battle the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday evening at Honda Center. These teams met last week on Tuesday, with the Blue Jackets prevailing by a score of 4-3 in overtime. Columbus then lost to Minnesota 5-2 on Thursday before traveling across the country for Saturday’s matchup in Anaheim. Picking up back-to-back wins against the Ducks may prove to be a difficult task for the Blue Jackets this time around. Anaheim has been great on home ice all season, owning a strong 11-5-0 record when playing in front of their home fans. Columbus is just 7-8-3 on the road, and has dropped 5 of their last 6 road contests.

Despite dropping 4 of their last 5 games, the Ducks have been a model of consistency this season. They’ve been great at bouncing back, having lost 3 games in a row just once this season, all of which came on the road. Leo Carlsson and company should be salivating when on the power play, as Columbus ranks 30th in the NHL with a penalty kill percentage of just 72%. The Ducks have just one power play goal over their last 6 games, but this could be the perfect spot to get back on track. Fade the Blue Jackets and take confidence backing the Ducks in this one,

Blue Jackets vs Ducks prediction: Ducks ML (-115) available at time of publishing. Playable to -125.

Kicking off Saturday’s College Football Playoff action at noon ET is one of the more exciting matchups of the first round between the Miami Hurricanes and the Texas A&M Aggies. Coincidentally, both of these teams beat Notre Dame early in the year, which ultimately is the reason why the Fighting Irish were left out. Miami finished the season 10-2 SU and 7-5 ATS while Texas A&M is 11-1 SU and 5-7 ATS, but it’s worth mentioning that both teams were often double-digit favorites. In games with a spread of 7 points or less, Texas A&M is 4-2 ATS while Miami is 3-0. The only time Miami was listed as an underdog was in its Week 1 win over Notre Dame. The Hurricanes closed around +3 in that game, which is about where they sit right now ahead of their playoff road trip to College Station.

Texas A&M has an impressive resume from a win/loss perspective, but when you dig deeper into what the Aggies have done this year, you’ll see that they didn’t play very many of the top SEC teams. Given the home-field advantage, the Aggies are rightful favorites, but it feels like a couple too many points – especially when considering the turnover issues the Aggies have displayed lately. They finished the regular season outside the top 100 in turnover rate, and they average 2.3 giveaways per game over their last 3 – which ranks near the bottom of the FBS over that stretch of games. In comparison, Miami is top-25 in turnover margin this year and averages just 0.7 giveaways per game over its last 3. Taking care of the ball will be crucial in a matchup between 2 top-10 defenses in terms of havoc generated outside of garbage time this year, as both stop-units rank top-25 in sacks and tackles for loss this year. Because of that, I feel more confident in Carson Beck in this spot considering he has half the amount of turnover-worthy plays as Marcel Reed. In fact, Reed has 11 turnover-worthy plays since Week 9 alone.

Reed can negate some of his turnover woes with his ability to escape from the pocket in the face of pressure and make defenses pay with his athleticism as a runner, but Miami has been especially good against mobile quarterbacks this year. In fact, FSU’s Tommy Castellanos was the only mobile quarterback that did damage against Miami’s defense, and most of that rushing production came in the 4th quarter when the game was all but decided. 

Not only has Miami been better in the turnover department, but the Hurricanes also have one of the most efficient red-zone offenses in the country. They put points on the board on over 92% of red-zone trips, and they find the end zone over 71% of the time – which puts them top-25 in both categories. Meanwhile, the Aggies are 76th in red-zone scoring and 43rd in red-zone touchdown rate. Miami should have a solid edge here, especially considering Texas A&M’s defense is 131st in red-zone scoring while allowing opponents to put points on the board on close to 94% of red-zone trips. 

This should be an excellent battle between a couple of teams that are strong on both sides. Despite having a preseason future on the Aggies, I prefer to take the points with the Hurricanes in this matchup given their advantages when it comes to turnovers and red-zone efficiency, in addition to their ability to limit mobile quarterbacks. For what it’s worth, my projections have Texas A&M around a 2-point favorite.

Miami vs Texas A&M prediction: Miami Hurricanes +3.5 (-110) at the time of publishing. Playable to +3.

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The Tulane Green Wave and Ole Miss Rebels meet for the second time this season, only this time it’s a do-or-die matchup. Back in late September, the Rebels dominated Tulane 45-10 in a game that got away from the Green Wave. The defense couldn’t get off the field, the passing game struggled to find any momentum and most of all the Rebels simply outclassed the Group of 5 opponent. It’s hard to see a much different result this time around despite the obvious coaching shenanigans on both sides. Jon Sumrall is off to Florida and Lane Kiffin is off to LSU, though Sumrall will still be on the sidelines for this game while Pete Golding takes the reins for the hosts.

The Ole Miss offense is a machine; the Rebels rank top 10 in both EPA/rush and EPA/dropback with a top-16 mark in net points per drive. Furthermore, Ole Miss has the No. 1 quality drive rate in FBS matched up against a Tulane unit ranking 94th in defensive success rate despite facing relatively inferior competition throughout the 2025 campaign. Home field advantage plays a big part in the College Football Playoffs, and I’ll back Ole Miss to dominate this matchup once again and cover the hefty spread.

Tulane vs Ole Miss prediction: Ole Miss Rebels -17 (-110) available at time of publishing. Playable at that number or better.

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The final game of the opening round of the College Football Playoff will commence on Saturday evening from Autzen Stadium, as the Oregon Ducks are set to host the James Madison Dukes in a game that appears to be pretty lopsided on paper. This is the largest spread of any College Football Playoff game in this new 12-team format thus far, and all signs would traditionally point to the Ducks winning big and advancing to the quarterfinals in a few weeks. In all honesty, it wouldn’t surprise me at all if Dan Lanning’s team controlled this game from the opening kick and won by 17-20 points. However, even when pricing in an extra point or two for the atmosphere at Autzen Stadium at night in what should be one of the best Oregon crowds in recent memory, I just cant get to this number now that it’s currently sitting above 3 touchdowns.

This is a very difficult game to handicap given the impending coaching turnover on both sides, but I have massive respect for this James Madison coaching staff, and they should have their team ready to play in a game where the Dukes have nothing to lose and are playing with a bit of house money. In its only game against a Power 4 opponent on the road this season, James Madison was tied with Louisville in the 4th quarter and that was long before the Dukes were a finished product on offense. In fact, since Alonza Barnett III became the full-time quarterback, this has been a well-oiled machine (18th in success rate, 28th in EPA per play), albeit an offense that hasn’t faced a defense like what they’ll see against Oregon. Where JMU is pretty underrated nationally is on defense, as the Dukes are tops in the nation in success rate allowed, to go along with top 10 marks in EPA per play and points per drive allowed. They’ll certainly have their work cut out for them against an excellent Oregon offense, but the Ducks are still dealing with a number of injuries heading into this game and it’s not a guarantee that Will Stein’s offense will be at full strength, to say nothing of the focus concerns I have with the Ducks given both of their coordinators have already accepted other Power 4 head coaching jobs. Given the massive spread at play here, the backdoor could be wide open in the fourth quarter, and it’s not a guarantee that Oregon is just going to show up and win by 4 touchdowns on Saturday.  

James Madison vs Oregon prediction: James Madison +21.5 available at time of publishing. Playable at that number. 

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