NHL Tuesday OVER 6.5 in St Louis Blues vs Vancouver Canucks @ 8:05 ET - The Canucks are hot but it will prove to be too little too late and that reality is starting to sink in. Both these teams are still mathematically alive yet, for all intents and purposes, realize their post-season hopes have slipped away. That helps this one to play out rather loosely in terms of defense and netminding. The Blues have been struggling to stop anyone. The Canucks have been getting better goaltending but the way St Louis has been scoring and the fact the Blues are at home means we should expect goals here. Vancouver has lower goals allowed of late but look at the teams they faced and those teams recent goal-scoring and their style of play. This one plays out much differently. The Canucks have won 10 of 12 games and scored an average of 3.5 goals during this stretch. The Blues have seen 10 of last 14 games total at least 7 goals and have allowed an average of nearly 4 goals during this stretch. St Louis also has scored an average of 4.3 goals per game last 10 games. This one has all the right ingredients for each club to get to 3 goals which means we would see at least a 4-3 final. OVER 6.5 in St Louis

NHL Tuesday OVER 6.5 in New York Rangers vs Columbus Blue Jackets @ 7:07 ET - I do have respect for the Rangers and their goaltending but they are coming off some big wins against tough opponents plus have a match-up with the Devils on deck. That said, who could fault them if they overlook the Blue Jackets at least a little bit here and give up 3 goals? No one really could fault them for that but the fact is one could also expect them to pile up about 5 goals here in a big win. Looking for at least a total of 7 here as the Blue Jackets continue to give up piles of goals but also have scored a little better of late. 9 of last 10 Columbus games have totaled at least 7 goals. The Jackets have scored 3.4 goals per game last 14 games. The Blue Jackets also have allowed 5.4 goals per game last 11 games. Neither of those stats includes OT or SO goals of course. The Rangers have won 6 of 7 games and scored an average of 5 goals in their last 10 home wins. Don't be surprised if we see a 5-3 type game or 5-2 or 4-3. Definitely expecting 8 or more here but should get 7 at least. OVER 6.5 in New York Rangers

NBA Tuesday Atlanta Hawks +1.5 vs Cleveland Cavaliers @ 7:40 ET - The Hawks are at home off a loss and that is a situation that has seen them go 6-2 the last 8. I like Atlanta to bounce back here at home as the host team has won both meetings between these teams this season and both wins were by double digit margins. The Cavaliers have won 6 of 8 games but the 6 wins included 4 against teams that are currently not in a playoff or play-in position while the other 2 wins came against a struggling Nets team that is a shell of its former self. The Hawks are still in a key position and need to improve their position in the standings and will go strong here at home. Note that Cleveland has been great at home but actually is a below .500 team on the road and I love the Hawks here off a loss to bounce back. ATLANTA +1.5

NIT Tuesday Top Play OVER 151 in UAB Blazers vs Utah Valley Wolverines @ 9:30 ET - The Wolverines have allowed 69 points or less in 7 of last 8 games. So how can this total be set so high? Exactly! One of the keys is that Utah Valley has averaged scoring 84 ppg last 7 games. But another key is their most recent game. The Wolverines allowed only 68 points but Cincinnati actually had 79 shots from the field! The only reason the Bearcats did got into the 80s or even 90s in points is because they shot 34% overall and 24% from beyond the arc! Similarly, the Blazers are off a game in which they allowed only 59 points but Vanderbilt had 75 shots from the field! The problem for Vandy was they made only 33% from the field and just 26% from 3-point land. Also, the Commodores scored only ONE point from the free throw line the entire game. NONE of these stats are likely to be repeated here and I expect an absolute shootout here with plenty of back and forth quick buckets. UAB averaging 81 ppg this season and Utah Valley 77 and I am expecting, for the reasons note above, this one gets well into the 150s after both defenses were fortunate in terms of points allowed in their most recent game and both these teams very confident in the offensive end and full of scorers! Top Play OVER 151 in UAB

NIT Tuesday North Texas -1.5 vs Wisconsin Badgers @ 7 ET - Mean Green 29-7 this season and allowed 55 points or less in regulation time 7 of last 8 games. The Badgers also playing solid defense and are known for that but they have allowed an average of 65 points in regulation time of their last 7 games. Also, lets not forget Wisconsin had lost 12 of 18 games entering this tournament. Certainly Wisconsin has played the tougher schedule but this North Texas team is loaded with confidence and favored here for a reason. The odds makers are sharp and they have a CUSA team that faced a weaker schedule favored over the Big Ten team for a reason. Look for the Mean Green to ride their stifling defense on the way to punching their ticket to the NIT Championship Game Thursday. NORTH TEXAS -1.5

2024 European Championship Qualifying, Group Stage Tuesday OVER 2.5 -125 in Wales vs Latvia @ 2:45 ET - Of course Wales is favored by 1.5 goals on the goal line here for a reason. I expect them to get a multi-goal win here but am most comfortable with the over. I  expect Latvia to score a goal here and a likely 2-1 or 3-1 final. Latvia is off a 3-2 loss to Ireland and actually has scored at least 1 goal (and averaged 1.8 goals scored!) in last 12 matches! Granted that included some weaker competition too of course but, still, 12 straight matches with at least 1 goal is impressive. Wales has conceded at least 1 goal in 9 straight matches and has allowed an average of 1.8 goals per match during this 9-match stretch. Wales has not scored that well of late but, again, they are a huge favorite here for a reason and they are off a 1-1 draw with Croatia. That was quite impressive as Croatia has been so tough including that huge World Cup run. This one is in Cardiff and the hosts should do some damage against on out-classed foe. That helps insure we see at least 3 goals here. OVER 2.5 -125 in Wales

2024 European Championship Qualifying, Group Stage Tuesday OVER 2.5 +110 in Romania vs Belarus @ 2:45 ET - Of course Romania is favored by 1.5 goals on the goal line here for a reason. I expect them to get a multi-goal win here but am most comfortable with the over. I  expect Belarus to score a goal here and a likely 2-1 or 3-1 final. Belarus is off B2B shutout losses but this was preceded by them scoring at least 1 goal in 3 straight matches and 8 of last 11 matches. The last 5 meetings between Romania and Belarus have seen 4 of them total at least 4 goals and those 4 averaged 5 goals! Romania is still angry from missing out on the 2020 European Championship and wants to make sure they participate this time around. That means they keep the hammer down here. Their first match ended 2-0 but their opponent had a red card at about the 60' mark and that is what likely prevented the match from seeing a 3rd goal. This one should get there as Romania is at home plus enters this one having averaged 3 goals per game last 4 games. OVER 2.5 +110 in Romania

English League One Wednesday OVER 2.5 goals +120 in Cheltenham Town vs Sheffield Wednesday @ 2:45 ET - Cheltenham Town will put up a fight at home and should score at least 1 goal on their home pitch here but Sheffield Wednesday is favored by a solid margin for good reason. The visitors enter this match angry off B2B losses and they have outscored Cheltenham Town 9-3 in the last 3 meetings and all of those matches have been in the past 18 months so it is not like it is ancient history. The visitors will score well and each of the last 3 meetings between these clubs have totaled at least 3 goals and averaged 4 goals. Sheffield Wednesday is one of the highest scoring clubs in the league and currently #2 in the table. Cheltenham Town, however, is off B2B wins in which they scored 3 goals in each victory. The hosts are playing with confidence and are not safe yet from relegation so they keep pushing for points in the table. However, the visitors off B2B losses know they must win too after B2B losses and I see each team scoring and neither team settling for a 1-1 draw either. Neither team has a high draw and considering the situation here, there will also be an extra push for goals in this one. OVER 2.5 goals +120 in Cheltenham Town