Sean Murphy

My selection is on Southern Miss minus the points over Grambling State at 8 pm et on Monday.

This is a rematch of an earlier 75-50 Grambling State win back on November 13th. The scene shifts to Southern Miss' home gym for this rematch on Monday and I look for the Golden Eagles to get their 'revenge'. Southern Miss struggled out of the gate this season and that wasn't all that surprising as it is employing a largely new roster and opened with a fairly difficult schedule. Lately, we've seen the Golden Eagles start to gel, connecting on 30, 37, 28, 25 and 24 field goals over their last five games while holding three of their last five opponents to 22 or fewer made field goals. I do think the potential is there for Southern Miss to overwhelm Grambling in this rematch, noting that the former has gotten off 60+ field goal attempts in five of nine contests to date this season. In stark contrast, Grambling enters this contest on a four-game slide, having made good on just 24, 17, 23 and 21 field goals over that stretch. The Tigers have thrived defensively by slowing the pace but I think they'll be hard-pressed to do so in this particular matchup. Note that in the first meeting between these teams this season, Southern Miss actually got off 63 field goal attempts but had an off shooting night, making good on just 23 of those. Grambling on the other hand was limited to 50 field goal attempts but connected on 27. Look for the shoe to be on the other foot on Monday. Take Southern Miss (8*).

My selection is on Buffalo over Calgary at 9:05 pm et on Monday.

These two teams own almost identical overall records this season but Buffalo has faced the more difficult schedule by most metrics. The Sabres are off to an 0-2 start to their current road trip, suffering lopsided defeats in Philadelphia and Winnipeg. With that being said, they're still 6-5 over their last 11 games and I see this as an excellent opportunity for them to bounce back against a Flames team that is in for a potential letdown off consecutive wins over the Wild and Mammoth to open their four-game homestand. Calgary continues to play with a slim margin for error, averaging just 2.5 goals per game at home this season and having scored two goals or less in four of its last six contests. Take Buffalo (8*).

My selection is on Los Angeles plus the points over Philadelphia at 8:15 pm et on Monday.

The knee-jerk reaction is probably to lay the points with the defending champion Eagles as they look to avoid the unthinkable - a three-game losing streak with all three defeats potentially coming in 'upset' fashion. We'll go the other way, however, and grab the points with the Chargers at home. Philadelphia is dealing with key injuries and inefficiency at this point. It would be difficult to isolate two more damaging injuries for Philadelphia than Lane Johnson and Jalen Carter on the offensive and defensive lines, respectively. The Chargers know all about o-line injuries with Joe Alt sidelined. With that being said, at least Los Angeles has displayed more of an identity on offense. The Eagles look lost at times with RB Saquon Barkley seemingly running in place and QB Jalen Hurts struggling to find his targets down the field. This matchup sets up well for the Chargers defense and I think Los Angeles can also effectively run the football on offense, especially with rookie RB Omarion Hampton expected to return. QB Justin Herbert isn't likely going to be asked to do too much in this particular matchup as he's admittedly banged up. We'll take our chances with the home side catching points here. Take Los Angeles (10*).