Happy Thanksgiving to all.

Happy Thanksgiving to all and I hope you’re having a great one (or had a great one like me). I have returned from my parent’s house and am watching the Cowboys and my dogs.

I was trying to get this posted Wednesday night, but computer issues kept me from being able to post this. However, I came up with five games this weekend that have piqued my interest for this holiday season while a couple of squatters were making camp in the dining room earlier.

Kicking off my list is obviously the Iron Bowl on Saturday, featuring No. 1 Alabama and No. 4 Auburn (if you didn’t already know). Looking a little deeper into the series, Bama has won four of the last five meetings with the Tigers, but this time last season Auburn was 3-8 and coming off a shutout loss to Georgia. The Crimson Tide blew out the Tigers in last year’s meeting, 49-0, but as referenced before, this isn’t the same Auburn team as last season. The Tigers like to run the ball and the Crimson Tide have only allowed five rushing touchdowns all season. We’ll see Saturday which side can prevail.

I don’t pick Alabama games, so you’ll get nothing from me, other than it should be an amazing game and much closer than the 49-0 showing last year.

Roll Tide.

Coming in at No. 2 is an NFL game, on Monday night. Seattle is hosting New Orleans and the 12^th man is sure to be rocking in this matchup between the top two teams in the NFC. This game should have huge implications on the playoffs as the winner will likely get home-field advantage throughout the. New Orleans and Seattle each possess a top-5 defense in the NFL and two quarterbacks who are capable of moving the ball for their teams. Seattle edges the Saints in the running department and should be able to control the clock and Drew Brees’ offense. Hopefully Jimmy Graham has a huge day for my fantasy team. Seattle wins this game at home, 20-16, with both defenses standing tall.

Sneaking into the top three, at No. 3, is the Palmetto State showdown on Saturday, featuring Clemson and South Carolina. SC has won the last four meetings by an average of 17.5 points, but the Tigers have just one loss this season and that was to the undefeated Florida State (which they were completely outplayed in). Connor Shaw and Tajh Boyd are the senior quarterbacks and will factor greatly in the outcome, whichever can make a play or not make a mistake. Dabo Sweeney gets Clemson up early, but Jadeveon Clowney reasserts himself and sacks the quarterback three times. South Carolina wins, 34-28.

At No. 4 is another matchup in the NFL, really a rematch, pitting Kansas City and Denver in the Mile-high City. The Chiefs came up short in the last meeting, and the defense gets another shot at Peyton Manning, who was held in check last week against the Patriots. It should be a riveting matchup between two division opponents, and will be a factor in home-field advantage. I see the Chiefs playing well, but losing their third in a row, 27-23.       

Rounding out the top five is an NCAA basketball matchup between Arizona and Duke in the NIT Season Tip-Off on Friday. This is a matchup of two top-10 teams, but my interest is piqued by the matchup of the teams’ two talented freshman. Duke’s Jabari Parker could be argued as the best player in the league and Zona’s Aaron Gordon has the abilities to play alongside Parker. Parker has scored more than 20 points in his first seven games this year and is coming off a season-high 27 points against Alabama at Madison Square Garden (the last freshman to score 20+ points in his first seven games was a guy by the name of Kevin Durant, so there’s that). Gordon is averaging 12.3 points and 9.7 rebounds per game and has four double-doubles this season. Gordon matches up with Parker very well and should provide a great head-to-head matchup inside this game of talented teams. I see Duke winning however, 81-74.

As I said earlier, I hope you are having or have had a wonderful Thanksgiving and I hope you enjoy the best time of the year. I love this chilly weather and the fact that there is always a game on, whether it’s a football, basketball, or eve hockey game, it truly is the most wonderful time of the year.

-The Wing Expert