Greetings from St. Thomas in the US Virgin Islands. I have the pleasure of filling in for the great Dan Hoard calling UC's three games in the Paradise Jam, starting with the opening tilt on Friday evening against Illinois State.

The weather on this Thursday morning is in the low 80s, the sun is out, I've memorized everything I'll ever need to know about the Illinois State Redbirds, and there's a beach about 30 yards from the desk I'm sitting at right now, so you won't be surprised to find out that I'm going to make this very, very brief.

Here goes.

NFL tilts of interest...

Pittsburgh (-6.5) over Cincinnati. Yes, the Steelers are dealing with a thousand injuries to their offense, but you and I both watched the Bengals against Pittsburgh's defense the first go 'round, right?

The only real questions that remain about this miserable season are about how long Ryan Finley's leash is, and how much I'll scream for Jake Dolegala to be his replacement if Zac Taylor ever pulls the plug.

Steelers 24 Bengals 10

Indianapolis (+4) over Houston. The original plan was for Andrew Luck and Deshaun Watson to duel for a decade. This game isn't nearly as fun without one of those two guys no longer playing.

Atlanta (-4.5) over Tampa Bay. The Falcons' defensive turnaround is real. So is Jameis Winston being a turnover machine.

Seattle (+2) over Philadelphia. Whatever happened to Carson Wentz?

College tilts of interest...

Temple (+10.5) over Cincinnati. I believe the Bearcats will win, but the offense is worrisome, and even though they won last week, I still wonder whether it would've been helpful for Luke Fickell to turn to Ben Bryant.

Yes, they have ESPN2 here. And yes, I've found a place that will be showing the tilt.

Ohio State (-18) over Penn State.

Memphis (-14.5) over USF.

Syracuse (+9.5) over Louisville.

Tulane (+6) over UCF.

I'm going to stick my toes in the ocean.

NFL mark in 2019: 34-23

College mark in 2019: 32-29-1