It was a downer of a weekend for NCAA longshots, but great if you put your faith in the top seeds.
Speaking of downer, Shohei Ohtani is scheduled to speak today, and the MLB world will be watching.
Top Seeds Handle Business
What Happened: The Cinderellas are officially pumpkins after this weekend’s second round NCAA Tournament action.
Of the eight double-digit seeds to advance to the second round, only one remains: no. 11 NC State, who defeated no. 14 Oakland in an underdog-on-underdog crime. Betting favorites went 15-1 on ML bets this weekend.
Why It Matters: With the tournament leaning so chalk heavy, it’s not going to be easy to find value in the betting market.
UConn has already put in two dominant displays and feels a bit inevitable. (The books agree, pegging the Huskies’ odds to repeat as champs at +210, per FanDuel.) But Houston has actually moved into the top slot on ESPN’s Basketball Power Index, and you can get them at +500 to end the tourney on top.
Duke lands as BPI’s seventh-best team (and sixth on KemPom) but just the ninth-best odds to win the tournament. Is there value there? Perhaps. But then you have to root for Duke. We’ll let you decide if that’s a worthy trade-off.
How We’re Feeling Today
Anxious to see just what Shohei Ohtani has to say when he addresses the jumbled mess with his interpreter today.
So far, we know there are accusations of illegal sports betting, Ohtani’s interpreter has a loose relationship with the truth, and we know Ohtani’s name is all over this story. This has the potential to be MLB’s biggest scandal yet. Ohtani’s response today is a must-see event for sports fans.
The Look Ahead
Paul George POINTS + REBOUNDS + ASSISTS – Folks, this one has it all. George has gotten over his 32.5 line for tonight in five of his last six games, and in seven of his last 10. His Clippers will be playing the NBA’s second-fastest team by pace, meaning plenty of possessions to go around. Oh, and did we mention the opponent is his former team, the Indiana Pacers? Time for George to show out.
Deandre Ayton POINTS + ASSISTS – Ayton is questionable to play tonight with an iffy elbow, so keep an eye on that. But the big man has cleared 20.5 points + assists in six of his last seven, and went for 18 and 3 versus the Rockets in January.
Jordan Kyrou SOG – Tonight’s Golden Knights-Blues matchup should feature plenty of pucks on net, as both teams rank near the bottom of the league in shot prevention. Kyrou is playing second-line minutes for St. Louis and tallied a hat trick in a win on Saturday. He’s beaten his 2.5 SOG line for tonight in three straight games, and in five of his last seven.
