The U.S. Open tees off again today at 6:45 a.m. ET. Matt Youmans, Kelley Bydlon and Wes Reynolds offer their first-round observations and second-round predictions.
The jello shots are flowing here at Rocco’s in Omaha with LSU fans taking the early lead on the CWS Jello Shot Challenge leaderboard behind the bar.
As for the tournament itself, we have the first two games today in Bracket 1:
>Arizona (+175) vs. Coastal Carolina (-230), 1 CT, ESPN.
>Louisville (+145) vs. Oregon State (-188), 6 CT, ESPN. (Money definitely coming in on Oregon State since the opener was posted.)
>>Download our 16-page CWS Betting Guide, produced by Matt Grissom and his crew at College Baseball Insiders, who spent quality time at Rocco’s.
>>CWS coverage, including Aaron Moore‘s predictions.
We have three more shows before we head back to Las Vegas:
Today
Money Moves (Stormy Buonantony/Jonathan Von Tobel), 1-3 CT
Follow The Money (Mitch Moss/Pauly Howard), 3-6 CT
Saturday
Follow The Money, 9 am-noon CT
Watch or listen wherever you get your VSiN fix. Or stop by if you are in the neighborhood. I don’t think I’ve ever met more VSiN fans in one day than I did on Thursday.
NBA Game 4 preview
VSiN.com senior editor Zach Cohen previews Game 4 (8:30 ET, ABC) with the Pacers (+6 at Circa) up 2-1 on the Thunder:
Just when it looked like this young Thunder team could be trusted, they went and threw all that goodwill out the window. We’ve seen plenty of “growing up” performances from Oklahoma City this postseason, but letting Game 1 slip away put the entire season in jeopardy. To their credit, the Thunder bounced back with a commanding 123-107 win in Game 2, then entered Game 3 as sizable favorites.
All the talk heading into that matchup was about whether Oklahoma City had figured Indiana out. Well, the Pacers answered with a 116-107 win — their most complete performance of the NBA Finals. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren combined to shoot just 24 for 53 from the field and 2 for 11 from deep. On top of that, Oklahoma City’s bench was thoroughly outplayed by T.J. McConnell, Bennedict Mathurin and the rest of Indiana’s bench mob.
The Thunder are now in a must-win spot heading into Game 4 — and they’re down to just -220 to win the series at DraftKings Sportsbook. For reference, they were -750 when series prices for the Finals first became available. It’s no coincidence that the Pacers are +180 to win Game 4 and +185 to win the series. If Indiana gets Game 4, Tyrese Haliburton and Co. will probably win the title. Only LeBron James and the 2016 Cleveland Cavaliers have erased a 3-1 series deficit to win the NBA Finals. Game on.
>>Zach’s analysis and Best Bet.
I checked in with the aforementioned Wes Reynolds, who flew from Las Vegas to Indianapolis for the festivities:
Price is inflated considering the fact that the Thunder haven’t covered a game in the playoffs. Took the points in G3 but no interest for doing so in G4. Feel like you are paying the zig-zag tax though laying it with the Thunder. Situation favors OKC but you’re having to pay for it. Should be a hot scoring start early and slow down late with longer possessions.
Dan Karpuc has prop bets for your consideration.
Do your own research with VSiN’s prop analyzer.
Don’t forget to check for contest picks from the KillerSports NBA Playoff Challenge here after 7:30 p.m. ET. Las Vegas pro bettor Steve Fezzik leads Zach by two points with two picks left for Zach and one left for Steve.
Another OT thriller
The Stanley Cup Final was decided in overtime for the third time in four games and is now tied at 2.
The Oilers (+117) won 5-4 on Leon Draisaitl’s OT goal. Down 3-0 after one period, Edmonton rallied to take a 4-3 lead, but Florida forced OT on Sam Reinhart’s goal with 20 seconds left.
Game 5 is Saturday in Edmonton with the home team a -113 favorite.
Quick Hits
MLB: Greg Peterson has posted his plays for today. Josh Appelbaum and Steve Makinen will post later this morning.
College Football: Scott Dochterman of The Athletic goes in-depth on the Big Ten with host Tim Murray on the VSiN College Football Betting Podcast.
Horse Racing: Ed Sehon has picks from today’s card at Churchill Downs. Horse racing coverage is sponsored by 1/ST BET. Get your $200 sign-up bonus.
Want to win a free Circa contest entry? Winners Circle Proxy is giving away one Circa Survivor and one Circa Million VII entry—with proxy service included. Each winner will be paired with a VSiN host for expert strategy advice. Sign up today for your chance to win! No purchase necessary. New to the Circa Million and Circa Survivor? More details here.
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