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00:00Top spread lines you need to know on a Monday radio on the early line.
00:03Sports Grid Network, Donnie Wrightside and Joe Ranieri here.
00:06Conference tournament play gets underway in many majors today, I should say, or this week.
00:11And the mid-majors continue to see who's actually going to be selected and make it to the field of
00:1668.
00:17Campbell and Monmouth will start, Joe, 6 p.m. tonight.
00:20That's the CAA semifinal.
00:22Take a look at Campbell coming in 8-10 of the season in conference play.
00:25Taking on Monmouth, 11-7.
00:27Tightly contested is what we expect tonight.
00:30Overnight, that line set at minus 1.5.
00:32You see the graphic this morning.
00:33Still sitting at 1.5 as a favorite towards Monmouth.
00:35The total, 151.5.
00:37The Campbells taking on Monmouth today, Joe.
00:40What's that spread line for you?
00:41Well, I don't know.
00:42A lot of people had had Campbell making it to this point, Donnie,
00:46simply because they just took down the number one seed yesterday,
00:51which was pretty darn impressive here, to give themselves an opportunity.
00:57I mean, we're talking about a team that was hovering just one game over .500.
01:02I think they were 9-8 back in January, and then they went to 9-13.
01:07And yet, well, they're putting it together at the right time.
01:11And Monmouth, big win yesterday over Drexel to give themselves an opportunity here.
01:18Listen, the way Campbell is shooting right now, it's kind of hard not to back them.
01:23And I was so impressed the way they took down UNC Wilmington.
01:27I mean, 46%, 84% from the free throw line.
01:32That's how you win tournament games, and that's exactly what Campbell's doing.
01:36I kind of like him in this spot.
01:38Go with the dog here in what is essentially a pick-em game.
01:429.30 tonight on ESPN2.
01:45It's going to be Detroit Mercy taking on Robert Morris.
01:47If we take a look at the records here coming in in conference play,
01:49Detroit Mercy, 12-8 on the season, Robert Morris, 13-7.
01:53Robert Morris here listed as the favorite overnight, Joe, at minus 4.5.
01:57But now we see a spike up to minus 5.5 and a total of 147.5.
02:02Detroit, Robert Morris, what are we looking at tonight for you, Joe?
02:05Well, we just saw this not too long ago, Donnie.
02:08These two teams played one another, and yeah, Robert Morris has kind of been the class
02:14of the conference here all season long, and they have been really good.
02:20Nobody gave them a whole lot of credit to be that good this year,
02:23but Detroit Mercy has held their own.
02:25But that 73-62 win over Detroit a couple of weeks ago
02:30kind of laid out the blueprint here of how they're going to be able to do it.
02:35They're a very physical team, Robert Morris, the Titans sometimes.
02:39The offense disappears too much.
02:42I kind of like this is going to be a little chalkier, I think.
02:46I think Robert Morris is a bigger favorite on the card in this spot,
02:50and I think it's there for a reason.
02:52So, yeah, I'll go with the favorite, Robert Morris, in this one.
02:56Joe, the WCC usually top-heavy.
02:58We got a good one tonight, and it starts at 11.30 Eastern,
03:01so some late-night action at Santa Clara taking on St. Mary's.
03:05If you look at these two teams coming in at WCC play,
03:07how about a 15-3 spot for Santa Clara and a wet St. Mary's sitting at a 16-2 clip
03:13here.
03:14This line opened up overnight, minus 3.5 as the favorite towards St. Mary's,
03:18still sitting 3.5 as a favorite towards St. Mary's,
03:21and a total, Joe, of 147.5.
03:23What's your spread line tonight, late night in the WCC?
03:27Well, it is late night.
03:28It was late night last night when Santa Clara handled business there against Pacific.
03:33They got it done wire to wire.
03:36I don't think it was ever closer than the final score, eight points there.
03:41But St. Mary's has kind of been hanging out there with the buys going,
03:46anytime you guys are ready, we're ready here.
03:49It was a battle during the regular season, and don't forget, of course,
03:53the Zags were the number one seed here, so they're ultimately going to be there.
03:59They lost to St. Mary's a couple of weeks ago there, Donnie, 86-67.
04:05They'll have an opportunity for some revenge,
04:07but St. Mary's is this kind of favorite for a reason, Donnie.
04:11It's more than a bucket.
04:13I think it might be a little tighter this game here.
04:16Still think St. Mary's walks away with the win,
04:19ultimately to take on the Zags in what's going to be the West Coast Conference Final.
04:23You knew it wasn't going to be easy on Friday night, 9 p.m. ESPN2.
04:28That was Miami, Ohio, taking on the Ohio Bobcats in the Ohio Bobcats building.
04:33If you saw some of the pictures from that game or some of the highlights,
04:35that place was packed, and Ohio was not in the business of,
04:39oh, it's going to be fun.
04:41Let's celebrate an undefeated team for a rivalry.
04:43They wanted blood.
04:44They wanted to hang a one on that record, and those fans were revved up about it,
04:49and this game went right down to the wire.
04:52Once again, Miami pulling it off as the number 19 team in the country,
04:5731-0, a perfect regular season here, well-deserved.
05:01And, Joe, this wasn't a story of, yeah, but they play down in class,
05:04and that division's easy, and they win every game by 25 points.
05:08I think if you stated there, they'll have, what, almost 10 games or so
05:10where they play to a single possession.
05:12That shows a team that's able to win in the clutch, and they did it.
05:1631-0, I love it, man.
05:18I do.
05:19Yeah, eight of the 31 by one bucket there, which is just crazy, Donnie.
05:25I mean, I can't explain, I mean, the amount of variance in college basketball games
05:31on a night-to-night basis.
05:33You know, there's a reason why this doesn't happen multiple times every year, Donnie.
05:37It is brutal when I tell you I don't care what conference you're in.
05:42Anything can go the other way, right?
05:45You run into a team that's shooting 60% from three, who only shoots 30% during the year.
05:52I mean, anything is possible, and yet somehow this team managed to go a perfect 31-0.
05:58The first time since the Zags in 2021.
06:01I think that's more than enough and worthy of guaranteeing them, no matter what happens
06:07from this point, a spot there in the tournament.
06:11And shout out to idiots, which you see some of this online, like, oh, Joe, where do they
06:15play Duke or Arizona?
06:17Like, you're missing the entire point of the collegiate college basketball experience.
06:20They're not supposed to be Duke or Arizona.
06:22They play at a mid-major level.
06:23They went undefeated.
06:25And the question is, people are saying, should they be one of the best 68 teams in the country?
06:28And they're number 19 in the country, but yet they should be excluded from a field of 68?
06:33That's what we're talking about here.
06:34But also, how about Ohio coach, or excuse me, Miami of Ohio coach, Travis Steele, talking
06:38about that easy schedule, apparently, here.
06:46Quad, because at that point, we were slotted to be a quad three team this year.
06:50They want to play quad ones and quad four games.
06:53And all these numbers are slanted towards that, so we don't get the opportunities.
06:57Jeff doesn't get any opportunities.
06:58Do you think Ohio State's coming in here to play Ohio?
07:01Heck no.
07:02And I get it from their stance.
07:04Of why they don't, right?
07:05Because they're trying to get an at-large bid.
07:06They're trying to put their team and their program in the best position to get an at-large,
07:09which is totally understandable.
07:11But I do think they need to fix.
07:13You can make an adjustment to the net, right?
07:15You can make an adjustment to all these things, all these numbers.
07:18And, again, it is what it is.
07:19You try to focus on the things you can control.
07:22I don't know if we're getting an at-large or not.
07:25I can't control that.
07:27Our AD can't control that.
07:29I do know we can control our process, right, and just continue just to stick to the course, man.
07:33And that's what we've done throughout the year.
07:35But he's totally right.
07:37What he's talking about, Joe, is right from both sides.
07:40Like, if you were a major Division I team, it's like, well, why would I play a decent mid-level
07:45team if they beat us?
07:46Yes, they get all the riches.
07:47We get downgraded.
07:48But if we beat them, we don't need to get anything basically out of this anyway.
07:52It's almost like in boxing, Joe.
07:53Like, back in the day, like, okay, I'm the number one contender.
07:56And the heavyweight champ goes, I'm not fighting you.
07:58So what's the WBC say?
07:59Well, we're just going to take your belt then unless you fight this guy.
08:02Maybe the NCAA is going to have to put some guardrails in saying you must play at least two of
08:05these.
08:06But nobody really wants to see it at this point.
08:08But if you are getting slanted where, hey, we went 31-0, Joe.
08:12And they're saying, well, your schedule is easy.
08:13And the university is saying, like, yeah, but we ask five of these teams to play us every year.
08:18They all tell us no.
08:19What do you want them to do?
08:20Yeah, exactly correct.
08:22What are you supposed to do there except win the games on the schedule, which is exactly what they did.
08:29Now, listen, if the basketball gods are looking, you know, favorably upon them, Donnie,
08:35can we just run the table here in the MAAC tournament and we won't have a problem?
08:39But like what you saw down the stretch, every night, Donnie, for about the last month, shall we say,
08:46they have got, no matter if you had the bottom of the MAAC cut, doesn't make it,
08:51you're going to get every team's best punch to knock you down.
08:55It has been a brutal stretch for them.
08:58They survived it.
08:59And I think they'll survive here as they get a bye, I think, in the MAAC tournament for being the
09:04one seed.
09:05I think they'll survive this as well.
09:07By the way, the funny part about this is, too, is I know it doesn't really go into the metrics,
09:11but the argument of they shouldn't be included in a field of 68.
09:15And then you go, well, they're number 19 ranked.
09:17Like, nothing makes any sense for what we're trying to talk about.
09:20They should already have their ticket punched, and hopefully they do.
09:23Let's talk about another team here, high payroll, the Kentucky Wildcats.
09:26Here's Nicky V weighing in.
09:28Off the court defensively.
09:29I'm going to say this right here.
09:31Win or lose, I've done several now Kentucky games.
09:34Win or lose, $22 million, this team reports are, in terms of the NIL for their players.
09:42I think at $22 million, they could have put together a better roster than they did.
09:46I really do.
09:49He's right about that, too.
09:50And also, Joe, like, so much talk about, like, the NIL, and they're going to have to reshape it.
09:54And I know the White House and Congress might get involved in this.
09:56But really, we had the game plan for NIL.
10:00Name, image, and likeness.
10:02Kid, if you are good enough to market yourself in town to a local Chipotle and get free burritos and
10:06then pay you $100 a week, fantastic.
10:08Kid, if you're a big enough superstar to sell Chevrolets in town in Columbus, we'll pay you part of the
10:14commission for every Chevy that gets sold while you're running the ad campaign.
10:17Or, hey, you're so famous, you're going to be on a national Coke brand to your ad, we'll pay you
10:21a million dollars.
10:22And it just turned into NIL means come to our school and get on our payroll.
10:26It just doesn't make any sense.
10:29$22 million, and you got a 10 seed in the SEC Conference Championship coming up.
10:36That's what you got for $22 million.
10:39And listen, ultimately, Donnie, it's a results-based business.
10:43You can spend $25 million as long as you win the games, as long as you're not blowing double-digit
10:50leads to Texas A&M, that you're not losing at home to Georgia, that you're not blowing leads against Missouri.
10:56Like, all of that is all relative.
10:58The money isn't necessarily the situation.
11:01The situation is you spent that money, and you're not winning the games you're supposed to be winning, and that's
11:08a problem.
11:09It is.
11:10And by the way, let's bring up Steven Pearl, because it seems like, you know, Bruce and Steven Pearl are
11:13starting to dip their toes in the waters, which aren't really too kind to them, because they're saying Auburn's really
11:19good, which I'm not doubting they're playing a tough conference.
11:21But you're debating a team, and again, it's not apples to apples.
11:23One team has zero losses, the other has 15.
11:25They're like, yeah, we're much better at this point.
11:27And maybe they are if they played on the court.
11:28But he's saying he feels secure in that bid, Joe, at 16 and 15, and our resume is fantastic.
11:35Just lay low and do some damage in your conference tournament, and maybe you wind up in the NCAAs.
11:39But I just find, like, it turned out like it's Auburn versus, like, Miami of Ohio somehow.
11:45Yeah.
11:46Imagine trying to get up with a straight face and talk positive about a 16 and 15 season, Donnie.
11:53Imagine that.
11:55Imagine that I have done it.
11:56We have done enough at one game over .500 to be worthy of a spot and be considered, like, I
12:03can't even believe with a straight face.
12:05You've got to be a certain kind of you-know-what in order to do that with a straight face,
12:10Donnie.
12:10That is some fantastic acting right there.
12:13Mighty Mass is out at Georgia Tech.
12:15Damon Stoudemire, 42 and 55 in three seasons, was fired.
12:19Look, you look at that record and say, well, maybe it's a little bit tough for Georgia Tech.
12:21But you can't lose 12 straight games to end the season here.
12:24You will be dismissed at a major Division I college.
12:27He's out the door here for Georgia Tech.
12:30Listen, I think he got more of a chance than many other guys might have gotten in situations.
12:35And, yes, it's the ACC.
12:37But the reality is it's a results-based business, right?
12:41It is.
12:41And you've got to win.
12:43And in an NIL era, it's going to be tough.
12:47It's going to be very, very tough for those middle-of-the-road ACC teams like a Georgia Tech.
12:52But, listen, the players are out there.
12:54You've just got to go and find them.
12:56And you need the right coach in college basketball.
12:59What happened to Boston College Athletics, particularly in basketball?
13:02Just an afterthought now.
13:03Earl Grant, he's fired also 72-92 in five seasons at BC.
13:09I don't know who's going to turn that program around.
13:11But it just feels like that was a once-not-storied program, but you could get good basketball out of
13:15them.
13:16That's no longer the case, Joe.
13:18Yeah, but I got to tell you, Earl Grant made us a lot of money this year, Donnie.
13:22Because they didn't win a ton of games, but they were a covering machine.
13:26Nobody gave them any credit.
13:28But you know what?
13:29Defense travels.
13:30That team played some defense and kept it close enough within the spread.
13:34And you know what they say, good teams win, great teams cover, Donnie.
13:38By the way, Queens turned to Kings over the weekend as Queens, not the borough in New York, the university,
13:46into March Panthers for the first time.
13:48Congratulations.
13:50Well, Donnie, let's head out west here for an interesting matchup in the big sky.
13:56It's Eastern Washington taking on Weber State tonight.
14:00It's one of the late games.
14:01And listen, Eastern Washington, once the calendar turned to February 1st, has been one of the hottest teams in the
14:08country.
14:08They've won eight of their last nine games heading into the Big Sky Tournament.
14:13They just handled Weber State a couple of weeks ago, 84-66.
14:19Donnie, I don't see anything changing here.
14:22I'm not stepping in front of this train of Eastern Washington.
14:25If it ain't broke, I ain't fixing it.
14:27I think they handle business easily here tonight against Weber State.
14:31Get fired up, people.
14:33It is March Madness.
14:34And some people might think that March Madness only starts with the tournament itself.
14:37Nonsense.
14:38Conference tournament action drives a lot of fun.
14:40And you should be watching and getting out that pencil and paper and taking some notes.
14:44So when you fill out your bracket, you'll be more informed.
14:46That's what we do.
14:47It's Prediction Markets Edge right here on the early line.
14:50Donnie Wrightside and Joe Ranieri.
14:51We're going to take you through some different avenues here to invest your money.
14:54Joe, always a good start.
14:56Always a lot of fun right here on a Monday.
14:58It really is, Donnie.
14:59A lot of great opportunities.
15:01In this spot here today.
15:03As some of these mid-majors, we're getting to the finals, the semifinals.
15:08Teams ready to punch their ticket.
15:11And yes, some of these teams, Donnie.
15:13A little bit of a surprise at this point in these conference tournaments.
15:18Monmouth had a bye coming into the CAA tournament.
15:20Campbell actually won their first two games.
15:22They're going to meet today, Joe.
15:236 p.m.
15:24And that's going to be a game that's going to be on the CBS Sports Network.
15:26It's Campbell versus Monmouth.
15:28If we take a look at Monmouth to win this game outright tonight on Calci, a 54% chance.
15:33Campbell has the underdog trading at a 46% chance.
15:37The spread itself, Monmouth by 1.5.
15:39That's 53% here.
15:41And if you look at the total, 152.5 to the over.
15:45That's trading at 47% at this point.
15:47Campbell versus Monmouth tonight in the CAA, Joe.
15:51Yeah, so like you said, Donnie, they've already got a couple of wins under their belt.
15:55They came in as the nine seed here in this Coastal Athletic Conference here, Donnie.
16:01And nobody really expected them to get to this point.
16:06But you're going to have a third game now in as many days.
16:09Keep an eye on this kid, DJ Smith.
16:10He is an absolute stud for Campbell.
16:13He dropped 20 yesterday, which was good enough to beat the number one seed, UNC Wilmington.
16:20And how did they do it?
16:21Well, Donnie, they went a 54-37 run in the second half, which is what put them over the top.
16:27And now has them taking on a Monmouth team that was a struggle bus a little bit against a Drexel
16:34team
16:34who likes to drag teams through the mud.
16:36Look at this total, though, Donnie, 130, 131.
16:40If you're expecting a big shootout, that market is telling you do not here.
16:47But listen, number nine seed, yeah, they're rolling right now.
16:51Kind of tough, though.
16:51You've got to play that third game here.
16:53Maybe a little tired legs here as well.
16:56You bring up a great point, Joe, because so many times look at the NBA.
16:59Oh, it's back-to-back.
17:00College basketball, they don't do back-to-backs.
17:01And it's so different to say, OK, they have two games in a row.
17:03That's one thing.
17:04Three games, or you win that, Joe?
17:05Four games in a row that you'll still have to cap against.
17:09So if you figure, like, you know what?
17:10Monmouth favored by one and a half.
17:11You can use that sliding scale here on the predictive markets.
17:14Bump up Monmouth to win by four and a half, which means five.
17:17That's trading at a 38% chance.
17:19A $100 investment here pays back $244 if they win the game by five points.
17:24So if you have a certain edge, you can use that to your advantage
17:26and slide it over for some plus money.
17:29Detroit Mercy taking on Robert Morris tonight.
17:32This game's going to take place at 9.30 p.m. Eastern.
17:34The favorite is Robert Morris, Joe, trading at a 66% chance here.
17:38And Detroit Mercy is the underdog, trading at 34%.
17:41If you look at the spread line, Robert Morris by five and a half points,
17:45that's trading at 51%.
17:46And a total listed at 147.5, that's trading at 48%.
17:50Detroit Mercy, Robert Morris tonight, Joe.
17:54Styles make fights, right, Donnie?
17:56And you got two totally different styles here with Robert Morris,
18:00who was kind of the class of this Horizon League here.
18:05And we know, listen, in a Horizon League, it is notorious for nobody plays defense, Donnie.
18:10It's going to be offense, offense, and more offense, right?
18:14Well, Robert Morris has got a pretty good winning streak coming into here,
18:18not to mention a couple of games ago, they beat them in the regular season, 73-62.
18:25Detroit has won four of their last five,
18:28and they've done so by scoring at least 84 points in three of those five.
18:33Something's got to give here, because Robert Morris has not allowed more than 70 points in five straight games.
18:40So, Styles make fights here.
18:42The Colonials are going to want to drag the Mercy right through the mud here.
18:47I think they're going to be very successful in doing so, Donnie.
18:50I would not look at an over in this game, but I would definitely look at Robert Morris handling business.
18:56Sometimes we always talk about, Joe, the three-point line can be the ultimate equalizer in conference play.
19:01The number one shooting team is Detroit at almost 40% as a team.
19:05However, take a look at RMU's defense here, Joe.
19:08Pretty stingy at the three-point line.
19:10Who's going to win that battle?
19:11Probably going to win this game and also cover here.
19:13Let's head out to the West Coast here.
19:14And as we talked about hour number one, from a FanDuel DraftKings sportsbook perspective here,
19:19Santa Clara's going to take on St. Mary's.
19:20Usually top-heavy in the WCC, but tonight's game should be a lot of fun to watch it play out.
19:25This start, 11.30 p.m. Eastern, Joe.
19:28Night Owls, you're getting your basketball fix at this time of year.
19:32St. Mary's to win this game outright, Joe, trading at a 62% clip as a chance.
19:36And Santa Clara, 38%.
19:37But if we look at the side itself, a three-and-a-half-point favorite for St. Mary's, Joe, that's
19:4256%.
19:43So if you feel they're going to win that game by four points, $100 investment would pay back $179.
19:49St. Mary's, Santa Clara, good one on the West Coast here.
19:53Well, it is, Donnie.
19:54And it's one that St. Mary's ended up winning last month there when they battled here.
20:01Great win last night over Pacific, 76-68, a game in which they didn't really have to exert themselves all
20:09that much here.
20:10This is one of the better offenses we know here in the West Coast Conference.
20:16But they've got to be careful, St. Mary's, here.
20:19They are 27-4 overall.
20:21They're 16-2 in conference play.
20:24They have been an absolute machine.
20:26They know what's waiting for them on the other side.
20:29And, of course, that is going to be the Zags who don't have a very tough matchup coming up here
20:34as they're an 18-and-a-half-point favorite.
20:36But I think St. Mary's handles business again here.
20:40They have been there.
20:41They have done that.
20:42I would love to see Santa Clara give it a run.
20:44But I do think that St. Mary's knows how to win these games and knows how to beat Santa Clara.
20:50And don't be shocked if this game goes over the total.
20:53This isn't the St. Mary's of old where, defensively, you first won the 60 wins.
20:59There might be a few more points in this game than you expect.
21:03Cowshoe markets here.
21:04Polly markets here.
21:05Some good fun in college basketball.
21:06You can certainly have, Joe.
21:08Prediction markets edge right here on the early lines.
21:10How we get down to business.
21:11New week, new money.
21:12It is a Monday.
21:13And also, new week, new conference tournaments that will begin here.
21:17Let's talk about the Mac, Joe.
21:18And this is, I don't know, Donnie.
21:20What about the big names out here?
21:21Trust me, you're going to want to tune in for this one because why?
21:24Akron, Miami, and Ohio.
21:26Let's just say Akron, Miami, Ohio, and Toledo.
21:28Probably the three best teams there.
21:29But you might say, yeah, one's undefeated.
21:31And that's Miami of Ohio.
21:32They're not the favorites to win this tournament, Joe.
21:35And by a wide margin, Akron trading on Calci right now at a 53% chance to win this tournament.
21:42Miami of Ohio, who's unbeaten, only 29%, Joe.
21:46Let's start right there.
21:47Before we get into where you're going to invest your money,
21:49do you feel that Akron should be that wide of a margin over Miami of Ohio?
21:54Well, listen, it's part of me believes that, again, Miami of Ohio has done enough to be able to get
22:01into,
22:02as an at-large bid, the tournament, right?
22:04Having said that, that leaves open the possibility, Donnie, that Akron is a better team,
22:10at least statistically.
22:12They grayed out as a better team.
22:14And they almost took down Miami back in January.
22:19So they will be live here.
22:21I know a lot of folks think that at some point the wheels are going to fall off of Miami
22:25of Ohio.
22:25You could have two MAAC teams making the tournament, Donnie.
22:30And how wonderful would that be here?
22:33And I think you've nailed it.
22:34I think it's one of those two.
22:36It's either Akron or Miami.
22:38Miami, I'm hoping Miami makes it far enough, but unfortunately, Akron's going to end up winning out.
22:44Give me two MAAC teams just to see what Bruce Pearl's reaction will be, Donnie, when that happens.
22:51Exactly.
22:52And also understand this.
22:53We talk about this so many times.
22:54Like, you could pick Akron or Miami of Ohio, but you don't actually have to get that champion to make
22:58some money.
22:59So if you take out a contract, y'all, Miami of Ohio at 29 cents right now,
23:03$100 investment pays back $345.
23:05They win two games in this tournament.
23:07You're already profitable at this point.
23:09So, again, don't have to win it to make some money.
23:11Sort of that stock market type investment that you're looking to make.
23:14But it should be a fun one in the MAAC, Joe.
23:16Let's flip it over to Madison Square Garden.
23:18It's been there forever.
23:19The Big East Men's Conference Championship Tournament.
23:22The favorite here, it's UConn, Joe.
23:24Trading at 49% right now.
23:27St. John's at 33%.
23:30Look, UConn's home away from home is usually the XL Center in Hartford.
23:33But really, unofficially, it's the Garden.
23:35They've been there time and time again.
23:37Like, oh, we're going to show up in the bright lights in New York.
23:39We've never been here before.
23:40But home court advantage?
23:41That is St. John's trading at 33%, Joe.
23:44Two top teams.
23:45UConn, St. John's.
23:46Who is getting a ticket for you, possibly?
23:49Yeah.
23:49Well, I mean, UConn, that was a tough loss against Marquette there.
23:54I mean, that was just absolutely disgusting.
23:57But what it did do is give Florida the opportunity to nail down that other number one come bracket time.
24:04But we know this is a two-team race, right?
24:07This is all going to be the Johnnies or UConn.
24:11Which one is going to be able to get it done?
24:14UConn has not been good down the stretch here, folks, at all.
24:18So, do not be shocked here if the Johnnies end up running away with the Big East Championship.
24:24But maybe Villanova can give us an upset or two along the way there, Donnie.
24:29But I kind of like the Johnnies to get it done here.
24:33Yeah.
24:33It'll be fun to watch.
24:34And we would love to see that final.
24:35UConn and St. John's from Madison Square Garden for the Big East Championship for the conference tournament.
24:39We would love to see it.
24:40Let's head down, Joe, to Tobacco Road.
24:42And that's in the ACC.
24:44You know the heavy favorite it's going to be.
24:45It's the Duke Blue Devils.
24:47Trading at a 75% clip right now.
24:49Followed by Virginia at 11%.
24:50Louisville and Miami at 5%.
24:52North Carolina and Clemson right behind them.
24:55If, again, you're looking at Duke winning this, they probably will.
24:57Do you want to invest in that and take it out at 76 cents?
25:00Maybe not at this point, Joe.
25:01But looking at some of those bottom-end teams, again, you don't have to win this tournament in order to
25:06cash in some tickets.
25:07Miami's a quality opponent.
25:08So is Louisville.
25:09Those two teams met up over the weekend, Joe, in an absolute barn burner.
25:12Which Louisville won.
25:14So, Joe, are the contracts to be smart to take in the favorites?
25:16Or would you be looking a little bit down the list saying, I can get a couple wins out of
25:20Louisville.
25:20I can get a couple wins out of Miami.
25:22Maybe they even get to the conference final where, instead of trading at 5%, they might be trading at 15
25:26% or 20% already.
25:28Yeah, the problem is we are – the most likely title game here is going to be some combination of
25:35either Duke-Virginia or Duke-Louisville.
25:38And that is about as yawn fest as possible.
25:41The problem is you can't – it's going to be Duke.
25:44Duke's going to win this.
25:46And the problem is, Donnie, even if you were to buy low on somebody in the ACC, even if they
25:53win a couple games, get to the title game, you're not going to increase your profits all that much.
25:58Because nobody in the market is going to think any of these teams are beating Duke.
26:03And that's the problem.
26:04Yeah, you got that high leverage situation up top.
26:07And rightfully so.
26:08Like, Duke hasn't shown you any that they're going to back off of this.
26:11Now, they get banged up a little bit in that UNC game.
26:13So, make sure you check to see who those players are going to be available for the ACC tournament.
26:17Duke, probably regardless of winning the ACC or not, going to be a number one overall seed.
26:21Big 12 men's tournament here.
26:23Arizona, Joe.
26:23They're the favorite.
26:24Currently trading at 40%, followed by Houston at 29%, Iowa State, and Kansas.
26:29Kansas at 9% is so interesting because you know, Joe, the talent level is there.
26:34And maybe it just hasn't sort of come to fruition the entire season.
26:38But it's hard to leave out.
26:39But Arizona, the heavy favorite here at 40% as trading is the favorite.
26:44Well, this is, to me, Donnie, the best conference tournament coming up because it is just loaded.
26:50You know, Arizona's already locked into a one seed.
26:53Houston is not going to be any worse than a number two seed.
26:56But then you start going down.
26:57You've got Iowa State.
26:58You've got Kansas.
26:59You've got Texas Tech.
27:01You've got, you know, you could even, TCU is not going anywhere anytime soon, which is absolutely crazy.
27:08So, this, something tells me, you might want to just go chalk and say, oh, Arizona.
27:15This could be a conference where, you know what?
27:17Maybe the Cincinnati's, the BYU's, the TCU's, maybe even Iowa State, which nobody is talking about very much anymore.
27:26Maybe you invest in them.
27:27I don't think it's guaranteed that it's going to be Houston or Arizona.
27:31I think anything can happen.
27:33They likely devour one another in this conference tournament.
27:37Let's squeeze one more conference tournament in, Joe.
27:39It's the SEC.
27:40We talk Florida Gators trading at 49%.
27:42Second team there is actually Arkansas at 13%.
27:45Donnie, why that large margin?
27:47Well, just look at Florida.
27:48Their last loss against Auburn on January the 24th.
27:50They've run the table since, and they are blowing everybody out, Joe.
27:55It seems like teams are just playing for second year, and Florida's been that dominant.
28:00Very much like, I mean, again, a lot of teams in this conference, but it feels like everyone is battling
28:06for the right to lose to Florida in the SEC championship here.
28:12That, to me, is what this is all about.
28:13They are the best team in that league.
28:15They have been now for the better part of two months.
28:20I, you know, to me, Florida's going to be another one seed with the possibility of repeating Donnie.
28:26And I don't think Arkansas, Bama, Vandy, Tennessee, I don't think any of them are going to come close here.
28:32I think much like Duke in the ACC, it's Florida's to lose here in the SEC.
28:37It really is.
28:37And if you look at the second team, they're trading at 13%.
28:40It is Arkansas.
28:41And you might say to yourself, like, they have the talent to sort of challenge Florida.
28:43But also understand this.
28:44The prize for Arkansas is not actually winning the SEC.
28:47It's getting A-cuff healthy once you have to actually make it into the tournament.
28:50Maybe Florida runs away with it.
28:52P&E on TEL.
28:53We'll be right back in this short break.
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