Sign up for the daily newsletter, Jay’s Plays of the Day, to get sports betting recommendations for the top games of the night and the week ahead.
SECond look
So, by every metric, the SEC is widely regarded as the college basketball conference since all those next Gen metrics have been a thing.
I concur, but there will be a slew of detractors who will say that even if the SEC gets, say seven of the possible 13 NCAA tournament invites to the Sweet 16, the league is overrated.
That’s OK. That’s what makes sports chatter fun. If we all agreed it would be politics, right?
But our weekly SEC look back/look ahead at the best conference collection since the mid-1980s Big East starts with the biggest puzzles in the league.
Your Kentucky Wildcats
> Mark Pope started 10-1 in his first year at his alma mater; they are 5-6 since;
> UK is among the nation’s elite offensively (third in scoring at 87 per and ninth national in offensive efficiency at 1.168) but defensively UK ranks 300th in points allowed at 77.5 per, and in its nine SEC games, the Wildcats are allowing more than 86 points per game;
> The injury to Lamont Butler has been crippling, but conversely, arguably UK’s best win of the season — a true road W at UT — came with Butler in sweats, so there’s that.
Maybe this is what UK was supposed to be all along, because of my many sports beliefs is that the ball don’t lie. And maybe the fast start over-inflated some of the expectations we had in Pope’s first year wearing the funny hat of UK leadership.
But in a year when many are going to measure the SEC’s chest thumping by a couple of unknown weeks in March, UK’s hard-to-fathom ceiling of playing in the Elite Eight with a deadly offense or getting bounced in round one by an experienced and hot-shooting mid-major is becoming clear.
Here are four more quick thoughts.
> Not saying a word about Auburn. Nope, as Andy said a couple of weeks ago, I completely overrate my alma mater. That said, Neville Arena is a tough joint to expect successful business trips for visitors. Florida — like UK last year in the last game AU lost at home — has a great and experienced backcourt, so as JTC said Tuesday, Saturday’s Gators at the Tigers tussle could be thrilling.
> Tennessee better buckle up tonight. Here’s more from Paschall. Yes, the game is in K-town, and that’s always a plus, but Missouri is big and athletic. If we had to rank the top echelon of the SEC at this moment, my Fab Five would be: Some school in Lee County, Alabama, that Andy believe is overrated, followed by Alabama (which Andy likely thinks is awesome in its awesomeness), Missouri, Tennessee and Florida. Thoughts?
> Considering the above numbers — and the fact that Mizzou was bagel-and-18 last year in SEC play, Dennis Gates is the frontrunner for SEC coach of the year. How crazy would it be if Gates won SEC coach of the year and overrated AU wins out and Bruce Pearl wins national CoY?
> Shhhhh, but the ups and downs in Fayetteville — losing a projected lottery pick for the year, a wretched SEC start, Cal winning in his return to Lexington, etc. — may have masked this crazy fact. According to Joe Lunardi, Arkansas is 100% bubblicious.
Super Bowl Wednesday
So on a which way Wednesday, let’s play a full WWW catalog about the Super Bowl.
We’ll do some theories as well as some props, and this is a fine time to remind the uneducated gambling populace what the propositional (aka prop) betting market is.
It started simply enough with a legendary Vegas bookmaker offering the chance for Las Vegas sports bettors to bet yes or no on whether William “The Refrigerator” Perry would score a TD before the 1986 Super Bowl when the ’85 Bears crushed New England. (Sorry, Spy.)
He did, and the prop market was born.
And the birthplace of the prop — the Super Bowl — remains the Holy Grail of the genre.
You can get odds on the coin toss, the color of the Gatorade bath of the winning coach, the first score of the game, the last score of the game and who will win MVP.
But those are just the direct game-related prop plays.
Also on the board are yay or nay odds-weighted bets of “Will Travis Kelce propose to Taylor Swift after the game (yes is 5-to-1),” “Will any player cry on TV during the national anthem,” “Who will be Kendrick Lamar’s halftime guests (give me Lil Wayne at plus-164, which means $100 bet wins $164),” “What product will be pitched in the best commercial (Doritos is the favorite),” and “Who will the MVP thank first in his postgame speech” (teammates are the favorite, but I’d lean toward God at 2-to-1).
As for big picture WWWs, let’s do this one:
Which other professional organizations are the best comps for these Eagles and Chiefs? Great question, Jay. Thanks, Jay.
The Eagles are your Atlanta Braves. In contention almost every year for the past couple of generations. When you realize each has one title in the last 25 years, it’s kind of staggering.
The Chiefs are the Golden State Warriors. K.C. was the among the eternal also-rans that had some good years and underwhelmed in the playoffs. Then a generational talent connects with the perfect fit at HC and a dynasty is born. Andy Reid is Steve Kerr. Steph is Patty Mahomes. Heck, Klay = Kelce, minus the pop princess significant other, and Draymond is Chris Jones.
Super decision?
So the NFL is removing the “End Racism” slogan underneath the goalposts and along the backlines of the end zone for Sunday’s Super Bowl.
I hope this does not become controversial, but I also hope to win the lottery on my way into work this morning.
Look, I’m all for athletes choosing to speak and refuting the “shut up and dribble (or tackle in this case)” because that’s their constitutional right.
And removing that sentiment assuredly does not mean anyone is thinking, “Well, glad we can cross racism off the list. The NFL thinks we’ve cured racism.”
This is not a shut-up and dribble rant, but racism was the easy-button issue for PR reasons four years ago.
Everyone I know wants to end racism.
But you think it was an accident that the slogan along the back of the end zone was that and not “End Poverty,” “End War,” “End Homelessness,” “End all the “isms” (race, age, sex, you choose)? Of course not. Moreover, I stand with my conviction that the most racially inclusive and diverse place on the planet is the locker room. The least may very well be your church pew on Sunday.
This and that
› The NBA trade deadline is Thursday, and right when you can’t think the Luka thing can’t get be topped, Phoenix is dangling Kevin Durant? Nuts.
› Couple more Luka thoughts: One, I hope dude goes all “bitter college ex-girlfriend” and loses 20 pounds, gets in terrific shape and tortures the Cavs and the league for a decade. Also, thought it was interesting and a crazy possible precedent that the Cavs are refunding some season ticket holders because of the franchise-altering trade.
› Tiger’s momma died. She was 80. Homework for the group: If your momma’s still around, call her today and make time for whatever story she has. I know I wish I could.
› Dickie V is reportedly returning to the broadcast booth later this month for Duke-Clemson. That’s awesome.
› Waffle House is adding a 50 cent surcharge for each egg ordered amid these rising prices. I blame Fauci. Maybe those chickens should have been wearing masks over their little beaks amid this bird flu?
› Speaking of breakfast budget back-breakers, looks like the days are numbered for American OJ.
Today’s questions
WWW has a slew of options above, and continues with which breakfast drink is your must-have? Yes, I am coffee, as is the Mrs. 5-at-10. Lil Ms. 5-10 is juice (normally OJ) and Dude 5-at-10 is chocolate milk.
Which broadcaster is more synonymous with their sport, Dickie V with college hoops, Madden with the NFL, Herbstreit with college football or other.
As for today, Feb. 5, let’s review:
› Darrell Waltrip is 78 today.
› Hank Aaron would have been 91 today. Cristiano is 40. Roger Staubach is 83.
› Toby Keith died on this day last year.
› Roberto Alomar is 57 today.
Rushmore of MLB second basemen. Go.