Money Moves | March 26, 2026 | Hour 2

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1:02back per gallon on your first tank. Ben Stevens, alongside today, Jonathan Vantoba with you. As we are a keep track of everything of Agileek Baseball, full opening day today, everything is right with the world with baseball back. And sweating out the Chicago White Sox against the Milwaukee Brewers. And I don't know if, okay, this is just a screen thing. I got confused because the screen got very dark. But either way, the White Sox, two for two so far on challenges. So at least using the ABS system properly, about Shane Smith trying to deal a little bit and trying to get out of some trouble. Had bases loaded with one out, let one leak in. So it's tied 1-1. So we have bases loaded in a 2-2 count right now with two outs. So Smith hopefully can get out of this and I can have a shot with this White Sox money line play. We've also got a high scoring affair out there in New York. Six for the Mets are on top. Pirates are threatening here. A little bit runner on third with two outs. We'll keep an eye on everything. Coming up in nine minutes from now, we do have a interesting game. Minnesota and Baltimore. This is a team that I was alluding to. Minnesota, a win total that I have under been right now.

2:03Trevor Rogers and the Orioles, about $1.40, $1.38, favorite depending on where you look. Total eight and a half. Shaded to the under at minus 115 in a vast majority of shops. The big picture we can talk about Rogers. How good he has been. And maybe what this is going to look like for him. But I think we're looking at the Orioles. I think there are teams that can surprise here. $1.45 seems about fair against the twins and Ryan. But I think Orioles are going to be one of those teams that a lot of people expect the Blue Jays to be back near the top of the AL East over what they did last year. I think it's this team that actually might be surprising some folks. I think some people forget perhaps that they're going to have a team that Baltimore entered the 2025 MLV season with the second best price to win the American League. Penet the third best number to win a world series only behind the team in their division in the New York Yankees, who often closes the betting favorite to win the American League East and the American League penitent. Of course, they were incredibly underwhelming in the first half of the season. Started to find their footing. Perhaps in the second half put too little too late for the O's. But all of that talent is back. The front line of this starting rotation led by Trevor Rogers is really good.

3:04And I think if they were not playing in the American League East, which is a daunting division, grueling in terms of trying to win said divisional crown. Of course, trying to earn any of the wild card spots in the American League just because you are beating up on your divisional foes and have a very difficult slate to get through that portion of your schedule. I think if Baltimore wasn't in the American League East, they would be a pretty strong favorite to see the American League postseason. It's only the division that kind of confounds things. How do you feel about Baltimore in the American League East in terms of having those sights on October once again? I mean, I think that they can be a playoff team. I think they can win the American League East. The Yankees are going to be tough to overcome. We know how strong the bullpen is. The rotation is not shaky, but obviously you've got heel that's not there right now. You've got garracol, who starts on the injured list. But ultimately, they're going to be fine over the course of 162 games. And I don't think Aaron Judge is going to go over and strike out four times every single game. I would hope so considering he's also on my fantasy baseball team. But I think that there is going to be a different order is what I'll say in the American League East.

4:04And rightfully so, the expectation is that the blue jays can redo what they did. But the Orioles did a good job. Last year, what they did was assume that their young guys would develop. This year, what they did in the offseason was add on the periphery, assuming that yes, there might be some development that we also need some help here, though. And I think this is going to be a pretty formidable team. Again, $1.45 favorite here against the Minnesota twins. This is going to get started in about five minutes from now. And the alone 12 o'clock start here that we're going to have on the card. So good thing we get this out of the way. We don't have to preview my angels versus the Astros. I just don't know if we have enough time. And I don't know if I want to go off on the tangent about already marina being the worst owner in sports again and whatnot. So we'll leave the angels maybe for a little bit later when we get to best bets. Let's continue rolling through some of these sweet 16 games as well. We're kind of hitting these one by one. Hit a few of them already. But we hit a little bit on, excuse me, Arizona and Arkansas. You and I in agreement on Arizona here today. We've talked about the card for today. So let's move forward to tomorrow. And I want to get your thoughts of the game that I really have no opinion on whatsoever.

5:06And I've just been asking people about this and I will sit back and watch outside of having Michigan State as one of my final four teams. I really don't know what I'm going to do with this here. Slightly toward the Spartans only because I thought that they could make it out of this. And Yukon, like you follow the college basketball from an ATS standpoint, Yukon has been one of the worst cover teams in the country. They've been awful. The market expectation for this team has been way beyond what they have actually been delivering. And yet again here, some spots open pick goes up to one and a half. They didn't cover against Furman because they were not even wearing it close to covering that big number. Why is the market just so stubborn and it's belief of this Huskies team? And that's what leads me to lean in the direction of Michigan State as well, Ben. Yeah, I'm not entirely sure to be quite honest with you. When you look at these two teams, obviously led by the head coaches and their fiery personalities of Dan Hurley and his Huskies and Thomas and his Spartans, they really mirror each other not just in their sideline antics and their berating of officials. But also in how they play, both teams are very, very slow. We're talking 330 in terms of the tempo and a little bit slower on top of that. Both teams move the basketball well, both top 10 in the systemate field goal rate,

6:10all this season. Both teams really good on the glass. I think you could argue JVT that Michigan State perhaps both on the offensive boards and defensively is the overall best rebounding team in all of college basketball. And that I think is going to be incredibly key for a game that is basically a pick minus 134 UConn point and a half in favor of the Huskies. But with a low total of 134 and a half, you were talking about a possession or two extra that could be incredibly vital. UConn heavily outrebounded both Furman, Terris Reed Jr had 27 boards in that game that was more to the Paladins who had 23 as a team. And they also heavily outrebounded UCLA. I thought the Bruins might play spoiler in the opening weekend. That was assuming that Tyler Bilado was going to play, of course, he did not play in either of the two games for UCLA in the big dance. They're not going to have that same advantage is Connecticut on the glass against this Spartan side. And I'm going to trust that that extra possession or two is enough for Michigan State to win this game. Now, I don't have an overly strong conviction.

7:11But if you ask me, hey, Ben, here's 20 bucks, bet it on Michigan State and UConn tomorrow night in DC for who is going to see the elite eight, much like you would be Sparley plus one 10 on the money line. Yeah, I'm always curious when we get to this point of the season. And a market refuses to sort of back down on its thoughts about a team that continues to burn it over and over again. I mean, you have the number there 13 and 23 against the spread. If you're watching up of Eastern.com, you can see how poor this has been for UConn. And generally you could sit there and say that ATS numbers from a record standpoint don't be much, but it's a good indicator that this has been an overvalued team for a very long time. And going through a bad big east, which they have not really been able to meet expectations. That's also part of the troubling thing. Ben is like, and actually we could tie in Duke and St. John's. Yeah, it's a strong win over Kansas that they almost blew. You get to beat up on Northern Illinois. But we've sat in here and ragged on the ACC. But I still don't know what I'm taking away from the big east. And maybe this is a round in which we finally get to see this conference exposed. Yeah, I think it's a really good point as well. In terms of where the big east stands right now, these are top two teams playing in the same portion of the bracket quickly on UConn.

8:15We saw the Husky struggle at times in Big East play against a ferocious defense like St. John's. They had 17 total turnovers in that beatdown losing by a 20 in the big east championship game. In their regular season finale, embarrassing loss to Marquette, 16 turnovers for the Huskies. They had 16 despite the win against UCLA in the round of 32. Now, the Bruins not necessarily a classic McPron and defense in 2025, 26. Michigan State, a top 15 defense in the country in terms of efficiency. Not necessarily in love with causing that chaos. But I do believe in Thomas. Oh, understanding UConn's propensity to put the ball in harm's way this year. And Michigan State should be aggressive to take advantage of that. We saw St. John's do it to Connecticut multiple times in this year. And I think it's really interesting looking at this Johnny's team, a team that can play a little bit faster top 70 in terms of tempo. But also as you alluded to, struggling offensively ever so slightly, even against Northern Iowa and certainly against Kansas, who was a really good defensive team. The red storm had played to the under in 11 of 12 games.

9:18St. John's who does not love the three at least on average all year has taken more three point attempts than two point attempts in each of their first two games against decent defenses. You and I wasn't quite up to the task, but known for their defense. And of course, Kansas, a top 10 defense all year long. So when you're playing the most efficient defense in the country in Duke, who allows you to shoot the three, it's not often a crystal clean look from deep. It's because you couldn't get anything else that resembled a good shot on the offensive end. I'm not necessarily sure why a lot of people who are thinking St. John's keeps this game within the number, except maybe Rick Patino versus John Shire. I am heavily leaning on the under tomorrow night of 141 at a hook. And if I had to pick a side, if I had to lay a number in terms of that spread, either taking the dog or laying it with the favorite, I would probably lay the six and a half would do. It would not be surprised if at a certain point tomorrow, this touches seven or even seven and a half. Yeah, the Circuit College Hoops Challenge, which I'm a part of, we talked a lot about this yesterday for a contest selection. So right now, Paul Stone in the lead at 21 points, some two points behind tight for third,

10:19but David D'dine, Tim Murray, Chris Masero. My game strategy was, you know what? I'm going to use Duke because I feel like St. John's going to be a pretty popular selection. And sure enough, St. John's five handicappers, it looks like around the Johnny's, you know what I'm saying? Yeah, five to one in terms of the count. St. John's Duke, I am the one. So this could actually really work if Duke can get it done. And it kind of agreed too. I mean, Patino said it in one of the interviews during the game. He was like, yeah, Kansas thinks we can't shoot. They're daring us to do it, and we're proving them right. But we're going to keep shooting. So look, I think Duke to them is similar output here. And hopefully we can get a win here. As I have said, the crew knows here, they are all rooting for me because if I win this whole thing and finally beat Paul Stone, I will be taking the Kavanaugh and everybody's invited. That includes you, Ben, if you want to come out. But we only got 1,000.com. So like, let's, you know, let's slow it down a little bit. I don't know if I can. I'll make a list. Let's see who can come down or not. But I would agree with you six and a half. And I'm with you too. I'm going to be curious to see where this gets bettube by the time we get to tip off. Because I do think that there's going to be one of those. Like, hey, everybody's on St. John's,

11:19but we start to see this creep up to like seven, seven and a half. Yeah, and I think we're seeing a little bit of that tonight as well with the Arizona and Arkansas game, for instance. If this line stays at eight and a half in favor of the cast, it would be the largest underdog spread that John Calipari has ever seen in his long and illustrious history in the NCAA tournaments or passing his UMass team in 1996 that was a seven and a half point underdog in the final four. Now, most of the betting public at least in draft kings right now, around 54% on Arizona, but a lot of the sharp money on circa, around 72% on the Wildcats. I would not be surprised to see similar splits by the time we get to tip tomorrow night in DC between the blue devils and the Redstone. Save the money on gas. Easier than ever with the free upside app. Just download the app. Check nearby offers or in cash back every time you fill up. Use promo code sports. Get an extra 25 cents back per gallon on your first fill up. Drive it. Seeing $200 to $300 a year back from their normal commute. Take seconds to use and you can cash out any time to your bank or gift cards. Download the free upside app today. Use promo code sports.

12:20Offers very by user and location. Visit upside.com for details. Hey, let me get your attention real quick podcast listeners. It's March, which means the madness is officially upon us. And the folks at Vsyn have really gone crazy with this one. I'm being told that for just $29.99 you can get unlimited access to Vsyn Pro through May 1st. I'm talking picks to the tournament, public betting data for every single game, plus sharp tools, projections, articles, and more, which means every day you wait is an opportunity missed. Just click the link in the description to get started. It's March, baby. All right, now back to the show. United Health Group is simplifying health care by investing in tools to help patients know more and pay less. These tools help patients find providers and compare costs and save hundreds of dollars annually. Learn more at unitedhealthgroup.com slash commitment. Few things are as uplifting as the greatest moments in sports.

13:22And nothing brings us together quite like team USA at the Olympic Winter Games. From NBC Universal's iconic storytelling to the innovative technology across Exfinity and Peacock, Comcast brings the Olympic Games home to America, sharing every moment with millions. When team USA steps onto the world stage, we're not just watching. We're cheering together. This winter, we're all on the same team. Comcast, proud partner of Team USA. All right, keep track of all of Major League Baseball going down right now, day games underway, still a high-scoring fair, obviously, between the Mets and the Pirate 64 runners on first and second, four of the Mets at the bottom of the fifth inning, with a single out, no longer my guy Shane Smith. As he gives up the ghost, he gets chased pretty early here. White Sox trailing in this match up against the Milwaukee

14:24Brewers, four to one Smith charged with three of the four runs allowed, one and two thirds, two strikeouts, two walks. Also, White Sox, two for two on the ABS challenges, for whatever that means, but right now, it means you're trailing 4-1 against the Milwaukee Brewers. Ben Stevens, alongside 15 minutes from now, we will look ahead, Major League Baseball, evening slate, and some big picture stuff, Christian Menace is going to be with us, former pro and host on Series XM MLB. Also, Reno guy, which we haven't really gotten into here, but then it's fighting words around these parts of town, but we can leave that for another day. We're rolling through all of the college basketball games both for today and tomorrow. We'll have some deep dives into them tomorrow as well. But since we got you here, we've got to keep going back and forth on some of these. We've got two games left. Let's hit Alabama and Michigan really quickly. This one is really interesting. So from a contest standpoint, again, we have these contests. We got 10, so if you want to look at the market and play some of the stale numbers, that could be a strategy for you here. I actually, even outside of just the 10, beginning a stale number, I kind of feel like Alabama might be the side.

15:26We'll see if this gets back up to that 10 point, but I keep going back to one statistic, and it's probably not fair to do so, Ben. But if Michigan's going to be Michigan, and they're going to turn the ball over at a relatively high rate, and they're going to give Alabama not only a few more possessions with the way they shoot and how often they shoot, but also how good they are in transition, I think 10 seems like a number they can stay inside of. I also don't think, and this is the worrisome part for me. I don't know if Alabama is going to be able to stop Michigan. I mean, like the number I keep getting asked about this game, and the number I keep coming up with is like, would you be surprised if it's 100 to 91 as the final score with Michigan winning? And I don't think that would be shocking to see here in this matchup, but what do you make of what we're seeing as some of these games or some of these numbers, excuse me, are starting to show up nine and a half, nine total 173. Speaking of very stale numbers, I am on quite the opposite side. I laid 10 and a half with the Wolverines when this line opened up because I believe in the Mason blue, hammering the crimson tide in this game. For reasons, I will highlight, but again, this is not working in my favor.

16:27I think that Alabama, who is the fourth fastest team in the country, who shoots more threes than anybody else in college basketball, nearly 54% of their tries from deep are going to always overwhelm a team in terms of three point volume. They took 42 against Texas Tech. They made 19 of those triples. They won that game by 25, and it's very difficult against the Wolverines to get good looks near the cup because they have a dime. Mara, Res Johnson Jr. Yaxel-Lendaborg, one of the best interior presences defensively in the sport this year, second most efficient defense in all of college basketball. That doesn't really matter. Alabama, even against the best three point defenses, who try to run you off the line, would still take 35 plus threes a game. What it comes down to for me is what you said right there. Michigan's propensity to turn the basketball over, maybe being there at Killie's heel or their weak spot throughout this season. Alabama, not great defensively, and because of the pace they play at, that doesn't really care about turning you over. So I'm not sure it takes advantage of what has been the biggest issue for Dusty May in his two years in Ann Arbor.

17:27Because of all that, I've kind of been looking to fade this Alabama team. Maybe don't trust my read on them. I had the Red Raiders as a money line picked to end out Sunday and around of 32. They lost that game by 25. I do think Michigan wins this game by double digits. I got the worst of the number, land ten and a half with the big favorite, who at times when you see large spreads in the sweet 16, doesn't necessarily go their way in terms of covering those numbers. I think Michigan wins this game, but of course the market starting to buy back in on Alabama. I mean, you play that game a hundred times. I don't know if it ends like that a hundred times. I'm talking about Texas Tech and Alabama. So I wouldn't say that you had the wrong read particularly. It was just one of those nights where every single shot was going down for Alabama and sometimes that's going to happen. So a little bit of the opposite side here, not a bet again, use it for a contest. So we'll see, but did think that and this should be a fun one. Like, I don't know if I want to. I always give our buddy Duc Gisiri and credit on this friend of the show. You might look at that number and some of your projections might be like 171 and a half. It might be the right side to play under 172 and a half

18:27or the 173 and a half that's popping up. But do you want to put yourself through that? Do you want a bet under 173 and a half in this game and then watch Michigan and Alabama sprint up and down the floor, take a million threes, and have to sweat out every single second of what that total is going to be? Absolutely, right? Because I don't think you really want to be on this under. The team totals for this game, both with a little bit of juice on the over. 91 and a half for Michigan, 81 and a half for Alabama and JVT, the projected score that you gave out right there, 191 would not surprise me. I think Michigan can name its number. In fact, I think if Michigan is going to cover as a 10 and a half point favorite when I bet them or even even laying eight and a half at this moment, they probably have to touch the century more. At least 95 plus because of the pace this game is going to be played at. I highlighted why Michigan's defense is great. It doesn't really matter all that much when you have the fourth fastest team in the Crimson Tide in the 22nd fastest team based on adjusted tempo in what Michigan does. The Wolverines play very fast offensively

19:28because of how good they are, especially down low. They like when you are stagnant offensively. Average possession length for opponents this year, 18.2 seconds, very simply. It's a 30 second shot clock in college basketball. Michigan likes when you take 60% of that. 18 of 30 seconds on average. Alabama, I don't think, has had a possession this year probably north of 20 seconds or around that 18 second mark. So if Michigan wants to slow them down, that's where they're at their best offensively, but they can't get Alabama to slow down even slightly on the offensive end that leads us to an over of 172 and a half that probably leads us to the Crimson Tide staying within this number tomorrow night in Chicago. Any read as we move over to the last game? Any read on Jefferson for Iowa State and what's going to happen here? Game time decision is the official report for what he is going to be for the cyclones. Yeah, we have heard so much about so many different players for so many different teams at different stages of this postseason conference tournament now and NCAA tournament week as well

20:28about players that we expected to play that just have not Patrick Gumball, Caleb Foster, missing the opening game for Duke. We thought Gumball was going to be available. BJ Edwards for SMU should be back for the first four against Miami, Ohio in his absence. Of course, the Red Hawks get the victory and we have even heard Tyler Bilodo was supposed to play for UCLA completely changed my thought of what the Bruins could do and that opening weekend in the East region. Game time decision to me for a guy that has been in a boot with a pretty severe left ankle spray and riding in on a scooter when his team has showed up to the arena is not necessarily the most optimistic of outlooks. Now, am I going to wait to see exactly what we get even around 6 p.m. Pacific time tomorrow to have a better status of Joshua Jefferson? Absolutely so. He's a second team all-American and I think most critically here, JVT, for the matchup against the ball. It's where the second best offensive rebounding team in the country. He is Iowa State talking about Joshua Jefferson. They're leading rebounder. He does everything for this team,

21:28especially offensively, but is one of their best attacking the glass. You have to do that to beat eight Tennessee team. Now, I'm not so sure, regardless of his status. If I'm going to look at Tennessee as the slight underdog in this week 16 matchup, I just think Iowa State is a better team. But I really want to wait. I'll even miss a better number if this got up to 4.5 because Joshua Jefferson is world in, which I'm not necessarily sure. It's going to move a ton in the market based on his status for tomorrow night. But I'll wait a little bit. Probably find my way to Iowa State ever so slightly. I think Tennessee will allow some volume from three. And Iowa State is the 11th best three-point shooting team in the country, 38.7% from deep this year. Yeah, there's a couple of things. But the point that you're making, that's what I'm most curious about is, if Jefferson ends up playing what the market does with this number, I would assume there's going to be some sort of movement. But maybe it's just four or four and a half. There's already some fours appearing, which I don't know if that's the market just feeling like this team could beat Tennessee without Jefferson or if they expect him to play.

22:29But this seems like it's going to climb in that direction. I feel like I want to make the case for Tennessee. They've obviously done very well here in the first two rounds. They have covered both games. They beat absolute crap out of Miami, Ohio. I end up as a short favorite, getting it done against Virginia at the end of that game. The thing that gives me some trepidation is the fact that this is a volunteer's team who I keep calling hockey on wood because they're just dumping chase, just go up, throw it up, grab offensive rebounds, get second chance opportunities. And they turn the ball over like crazy. And that's tying that into that category once more. If we're going to give Iowa State turnovers, this is a team that's lethal with those. They can get up and down the floor and they can run. I just keep debating with this number. Hey, man, I think it's up to like four and a half. I feel like Tennessee's the side. And I might have to pull like plug my nose and dive in even though that the volunteers are an offensive absolutely cannot stand at this point. Yeah, just for reference, Iowa State and the thought that maybe Joshua Jefferson could play against Kentucky opened as a four and a half point favorite. We knew Jefferson was not going to play that number closed at six and a half. That's probably more about the cats this year

23:31than it has anything to do with Joshua Jefferson status. But just in terms of where a market might go and what it could potentially mean. I would think if he is ruled in, we probably get to four and a half. And I would look maybe at Iowa State in that potential. I might even look at them again, laying three and a hook to your point as well. Miami Ohio shut 29 threes against Tennessee. They only made seven Virginia was not great from deep. They took 35 against Tennessee. There could be an area where if Iowa State is hitting like they did in the second half against Kentucky. Also forcing 20 turnovers against the wild cats. Fourth best turnover rate team defensively. Iowa State can stay in this even without Joshua Jefferson. All right, baseball seasons here. Nothing more American. The question becomes, how are you going to handle this season from a player prop standpoint? Majorly baseball, a player prop projections powered by up the AI or up the website. We're giving you data driven projections for both hitters and pitchers compared directly to draft Kings lines. So you know exactly where the value is. And every day break it all down. Top value play strong place. You don't have to do the heavy lifting. Get access now to the Veecent Pro subscription

24:31at vcent.com slash MLB props. Christian men is going to join us on the other side. He'll answer the question. Do you put cheddar cheese on Apple pie? It's a conversation topic here on opening day. It makes you baseball. You're watching money moves here on Veecent. Veece Force Betty Network. We like that questions here on the network. I'd like to get our audience involved. Sometimes we have unique questions. Sometimes we have good ones. So we will head out to the progressive guest line. Welcome in our next guest. Christian Menace is with us. Former MLB Pro, of course. Series 6, having out, taking in Cleveland and Seattle for the opening day series. But we do have to ask you, Chris. It's an important question that has come across. So here at Circa, we're having some opening day festivities. They're giving out a lot of stuff. Apple pies are among them, very American. And I have posed the question that the old tradition of the melted slice of cheddar cheese on top of Apple pie

25:33is something that allegedly is something a lot of people have done. And yet I have yet to talk to somebody who does it. Have you partake in melted cheddar cheese on Apple pie? Dude, I'll be completely honest with you. That's the first time I've ever heard of it. And I was trying to process that in my head. Like, what the hell would that taste like? I'm sure it's obviously good because people have been doing it apparently for a long time. But that is clearly the first time I have ever heard of anybody doing something like that. I'm amazed by it. Chris, you are both. Yeah, like I keep hearing that this is some age-old tradition. And yet I have yet to run into a single person. That's never tried it. Let alone enjoy it. But we will move on then at VJVT, at Vison Live, at Ben Underscore Stevens. That what it has been because we want answers to this whether or not you have tried melted apple or melted cheddar cheese on Apple pie. Middle name is thrust in there at Ben Scott Stevens. There we go. That's what it is. All right, Chris. So let's talk about the series that you are going to witness here. Let's go big picture. First, these the album mariners. And rightfully so, you hear a lot about this team.

26:33They added about as a potential American league champion. What if anything holds back Seattle from achieving those goals this year? Yeah, I mean, to me, it's injury prevention. I think it's the only thing that could really hold them back. This is one of the most, if not the most complete teams in the American league as they sit right now. They can pitch from a starting standpoint. They have a really nasty bolt in. And on paper, their offense should be able to drive in some runs. I think injuries are just the one thing you kind of worry about with this pitching staff in the sense that you saw it happen a little bit last year. Thankfully, they got healthy at the right time, aside from kind of losing Brian Wu, they're a little bit towards the end of the season into playoffs. But injuries from the starting standpoint are going to be the only thing in my opinion that kind of keeps this team from ultimately reaching that goal. I think they're the best team in the American league as we sit right now. Evident in the opening day lines in Cleveland's team total tonight in the North West, it is just two and a half runs against Logan Gilbert who

27:36against the opening day start for the M's. Right now, Chris Seattle has the second best price to win the American league pennant at five to one only behind the New York Yankees. And it's just a half buck. The pinstripes often booked is the favorite to win the American league pennant. We'll talk about the national league in just a moment. But how tightly contested do you believe that race is going to be all MLBCs and long for the top spot in the American league? Yeah, I think it's actually, I think it'll bust itself open, come trade deadline time. The only reason I say that is this. The American league east this year is going to be an absolute beast. And I know we say that year after year. This to me, it's the first year that I've seen, at least from Kota standpoint, a lot of the predictions that they've made fan graphs, Amplacota have all picked all five of those teams to finish over 500. Now, that's not great for wind totals because if you do have five teams in your division scoring or scoring, winning 81 games, they're going to be beaten up on each other pretty good amount, you know? So I don't think you're going to see any wind total overs in that regard.

28:39But what I will think is this, you know, to me, Seattle's prime right now, to take advantage of a weaker division, albeit not a lot weaker, ALS has gotten better as well. But they are a weaker division right now as we currently sit than the AL East. And I think they're going to take advantage of that. And I think this organization, this fan base, this ownership group is extremely charged coming off of not only last year and how close they were to going to their first world series ever. But it's that exact fact is they were so close to going to their first world series ever. They're willing to pretty much sell their soul to the devil to allow it to happen this year. So if they need something, I would imagine ownership is going to open up the coffers and allow, you know, Jerry DePoto and company to go out there and acquire whatever they is that they may end up meeting. And I think that's what ultimately is going to make that big difference. Not that we know the Yankees are very willing to do that as well. They just play in such a tougher division that they're stuck in all year. I'm worried about that. Them being a little bit more beat up coming into, you know, playoff time.

29:40And I think ultimately it's going to allow Seattle to take that number one seed. In the long run, I think the Yankees are going to be really good too. Don't get me wrong. And last night kind of, you know, prove that is you can put up seven runs off Logan Web. You're doing something right. All right. What about your boys here? The Cleveland Guardians are going to be a pretty interesting team. Last year, at the end of the season, I just kept saying that they can't keep doing this. And you kept saying that all the way into a first round series with the Detroit Tigers. What are your expectations for Cleveland this year, Chris? Well, first and foremost, I'm going to throw this out there. To me, this is an absolute hammer. The overwind total on the Cleveland is 76 wins. I definitely think, you know, they have the chance to win more than 76 games. A lot of it's going to be predetermined on this offense, which was not very good last year if we're just meeting completely honest. I love their pitching staff the way they are right now. They added some depth in the back end of this bullpen with Sean Armstrong that gives, you know, Stephen vote another reliable manager to go out there and to utilize in front of Kate Smith

30:43to get that thing to the ninth inning, to me, it's going to come down to the offense. They are going to win and lose games with this offense, with a lot of these young players that are, you know, getting an opportunity this year. And that was a big thing from the front office all off season when they didn't want to sign, you know, certain types of players because they didn't want to take away opportunities from a lot of these younger players getting those and trying to take that next step. Now, Chase the Water has made the official opening day lineup. And I think this is one of those young men that we're going to be talking a lot more about as the year goes along. He's that guy that has that potential to hit 30 to 35 home runs and kind of be that protection that Jose Ramirez Stephen Kwan need in this lineup. So to me, it's all predicated on the young offensive players getting the job done. But I think they're going to surprise some people. I think they're going to be right in this thing to the very end because of that pitching staff and whatever they get offensively is going to be a bonus. The Tigers, the favorites in the American League Central, Chris, of course, a storyline throughout the entirety of 2026. And Major League Baseball is going to be a quest for three peets for Terrick's Google.

31:47It will be his third consecutive American League side young award. And overall, for the Dodgers, their third consecutive World Series championship. Do you think either of those two pull off that accomplishment this season? Yeah, that's that's a great question. And I think Garrett Crochet has something to say about Terrick's Google, you know, getting his third consecutive side young. Now, with that being said, I think Google kind of is ready to hammer down it. Understands fully if he is able to, you know, secure a three peet going into free agency. Whiskot Boris is the agent. Back up the Brink's trucks because you're going to be offered a lot of money probably from somebody in New York and not Detroit. But he may want that right now. Anyway, I do, though, however, think the Dodgers have a very good chance. Two, three peet. You know, we saw what they did this off season. They had two clear holes. They needed a right-fielder and an elite closer. And guess what? They got the best right-fielder on the market. And they got the most elite closer on the market. So they've done their part from a paper standpoint. Now they have to go out and essentially get themselves to October.

32:50The way they run their organization, they can care less about the regular. See, not that they can care less. And maybe that's a little bit of harsh word there. But they're playing for October baseball. They're playing to be healthy in October and make that ultimate run. Because I do think they see the value from a marketing standpoint in the sense that if they can pull off three consecutive World Series in a row, that hasn't happened in a really, really, really, really long time, I think they understand the value in that. And again, it's just they've turned this into such a destination place that players are going to be willing in my opinion to take less money to play to have a chance to win a championship. All right, I got to ask you from the perspective of a hitter. Am I making too much of this? Because one of the teams I'm really high on is Kansas City. The lineup looks like it's going to be very effective. But Chris, I keep making a big deal out of the fact that they changed this ballpark to help these power hitters. Is that really going to be as big a deal as I think it's going to be? I think it absolutely is. Yes, I think we're looking at, you know, it could hurt guys like Bobby Witt in the sense that they're not going to have nine or 10 striples.

33:51But he might have five, six, seven more home runs. We could be legitimately looking at a 40-40 guy in the heart of that lineup. We could be looking at multiple 40 home run guys with Jack Caglione moving in the fences. I heard Vinnie Pass continue on talking about the fence moving in exclusively in spring training, talking about how excited he is. Knowing he doesn't have to just get on a ball to get it out to go in the right center field. Knowing that all right, 10, 15 feet in. You know, that makes a big difference in regards to your exit velocity. Knowing you just don't have to absolutely square up a baseball. So I think it's going to be a huge difference. But at the same point that could affect this pitching staff as well, you know, and it's going to have a minor negative effect on that. But I do think overall it'll be a net positive because this offense is certainly going to take advantage of it. They have the right type of players to do it. And I think they're kind of primed to really give Detroit a run for their money. I actually predicted Kansas City to win. I like their pitching staff overall a little bit better than I do Detroit's. And I think the offense is a little bit better in Kansas City right now than it is in Detroit, especially at the bottom half of this lineup.

34:53So it's going to be a fun ride. I'm not I'm not counting out my Cleveland boys either because they made things interesting in the past and they're back-to-back defending and raiding division champions. So I think it's going to be a fun summer regardless. But yeah, I think Kansas City's definitely going to take advantage of that. Yep, guys like Seth Lugo are going to be interesting. A flyball guy in a park like that. Chris, we appreciate it. Thank you very much, sir. Enjoy the game later today. You got it, man. Happy opening day, boys. Yep. Happy opening day. Christian Men is with us. Somebody who has not heard of the melted cheddar cheese on the apple pie. We'll come back. Give you some best bets before we hand it off to the boys from follow the money. A few things are as uplifting as the greatest moments in sports. And nothing brings us together quite like Team USA at the Olympic Winter Games. From NBC Universal's iconic storytelling to the innovative technology across Exfinity

35:55and Peacock, Comcast brings the Olympic Games home to America, sharing every moment with millions. From Team USA steps onto the world stage, we're not just watching. We're cheering together. This winter, we're all on the same team, Comcast, proud partner of Team USA. You got the group chat and got opinions. Now put your money where your mouth is cut the social betting platform to let you bet directly against your friends and other users on sports, politics, pop culture, even personal bets. Every bet is fully customizable, pre-funded, so nobody flakes when they lose, plus you

36:56get cash back at every single bet you make. Use promo code VCIN to get a 15% deposit bonus in your first deposit. Download cuttodaykutet.com or in the app store, use promo code VCIN. Wrap it up here on a Thursday. And Steven's with us. He'll be back tomorrow as we're getting ready for the sweet 16. Baseball, of course, underway opening day in full today. We got a lot more teams in action tomorrow. Should point out that coming up here in about 30 minutes from now, a little bit less than that. We get three games that are going to get started at 1 at 10 p.m. Pacific time. It's really when a lot of these games are going to get going. In the American League, the Angels with Jose Soriano taking on Hunter Brown, Brown, $1.85 favorite total is eight shaded to the over at minus one 15. We have the Terrick Scooble lead Tigers getting to start against San Diego and Nick Paveta Paveta, plus 108 plus 112, depending on what you're looking at home as the underdog against the Tigers who are about $1.26 favorite and Garrett Crochet, Chris Menas brought this up with us in the last segment. He thought that maybe this is going to be a guy that could push Scooble for the American

37:57League side. Young, he faces my guy. I like Andy Abbott. He did a great job last year. Well, it might just 152 plus 136 coming back here at Circa, but I want to focus on this one really quickly. I was talking with Mike Palm earlier today about this game, specifically about Andy Abbott and just like to point out that Abbott might be a guy, dude, for some pretty strong regression here this season. It's going to be something worth keeping an eye on. Last year, if you look at Abbott's numbers, 287 ERA looks fantastic, but 366, fielding a dependent bent and expected fielding a dependent of 431. Well, it really sticks out as a pitcher like him in that ballpark, being a heavy, heavy fly ball pitcher, about 47.8% of battered balls ended up as fly balls. Got pretty lucky last year when you look at balls and play pitching at home. I don't know if that holds up. Abbott had a 274 batting average on balls and play last year. Maybe it comes to fruition today against the Boston Red Sox, but Abbott might be a guy who are circling and then zoom out even further. If you look at Cincinnati as a whole, green, not going to be available until July.

38:59If we're right and Abbott regresses, this lineup hasn't really been that effective, even with the inherent advantage of playing in that ballpark. This could be a red team that every single year is a very sexy team for folks, but I think could finish a lot lower in the standings in the NL Central than most expect them to. Your guy, Andy Abbott, who was partially my guy last year because they were my Cincinnati Reds over the preseason win total of 79 and a hook. They got hot at the right time and they cashed that number. It is now 80 and a half, the 2026 win total for Cincinnati, some juice on the under. And I think JVT, as you alluded to, there could be a reason why maybe the Reds taking an ever so slight step back in terms of the overall win projections this season and not having hunter green, who is their ace in an all star of season ago until probably the middle of July is not going to help that case. So I like the point on Andrew Abbott. I like the point on the Reds overall in the Great American small park. We shall see.

39:59Not my guys this year. My guys are the Pittsburgh pirates trying to go over 78 and a half. They're more than likely going to start all in one against the New York Mets up in Queens today, but we got a long while to get to 79. The Reds were my guys last year. They cashed the job. I would not have the same ticket on Cincinnati to go over a preseason win total once more. Yeah, the other game that I would point out to this action to start at 115 will be well off the air here. But Drew Rasmussen and Matthew Libertor going out at Tampa Bay and St. Louis. St. Louis is going to be pretty poor here, but a little bit of a lean toward the under. And this is from a, this is from purely a fantasy standpoint, but I think Rasmussen is actually going to be a pretty underrated guy as we head into this year. And Libertor, I think from a fantasy standpoint, a good streaming option against this lineup. I actually think that this could be a pretty decent pitching matchup between the two today. We're sitting at eight. Nothing really has moved here. Some spots open seven and a half, but I lean a little bit toward maybe a first five under. I think Rasmussen Libertor could do a pretty decent job against these respective lineups, but we will see if that's going to be the case.

41:00Should also point out potentially a World Series preview, native of all the versus Christopher Sanchez, Rangers and Phillies coming up a little bit later. I'm big on, I'm big on Texas this year. I like the Rangers a ton. I think they're going to win the American League West. This year, I was kind of chasing that dragon, trying to get that high, you know what I mean? Catch the falling knife, whatever cliche you want to use. Didn't really get there, obviously, for Texas. The pitching is phenomenal. You just got to get this lineup to get in gear. And I think they're going to be able to do that with some regression to the mean for some of their hitters. So we will see if that's the case, float around plus 340 to win there. And we definitely like a head to head if you find it between them and Houston, because I think Houston's pitching staff behind Brown is going to be pretty poor unless you get guys like spaghetti and Spencer Erigetti to turn things around, but we'll see if that is the case. All right. That's Ben. You are guests today. So I'll give you the floor. Sweet 16 is on the horizon. What do we got for some best bets for the audience today? We will start with the very first game of the second week. Get to the NCAA tournament. I like Purdue's team total to the over of 77 and a half tonight against this Texas team.

42:04It is a total that has been dropping. And in fact, it's kind of confound me why this total has been dropping. For instance, the Kenpom projection for this game between Purdue and Texas tonight in San Jose is 82 74 Boiler Makers win. That's a total of 156 points. This was 148 and a half. A lot of the betting market like the under, we're now at 147 and a hook. I don't necessarily agree at least from the Purdue offensive perspective. We have mentioned it a few times. The Boiler Makers are the best offense in terms of adjusted offensive efficiency that we have ever seen now currently in the Kenpom era and offensive rating of 132. The Kenpom era dates back to 1996 97 Texas outside of the top 75 in defensive efficiency. In areas where I think you can get Purdue is with a little bit of speed and athleticism. The long horns have some good athletes in the front court. I don't necessarily love what they do on the defensive end. I think Purdue is going to thrive tonight offensively against this Texas team that plays a little bit slower, plays to produce pace, leading to that efficiency for the Boilers.

43:05I'm on their team total to the over of 77 and a hook and I guess it is our bet as well. Late seven and a half with Arizona in the second game tonight in San Jose. For all the reasons we alluded to earlier, Cal and his hogs, the largest underdog he has ever been in his prestigious career in the NCAA tournament. It's now eight and a half. I got seven and a hook. Don't mind the number even in this spot for Arizona who wants to construct things. Not from three point range, but from within that three point arc nearly 57% of the points produced this year by Tommy Lloyd and his cats on two point field goals. It is one of the weaknesses of a not so great Arkansas defense 52% of opponent points this year on two point field goals as well. I think it plays into the hands of Arizona who might be able to stifle the fifth most efficient offense in the country. That being Arkansas with one of the elite defenses and some great on ball defenders in the back court, maybe just slowing down. Darius A. Cup Jr. enough for Arizona to cover this game tonight. I would expect that to be the West Regional final on Saturday in San Jose.

44:06And awesome match up between one and two Arizona versus Purdue for a spot in the final field. Love it. All right. For me, quick recap from yesterday as we usually do, nobody loves O.B. top and more than me. And I'm including this mother in that one Pacers plus nine and a half last night, a stupid finish. They're getting their doors blown the hell off. They have a really strong second half. And then with four tenths of a second left to go for no reason because you're down by ten, O.B. top and drains a three. Thank you. Andy Nemhart for the assist. You get inside of the number on a meaningless thing, a hawks plus two and a half. That was a sweat as well. They were absolutely smoke and Detroit gave up the lead at one point in the third quarter but hold on to win outright. And the thunder don't get there. The fishy short line doesn't end up cashing two and one yesterday in the association as we are getting ready for the NBA postseason. Just about ten games left for each one of these to reiterate some of the plays in college basketball and some of the additions as we've talked about throughout the week Arizona minus seven and a half. We've discussed that. You gave a great point on that. We will leave that to the side Wildcats Nebraska minus one and a half in this matchup

45:09against Iowa. We ride with Freddie Hoy and the corn huskers think they're going to be able to get this done as a short favorite. Also adding to my pain another brewer's home run. They're absolutely getting smoke the white socks. St. John's Duke under one forty two and a half given out earlier in the week here too. That's pretty popular selection as well but the numbers at least moving in my direction so I'm not going to get burned on the bad number or at least the popular side there. And Texas plus seven didn't end up using this in the contest because it's going to be a popular play and I don't want to add points with everybody else. But I do think the ability to stay inside of that number is there for Texas problem is didn't get the best of it as we are starting to see that number move in the opposite direction and in fact many eights are out there for produce. So we'll see what happens there but Texas plus seven is going to be the number and sometimes you can't get the best of it every single time. Although some in the community do which I find very fascinating. All right Ben we appreciate a couple of minutes. Thank you very much. You will be back tomorrow. Going to be with us throughout the day tomorrow too. We'll get ready for the other ones we'll have a recap of course of the sweet sixteen games

46:10today. Spin it forward to the next round as well. What do you do with the rest of your day? You got baseball in the brain. What's what's the rest of Thursday look like for Ben? On the west coast right now sweet sixteen Thursday starts around four p.m. Pacific time. We're going to close up shop here today. Go outside, enjoy the weather, get a walk, get the steps in JBT and then we're on the couch for about seven straight hours for college basketball. You know it's a nice day out but you got to hit a little bit of yoga later. This is what we do here. You got to get in sync with yourself. You know what I mean work on the flexibility and then after that we'll enjoy the rest of the evening. Thank you. I think that's what you say. I don't know. All right. For Ben, crew thank you very much as usual. Coming up next. Follow the money. They'll take you here for the next three hours leading you into decent prime time. The prime time boys will have all sorts of action for the sweet sixteen. We keep track of followed out by cash and out from eleven to two a.m. Eastern time. That alone is why the west coast is the best coast. Screws stay enough. That late. All right, Ben. We appreciate it. We'll see you tomorrow. Here on Money Boots.

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