VSiN By The Books | March 11, 2026 | Hour 3

0:00The Toyota Tundra and Tacoma are built to keep going, blending rugged muscle with precision engineering, all supported by Toyota's time-tested legacy of dependability. Step into a Tundra and feel the unyielding capability with the available iForce Max engine Tundra puts out impressive power, torque, and towing performance and the roomy high-tech cabin keeps you connected on the go. Or take a look at Tacoma made for drivers who push past the path. Agile, tough and relentless with available features like crawl control, portable JBL speaker, a power lift gate, so gear goes in fast and the adventure keeps moving. The Tacoma and Tundra are engineered to endure season after season, mile after mile. So drive one home today, visit toyota.com or stop by your local Toyota dealer to find out more Toyota. Let's go places. That's pure automotive joy. I'm Peter, the owner of Musclecar Junior. It started as a hobby, then I started posting about it. Before I knew it, I built a business for storing muscle cars on Facebook Marketplace,

1:00and the community of car lovers on Instagram. Today, new customers send me what's that message is from all over. Not bad for a hobby. Learn how meta helps over 35 million American businesses like Peter's Grow at meta.com slash community. Stop of the hour. It is decent. My folks Dave Ross right here at the Mint Gaming Hall. He frankly gets stuck here. Closer to Jensen was back home in Cleveland, Ohio. Gonna have our managing editor Adam Burke join us a little bit later on. This hour, West Reynolds as well. Our Wednesdays with less. Always breaking down the golf here. It's a big one this week with the fifth major at the players' championship coming up a little bit later on as well. Get to our best bets. I'm gonna get to the Daily Diamond too. Well, we do have breaking news right off the top here, and it is significant. Something we talked about a little bit earlier in the program. The pivot might be coming for the Ravens, and that pivot has happened. Yes, Tray Hendrickson. Again, the league does open for

2:05business for real today. So barring something like failing a physical like we just saw at Max Crosby. It's Tray Hendrickson. That is the pivot. So this is from Adam Shepter reporting that they, the Ravens have agreed on a four year, a hundred and twelve million dollar contract to get Hendrickson there. So it's going to stay in the AFC North and faces old buddy Joe Burrow and the Bengals. There are a couple times a season. This is massive news on the heels of the Max Crosby deal that fell apart because of a failed physical. That's what the Ravens say. It was. But Jensen, now it's about money, right? This is the deal here. So you're not trading way those picks that you had to do in the Max Crosby deal. I will say this. The Hendrickson hang up was the Bengals didn't trade him because there were no team last year and assigned sign and trade, if you will, willing to give Tray the money he wanted. I think Hendrickson's leverage went way up after what happened yesterday, and today here we are. Tray Hendrickson gets the money he wanted four years, a hundred and twelve million dollars. Yeah, you look at just AAVY's 28 million a year and of course kind of dwarfed

3:11in comparison with some of the other big edge rushers out there. But he wanted the guarantee. He wanted to be paid as one of the the upper echelon guys. He's got that payday. And now you kind of look at at where we cannot wait Ravens Bengals. Here we go. Wow. Looking for the revenge angle. That's going to be very, very prevalent in those two head to heads of the AFC North. And again, let's just check and see because we saw that the Ravens had drifted last night. They're still there. Same number plus nine fifty. The second, the same betting choice there is the as the bills to win the Super Bowl. And about five to one win the AFC. They were the favorites yesterday before the Max Cosby news plus four fifty back to five to one. It's holding right now. But this is hot off the presses. Tray Hendrickson will be a member of the Baltimore Ravens barring a physical going to make sure we get through that now with the Ravens these days. That is for sure. Let's get to it. Our second edition of the day with I'm going to break down every single team in Major League Baseball here before we get to opening day in just a couple of short weeks

4:14here. Jensen can't wait for opening day baseball in Major leagues. The the A's they are a team with no name at the kind of the nomads right now. Major League Baseball as they wander around from city to city before they're going to eventually land in Las Vegas. Another year here in Sacramento. What do we make of this version of the athletics? Yes. The Sacramento athletics of Las Vegas round two here there in Northern California. That that stadium, by the way, if you haven't taken a look there in the desert, boy, oh boy, it's going to be a nice little spot in Las Vegas come 2028. Okay. Where we handicap Vegas or at least the athletics is that overs. Hey, when you want to play over the total, we were hot on that early in April. The sports books took a little while to be able to react to it, but they will not be caught by surprise with what this offense did, not only through the body of work, but particularly towards the end of last year, Dave top five in average, top eight in OPS seventh in home runs. And yes, when that weather starts to turn much warmer

5:21in the summer months there in Sacramento, the ball flies. And this lineup is going to be one to be reckoned with. Nick Kurtz, obviously the headliner, the American league rookie of the year. Remember Jacob Wilson led that category for most of the first half of the season, even into the early part of the second half. And then Kurtz caught fire in the power department 30 plus homers and root to one of the great single seasons for the athletics in team history. All by the way, just behind him, Shay Langley ears, who had a great individual career year Tyler Soderstrom signs an extension this off season Brent Rooker, who was a guy that not only was an all star, but might have been overall their best offensive player in most respects last year. Jacob Wilson back at shortstop. They get your old friend Jeff McNeil in a trade with the New York Mets to shore up the middle infield Lawrence Butler, who is one of their young stars who had already signed an extension will be in right. The other Max Muncie will play third and Denzel Clark,

6:22their Speedster rounds out the starting nine in center field. I think where we handicap the athletics this year, Dave, this is a young offensive core that is going to not only be here to stay for many years, but I think is going to strike a lot of fear into opposing pitching staffs. Make no mistake about it. They can hang with anyone. I think athletically they've got a nice balance not only with where they are from a slug, but if they improve at all whatsoever on the base pass, that's another element to deal with. They didn't really run a whole tonne last year, but that might be an area where Mark Cotsay and company try and add that added element to be able to win some games here throughout 2026. It boils down to the pitching and a lot of this starting staff, you'll have some of the usual suspects in Luis Severino, Jeffrey Springs, our old friend from Cleveland in Chicago last year, Aaron Savali, signed a free agent deal in February. Let me focus you on young left-hander Jacob Lopez

7:26and young Roddy Luis Morales. Probably the future of this rotation, at least Lopez has a chance to be a front of the line starting element. If not a number one starter had a great, great individual campaign and a great finish to his 2026, they will need continuity in some length from that group early in the season. Back into the bullpen is probably going to fly way under the radar, but Hogan Harris, their left-hander who is probably going to get the first shot at closing opportunities this year, I would look at Mark Leiter, Jr., who came over from the New York Yankees bullpen. They've got some guys to piece this thing together, but that is my focal point for them. Early Dave, they've got plenty of swing and miss capability, but they have also had a lot of command issues. There's been a lot of traffic and they've got to be able to nip that in the bud, because I think they'll get plenty of offensive help. If you can find a way to get length in the rotation early and be able to get some semblance of continuity from the leverage arms in the

8:28back of the bullpen, this is a team that could put together some series victories early. And so that wind total is definitely one that I would be leaning over 75 and a half right now with the way that they're coming back and the offensive pieces they'll have from day one. And again, we do not know. I knew obviously once you put out the betting guide here with Adam Burke that we'll get to the MLB betting guide, which by the way, you can still have access to if you're a decent post subscriber. I made these bets in hot stove months ago here when the wind told us first populated. And this is one of the first ones I'm wagered and I love it when your assessment matches mine. It makes me feel better about that bet when I played that over 75 and a half. Now I looked at it and I said, boy, this team won 76 games a year ago. They're better, Jensen. Again, whether or not the rest of the ALS is going to be better that can also affect some of these wind told us, but they are better clearly to me on paper this year than they were last year. I guess my apprehension would be if I have one is with the lockout glooming the

9:29whatever you want to call it strike lockout. However, baseball armageddon we want to phrase it after this year and with their pending move to Las Vegas from a business perspective. I did take a stab at a better price points down to 380 now, but I played them four to one to make the postseason. Would they invest finances if they feel like they're close by the trade deadline to maybe get another arm as most contending teams try to do whether it's in the bullpen or starting pitcher? Would they be apprehensive to do that with with the labor strife on the way? Or do you think that they'd say, no, let's go ahead and make a move here even though we're not going to our new home in Las Vegas here for a little bit. Now they're in they're in full momentum forward mode right now and and I believe to remember they had a couple of guys debut last year. Let me remind you about righty Gunner Houghlin made his majorly debut last year. We'll definitely be a rotation fixture for years to come. The big one is the acquisition of leotivaries in in number three overall prospect has looked

10:32absolutely sensational. You are talking about a transcended face of the franchise guy that you got from the Padres and and will be your shortstop whether it's Jacob Wilson slotting to second or what have you. That's a guy that is going to be a difference maker in a franchise changer for years to come. Also Jamie Arnold, who was the ace for Florida State, the seminal last year. He was their 11th overall selection. He could make a quick jump through the minor leagues in the next couple of years. I would also think about just where the overall perception of this athletics team is now David and as I wrote in our betting guide, now that the secret is out offensively, how will the lineup adjust to the league's tweaked approach? Will the pitching staff be able to lock down opposing attacks and the bullpen convert the leads into wins? The A's are no longer a series where opponents take three to four days off. They better be ready for a motivated group looking to back their 2025 campaign with an even better season in 2026.

11:37And to cap it off, my bulltake for the athletics, Nick Kurtz finishes top three for the AL most valuable player award. I think right now you can get him somewhere north in the double digits in that award market as I bring it up here on draft Kings. Kurtz is 15 to one trailing only Julio Rodriguez, Vlad, Jr., Cal Raleigh, Bobby with Jr., and Aaron Judge. That's the market perception of where the A's are right now. Very quickly, are they in play potentially at 13 to 1 and win the West? If the, if the Astros are taking a step back, I know Seattle looks loaded for bear there. I think Texas might be better than people think. Is that in play at 13 to 1? Can't invest there because of the depth of Seattle's rotation and even more so, let's give the Rangers their due as well. I think they still have a year or so to go, but the cavalry is coming if you're an athletics fan and you currently live in Las Vegas, get ready. 2028 is going to be one of

12:38those places you want to be. Let's go. Let's get over. That went to a 75 and a half and you can make the post season 4 to 1. That's just a bonus bet. All right. Now you can download the free upside app. You're going to earn real cash back every time you fill up. It really is quick. It's easy. Money does add up into your wallet. Drivers are earning $200 a year just by using the promo code books 25 cents back per gallon. Your very first fill up offers very by user and locations. The upside.com for all of the details are best bets. They're coming up next. So you're listening to this podcast because you want an edge. But what if I told you, you're only halfway there. You've got the mindset. Now it's time to get the toolkit to imagine. Here's the thing. Probetters, they spend thousands of on data and tools. But what they don't know and don't want you to know is that you can get the same edge for a fraction of the cost with Vsyn Pro with Vsyn Pro. You're going to get access to expert picks, public betting data, prop projections, powerful tools, analytics, and so much more. Just tap the link in the description and see why thousands of bettors are already using Vsyn Pro to cash more bets.

13:46The Toyota Tundra and Tacoma are built to keep going blending rugged muscle with precision engineering, all supported by Toyota's time-tested legacy of dependability. Step into a Tundra and feel the unyielding capability with the available iForce Max engine. Tundra puts out impressive power, torque, and towing performance and the roomy high-tech cabin keeps you connected on the go. Or take a look at Tacoma made for drivers who push past the path. Agile, tough and relentless with available features like crawl control, portable JBL speaker, a power lift gate, so gear goes in fast and the adventure keeps moving. The Tacoma and Tundra are engineered to endure season after season, mile after mile. So drive one home today, visit toyota.com or stop by your local Toyota dealer to find out more Toyota. Let's go places. In 2024, a truck crashed into Canaw in Mar rescue, where I work. 146 of our dogs needed homes fast. We asked for help on Facebook. Our story spread through WhatsApp messages and Instagram

14:46reposts. Immediately, people stepped up. And just six hours later, every dog was fostered. I'll never forget how our community showed up for us. Learn how over 3.5 billion people connect to what matters with meta at meta.com slash community. We are back. We sent by the books. This show is sponsored by upside. You get paid back on gas with the free upside app. Just download upside now. Use promo code books. You will get 25 cents back for gallon on your very first fill up. It's that simple to do people. All you got to do is go to upside.com for all of the details. We're doing a lot of breaking news in here on this edition of Vs and by the books. The big news in the NFL. Of course, it's not even 24 hours later after the quote, quote, failed physical of Max Crosby, which was send him back to the Las Vegas Raiders.

15:50Well, the Ravens were going to pivot. We talked about that. They have pivoted. Trey Hendricks in and we theorized this might be the pivot. Four-year deal, $112 million. Remember to hang up there for Trey was he wanted the money. The reports were they were $10 million off with with prospective teams per year. Well, after the Max Crosby deal, deal falls through. Trey gets the deal he wants. So $112 over four years, Jensen feels like this was a move at a necessity now for the Ravens to get that past Russia. And as Adam Shepard points out here, Joe Burrow and the Bengals now they got to go up against Trey Hendricks in twice a year as long as he's healthy. Only Chris Jones with more of a contractual value than where Trey Hendricks knew deal is Chris Jones five years, 158.75 million. That's an average annual value of 31.75. Now Trey Hendricks in just behind him four years at $112 that's $28 million average annual value. But he we are just scratching the surface, I think, of what the fallout will be. What exactly was

16:53true? What was not the the conspiracy theorists alive and well with a quote unquote failed physical in the NFL. So a lot still to come here, but big move now the Ravens have their man that they were trying to target here all along. And again, reports of the Max Crosby might be staying put now with the Las Vegas Raiders. I love that. He loved to play yet. So, right? So it's fascinating to see what's happening there. So did you want to spate and spend it in draft capital for Max Crosby or spend it against the cap? They chose the cap root here with Trey Hendricks. And by the way, some news in college basketball, we mentioned Sienna punched their ticket last night, get an automatic bid. Their head coach, Jerry McNamara is a Syracuse legend. Well, I theorized last night that maybe Adrian Otrie his time might be running out for the Syracuse Orange after they got eliminated from the ACC tournament run yesterday in the first round there. Well, Adrian Otrie has been officially fired at Syracuse. And this could be very interesting news here. We'll see how far Sienna goes. But again, I don't think you have to be a rocket scientist to figure

17:55out and connect the dots there. I would suspect that Jerry McNamara might be the new guy in Syracuse basketball next year. That will be interesting if that comes to fruition. I had a great conversation with Keith Stewart and you go back and take a listen on your time. Like and subscribe to the Visa and Butterbooks podcast about the elements there at TPC Sawgrass. We're going to have less rentals on here for our Wednesdays with less later on in the program as well. And we talked about maybe that weather wave and Keith, you know, kiddingly said, if you can figure out the weather, then you can maybe pick the the golfer. It's going to win. Sometimes you get the look at the draw here. If the weather plays out the way it's supposed to, Jensen, two guys that I was already looking at anyway, I look now to see when their t times are they're going off early on Thursday. And if that weather holds, that could be advantageous. I'm looking right back at your big suite. And Louvig Oberg is a guy that I've been taking to the window now. And I'm glad to see that people are back on the big suite with me. And I'm not on an island anymore on Louvig Oberg. Catch me at top 20 when he was playing a couple of weeks ago at the Genesis elevated event and catch my top 10

18:59ticket last week at plus three 75. I'm back on Louvig Oberg again this week. And the other guy that I'm looking at has not qualified for the elevated events. It is Brooks Capka. And what I'm trying to do here like Louvig in weeks past, finding guys that I still think are a tip of the spear golfers at deflated prices. You're not getting the deflation and prices anymore on Louvig. I think people are back to trusting him again. And I think you're going to get there with Brooks rather quickly too. I played Brooksie at plus a dollar 90 to get me a top 20 this week, Jensen. And I don't know if you'll be able to get those numbers much later because the ball striking like Louvig Oberg is there. It is back right now for Brooksie. The problem is a putter. And he started to figure that out a couple weeks ago. The last time we saw him on tour, kind of like we saw Louvig Oberg. If you go now to the big suite in the last two elevated events, five of the seven rounds. He's been in the 60s. And he closed last week five under part one of the best rounds on on tour last week on Sunday. And he finished in the top three. And if he made

20:04a couple five six footers here, he would have been in that playoff. So if that weather holds, I played Louvig on outright at 28 to one. And I like that first round leader quarter play here for the big suite, not going crazy with these plays on the outrights in the first round leader market. But again, he's going to we believe have an advantageous start here with the weather. 33 to one. I really like that. And again, Brooks Capka, it's my favorite bet on the board. It is with ties. Make sure your books give you with ties. Top 20 plus a dollar 90. I will be adding to the card. But so far here on Wednesday, Jensen, I'm back in the big suite again. He has not disappointed me last two times out. I'm not turning my back on him now. All right. I did join you with Louvig. And I got him not only in a top 20 finish at plus a dollar 26. But I did take a share of him for a top 10 finish at plus 260 again, all those placement markets, including ties on draft Kings right back to the well with Karl Morkau a cash day top 20 finish for me.

21:07Last week, we'll get him at minus a dollar 12, including ties here also got him at a top 10 finish plus a dollar 90. I'm going to go to my guy, see who Kim, you know, again, when you get past the the usual favorites with Scotty and Rory, this guy is really popping. And I just think from a value standpoint, you know, he's he's won here before loves the P die tracks, the elite precision, the irons and the approach. We know that's what you're going to need. And obviously if weather does play a factor, you want guys that are going to be in that contention for being consistent. So I think that is an easy play for me. So minus a dollar two, see who Kim top 20, also plus two 10 for see who Kim in a top 10 finish. Two other names on the top 20 board. One that we highlighted in both bet the builds this week, Menwu Lee plus a dollar 58 for a top 20 finish. I think an exceptional value for one that right now in form. And with the upside,

22:15he's creative around the green elite right now. I think in tea to green and we know that's going to be a big part of of where you are not like getting to the weekend, Dave, but wanting to be in contention. And then maybe a guy off the beaten path, our fellow Canadian big friend of the show Cory Connors plus two 65 for a top 20. And a lot of this is more upside, David is a long shot value. But someone who is a pure ball striker, someone who is elite in not only shots gained an approach, but also his proximity. I think it's worth the high reward sprinkle here for a quarter unit at plus two 65. So Cory Connors for a top 20 finish. I am going to play two full unit, make the cut parlays. And you can find this market on draft kings. You scared me though in a in a different way that I didn't think about because in years past, we've seen this, you know, early late first round, second round tea time. And we'll ask west about it if he buys into it.

23:19But here's what I did for two make the cut parlays. These are full unit plays. Sheffler, column or a cow, see who Kim, Ludwig, Oberg, and I think that at even money would be one that I'd still be able to feel good about. And I'm going to hope that Scotty gets the irons dialed in because if he does, you got to lay $15 right now for him to make the cut. So I hope he's there. And I I know the weather is is nuts in some respects, but we'll gamble. The other one is plus a dollar 48 Scotty, Zander Shafley, Akshebatiya, and Menwuli. Okay. So I think when we're looking over all at where we like guys not only to make the weekend, but to be in contention, I feel comfortable with both those. Now tell the people why you're a little worried about Scotty Sheffler and where you are because you, you put a little, you put a little flutter into me and I don't like it, but I think it's worth repeating about what your rationale is in conjunction with his form

24:19and where the weather could play a role as well. And all it was was I didn't know of your to make the cut parlays as we're saying this and I said to Joe Frieza, our steam producer, can we find a price in Scotty to miss the cut? And we get it at plus 650, not high enough for me to play at a if it's 10 to one, I take a shot at it because the irons are not dialed in and if he gets the bad end of that weather draw, like Jack Nicholas will bring up in 1963, the bad weather draw that he had at the British Open. These guys know when they kind of get the short end of the stick. Well, I don't think he's going to miss the cut. I think you're going to be okay. But is the number worth betting? I don't think it's worth betting at plus 650. But if it was higher, just a little bit higher at about eight, nine to one, I would take a fire on it because this is we have never seen Scotty out of out of sorts. Like we saw this past weekend. He did not finish top 20. You know, I like to say in the top 20 markets, it's really top 19 when Scotty's in the field. I think it's a legit top 20 market this week. I do. So look, I think he's going to be fine. It's still the world's best call for right now. And I don't think it's particularly close, but cause for concern

25:24with the iron player for something with Scotty, which we never talk about. We never question his irons before. He's got to straighten that out, especially if the winds are up and it's playing tricks on your golf ball. And you don't know where it's going. We'll get to West Reynolds about that. See if there's really a danger of Scotty and the mist of cut. I don't think so. But when we come back, let's start with Adam Burke. We have a lot of college basketball to break down with Berkey here. Our managing editor here at the network will do all that next or right here on Visa Parvots. You're too dim to visa by the books right here on Visa. We are back these and about the books to show you a spot by upside. You can earn real cash back at pump with free upside app. Just use promo code books. You will get 25 cents back for gallon

26:28on your very first fill up. So go to upside.com for all of the details. Speaking of details, you've not checked out our friends over at Charlize. You need to do so. Founded back in 2011. They just completed another dominant run, including a 2025 campaign that saw bank rolls double 15 straight weeks years rather of winning not weeks. How about that? All documented to records and logs posted publicly at charplay's.com for full performance auditing something that separates the sharp plays from most of the betting industry. So check them out. That's why they're respected, watched, and fears sharp start winning that with them at sharp plays dot com back alongside our managing editor Adam Burke joins a program now. Give me a follow on exit skating tripods and joins us now here on the progressive guest line. Berkey, there's a lot to get to here. Obviously no rest for the weary. Hopefully you're feeling better first and foremost to with baseball going on in spring trading the WBC. These little conference tournaments are going on. We know that what 48 hours before

27:28any tournament tips off or any game. If you go to visa.com, we've got the latest and greatest, correct? Yeah, and in fact, a lot of conference tournaments get going here today. The SEC, Mountain West, Big East, A10, American Conference, WAC, Big West, the Miac. I hit all of them that start here today. So there's a lot of them in the Mac and the AC and the IV coming up here tomorrow and Saturday, respectively. So we got them all covered for you over at visa.com. And obviously, we've had some very interesting conference tournament results. A lot of number one and number two seeds going down. Some surprise teams getting bids the NCAA tournament. So it's been a fascinating conference tournament season here so far. We've been with you every step of the way. That's just going to continue all the way through the NCAA tournament as well. 100%. If you like unders, early tip times have been quite favorable. There've been sweaty. Trust me, I've been sweating not a lot of those early action ones and we'll certainly have more of those today. But the tournaments you wrote up that begin today, I'll give you the floor on anything that really stuck out,

28:30maybe a trend, a longer value future to win a conference tournament, something that really picked your interest of conference tournaments that begin today. So I don't know how many people were aware of this yesterday. But in the WAC, the Western Athletic Conference, this will be the last year for the WAC tournament. They're going to merge with part of the Atlantic Sun, make the United Athletic Conference and your realignment is just going to continue to get more and more confusing. But yesterday, the governing board of the WAC was actually holding Utah Valley hostage. Utah Valley is the number one seed in this conference. They want to leave it. They've kind of gone through the process. But the WAC wanted them to put a million dollars in escrow as part of an exit fee that they had to pay to the conference and they were going to let them play in the tournament. Like they had a deadline yesterday. I believe it was five PM mountain times, something like that. They were going to let them play in the tournament. But Utah Valley was able to fulfill that ransom demand basically from the conference. But what a strange situation for them. And for a number one seed here, who is the best team in this conference to be sure, by the way, this one out here in

29:34Vegas at Orleans Arena. But guys, like Utah Tech, the number three seed in this conference tournament, this is one of a lot like the Mac where you've got two teams at very short prices in the Mac. Of course, it's accurate. I might move Ohio and the WAC. It's Utah Valley and Cal Baptist. They're both really good relative to the rest of their conference peers. But I don't think that they should be priced the way that they are. So I actually like Utah Tech played them at 13 to one earlier on in the week. I'd have checked the updated price on that here this morning. But this is a team that, you know, I think that they can hang in this tournament. They take the highest rate of threes. They were second and two point percentage. They're a very good offensive team. They do some defensive issues and they will turn the ball over. But in a tournament such as this, a short little run, they get hot shooting the basketball. They can win this thing. So I like Utah Tech 13 to one coming out of the Western athletic conference, the WAC tournament. Adam, let's talk about a big boy basketball conference at least to spend historically. That'd be the big ease. Maybe a little bit down when you go top to bottom this year. And I wonder if we're going to be on a collision course for Yukon in St. John's at the world's most

30:39famous arena. But with three games going on today, is there a sleeper team possibly to challenge the Johnny's and or the Huskies here for supremacy in the big east this year? Yeah, I think it's tricky, right? I mean, you know, this is one of those conferences where everybody could beat everybody in any given day. But at the same time, when you look for consistency, you're really looking at those two teams, Yukon and St. John's that you mentioned. No, I do think it's worth pointing this out that, you know, last week's conference tournaments or a small conference tournament like the WAC that I just mentioned, those teams are all hyper motivated, right? They have one shot, one opportunity to get into the big dance. They have to win their conference tournament to do it. And some of these major conference tournaments, some of these teams are already in. And it may be more beneficial to get the extra rest, not play three games in three days or something like that, because you're already in, right? If you move down a seed line or whatever, it's, you know, potentially not that big of a deal. But some of these coaches may prioritize rest over having to go out there, put forth a ton of effort, then maybe come out sluggish next week when it really truly matters. So that's something you want to keep in mind. I'm not going

31:43to say that that's going to happen with Yukon or St. John's. I think Duke is a team it could happen with in the ACC with the injuries that they're dealing with. But that's something you want to keep in mind here that there's not as much motivation for these teams to go out there and win their conference tournament, because they're already in the NCAA tournament and you want to win a national championship more than you want to win your conference. So I think that's something worth talking about, whether it's with Yukon or St. John's or some of these other top seeds. Look, I mean Villanova's the obvious choice here, right? Going 15 and five in conference, but there's not enough to like about this Villanova team. I don't think it should be Yukon and St. John's. But again, you know, there could be varying motivations for both of those teams. All right. We have a feature called chaos candidates here on Vee Sin by the books. And I had mentioned the St. Louis Billikens a few weeks ago. If you are looking to find a potential Cinderella this year, boy, do they continue to stack up and Adam, I know you and I are friends over at CBB analytics.com. They have a great flow chart on comparing adjusted offensive rating versus adjusted defensive rating. And I have continued to see

32:48behind the usual suspects of the teams we've seen that have played well. What is St. Louis continue to kind of hang in with some of those upper echelon higher seeded teams as you drew up the A 10 right up and then kind of a bigger picture feel. Is it worth maybe getting some shares of the Billikens, regardless of where they end up, not only in the A 10 tournament, but also on selection Sunday. So St. Louis is kind of stumbled down the stretch a little bit here. You know, they haven't played as well late in the season. And I do think that maybe they're one of those teams where head coach Josh shirts who's already being talked about for some of the jobs that are open out there nationally. Maybe they're a team that kind of goes, you know what, like let's play well, but you know, we're not going to go all out. We're not going to play everybody 38, 39 minutes of game to try and win this conference tournament because we don't have to. We're already in. And this is a team that seemed like maybe it was running out of gas a little bit late in the year. Now it could have just been negative regression because as you said, I mean, this is a team that's been very, very good nationally in terms of effective field goal percentage on both offense and

33:51defense. They're adjusted offensive and defensive efficiency metrics. Like you said, there are really, really solid team, but they've stumbled a little bit here of late. And so I do wonder if maybe this is one of those were, you know, you don't want to develop any bad habits, but at the same time is three games and three days really that important to you. If you're the Billikens, I would say probably not. So even though they are the best team in this conference tournament, I like VCU to win this one. You know, VCU is a team that's on the bubble. I think they're probably in, but you know, they are being talked about in that bubble discussion. The bubble is pretty weak this year anyway. But I think they're a team that if they can go out there and win this thing, they'd be very, very happy to do it. The other one that I think is we're taking a look at big old number here. There are five seed. George Mason is a team playing extremely well late in the year. Second in this conference and adjusted offensive efficiency over the last few weeks, they've had some impressive wins here of late as well. I'm only like Rollover, it's gonna be better than 50 to one on them probably. But George Mason is a team that I think could

34:53be a dark horse here in the A 10. This show today, Adam has been the ultimate yesterday's price is not today's price show like Team USA and the WBC was odds on yesterday today. They're over a $2 betting underdog to win this thing. They might not even make it out depending on what happens with Italy and Mexico today. Where are we? I guess we're all Roonfair and Noah in Italy to beat Mexico today. Is there any value in that number now for Team USA? Are we worried that the end is already here? Yeah, I mean, you know, it's a shame that they put themselves in a position where they can't control their own destiny. And the fact that Mark DeRosa seemingly had no idea what it would take to qualify for the next round. Just outrageous. The lineup construction has been terrible. I don't know why tear school will start against Great Britain. Like you seem against somebody of consequence. Yeah, what a what a debacle for Team USA. But I will say this, you know, this isn't really a betting observation or anything. But the Dominican Republic lineup is the

35:55most dangerous and deadly baseball lineup I have ever seen in my entire life. Yes. Just unreal how good they are. It's fun to watch. And I hope that some of this, you know, passion and you know, some of these, some of these displays of happiness actually carry over the MLB season where, you know, if you hit a home run and bat flip it, some guy throws one in your ear the next time up. By the way, the DR, they are now the favorites to win this, uh, Saturday day today for the Dominican Republic against Venezuela. They're, uh, well over two dollar bait and betting favorite there. Yeah, have a little exuberance. Have some fun out there, boys. It's baseball. Uh, Birke, appreciate it, man. Again, everybody go over to decent.com. If you haven't done so already, uh, great offer right now, 29.99 is going to carry you all the way through May 1st, not just everything we do on a basketball front, but baseball, everything else to get you ready. And the masters, by the way, coming up next month. So check them out, uh, over at decent.com. When we come back, it's our Wednesdays with less, we'll talk some golf. The fifth major, as they say, we'll see who he likes to win that thing. That's next right here at least about a book.

37:03Instagram teen accounts default teens into automatic protections for who can contact them and the content they can see. Explore teen accounts and all of our ongoing work to protect teens online at instagram.com slash teen accounts. Fandool is dropping bonus bets into everyone's account for the tournament. All you have to do is opt in to claim your bonus. But don't wait. These bonus bets are only available for a limited time. Fandool, play your game. 21 plus in present and select states bonus issued as nonwithdrawable bonus bets which expire seven days after receipt max bonus $500 and less otherwise specified restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fandool.com gambling problem called 1-800-Gampler. You're tuned in to Feeson by the Books right here on Feeson.

38:07We are back to Feeson by the Books and this show is sponsored by Upside so it gets a free app. I've already downloaded it on my phone. You can actually save money day one when you go out of the pump. So you're going to get 25 cents back per gallon on your first fill up when you use the promo code Books title of this show. It really does work down with the free upside app now. Use that promo code. It's a limited time 25 cents per gallon bonus offers do vary by user locations go to upside.com for all of the terms and conditions. Great conversation with Adam Burke in the last segment. As we love to do on Wednesdays also talk to the Great West Reynolds. It's our Wednesdays with West conversation. And man, this one does feel elevated. I know it's not an elevated event. It's the the players championship here at TPC Sawgrass. West kind of enough to join us here on the progressive guest line. But West, you know, there's going to be big announcements today. I wonder what's going to come if they're going to move this, you know, the maybe the PGA championship back to the fourth major of the year. But this does feel like it's somewhere in that rotation of it's not a major. But players get asked all the time. Is it truly the fifth major? And there's

39:12certainly more gravitas to this tournament. Do the players feel that when they step on the ground here, the TPC sawgrass? Yeah, I think so day because of the tradition of the event and the fact that it is kind of the tours signature event, you know, the, you know, that's the players championship. It's their championship and whatnot. But I think the history of it and I think when you look at all the greats that have won this event, Jack Nicholas, of course won the first ever one Tiger, Phil, Rory, Scotty, Shaffler, Freddie couples, Davis Love, so many major champions. I think that there are like 30 plus major champions that have also won the players championship. And I think the players kind of do treat it that way. And it's the biggest purse of the season in terms of the $25 million purse player get winner gets a $4.5 million check. So I think it still carries a lot of prestige, even if it's not officially a major. Wes, it is always great when the three of us can align where you are before your eventual

40:17article comes out each week of your outrights. And so one of the favorites that we should almost see how much stock that Dave has bought into Ludwig O'Bare. I'm back to calm War Cala. I know you're with both those guys here just from a standpoint of maybe recent form. Why that's important coming off what we just saw we could go. And then the setup here and what TP saw grass requires from both these guys. Is that where it made sense for you for both column or cow and Ludwig O'Bare? Yeah, Jensen. I think the recent form obviously triumphs the course form here because the course form is so erratic here. You will get guys like for instance in the last several years Rory's won twice. He's also missed the cut three times. So you don't get that consistent down the line form of guys that have you know played well here every single year. And Calan War Cala is really indicative of that because this course I think is a perfect fit for his game because it's not you know particularly long. It's keep it in the fairway fairways and greens. And that's what you

41:20have to do on Pete die designs. And he does that better than anybody. But you look at his career one top 10 and five appearances here which came last year. And it was last year where he got into kind of that kerfuffle with the media because remember he lost that tournament the week before at Bay Hill at the Arnold Palmer to Russell Henley. When Russell Henley chipped in off the green at 16 kind of ripped it from him. And Mara Cala didn't talk to the media afterwards who got in a little kerfuffle with them. But now a year later he's won again. He broke that win list route. He and his wife announced they were expecting. He's playing well. He's followed up with that double beach. 7th at Genesis 5th at the API. Third and approach. Third and good drives game in this field. So Mara Cala I think just clicks all the boxes. And there's a reason why he's popular this week. And then Ludwig. I kind of a home game for Ludwig here. He does live in Pont of Edward Beach which is where TBC saw grass is just outside of Jacksonville. Practices here plays these courses regularly. And just seeing him after he struggled to start the season. I think he showed some real signs

42:20of turning it around at the Genesis. And then last week is where it really showed we was third. Couldn't quite chase down burger and an octet. But was kind of right there lurking. He was second tea degree. And then I'll run down some even more stats from last week. First and driving distance. Second and driving accuracy. First and total driving. Fifth and greens of regulation. Second for ball striking. So he put on a display last week. And there's no reason he can't do it here. I could not agree more with that assessment. Great to see the big sweet back. You know, you have to check out long shots. If you have them with you and Matt Brown and Kelly Biddle. And I don't want to put anybody's business out there in the streets. But maybe I got a text from Kelly Biddle and that said that Scotty Shefford right now is just a tall Harry Hall. What's going on with Scotty? Yes. Like away with this. We're not used to seeing this from Scotty Shefford. Not finishing in the top 20 last week. Is it the revenge tour? Is this die hard with the vengeance? And Scotty comes back and shows everybody who's boss or the real issues with world number one?

43:21It always could be Dave. But if you're going on the numbers right now, Scotty Shefford, by the way, is 47th on the PGA tour for Stroke Skin approach, which is still above average. But it's not even that he's he's playing bad. I think he's just he's coming back to Earth a little bit from these historic numbers that he had last year. He was number one in Stroke Skin approach, which of course measures your iron play. He was a half a stroke better than the next player. And this is per round, by the way. He was half a stroke better per round than the next player, which was Victor Hoblin, who was number two in the category Stroke Skin approach last year. So when you're striking the ball that well and like historic numbers that we haven't really seen on the PGA tour, in forever, really since they've been measuring these Stroke Skin categories. And he's just fallen from that a little bit. So he's just mortal. I think he's not immortal like you seem to be last year. But

44:21I think he's going to be fine. It's just, you know, you're seeing him maybe battle his confidence because you get confident all of a sudden when it feels like, hey, I can't hit a bad shot. If I hit a bad shot, it's like 20 feet away instead of 10 feet away. And so maybe there's a little bit of that. But I don't think this is a long term issue. I just think number one, he's coming down from a peak that we hadn't seen. And that other guys are getting better and we talk about it on the launch out spot all the time. These guys that are picking up club head speed. These guys that are picking up the trajectory from the previous year. These guys are working hard in the off season. They just don't, you know, sit in Florida or go on vacation or wherever they go. These guys are working because it's like, we got to be better if we're going to beat this guy and compete with this guy. So it's a byproduct. I think of both things. Wes, we asked Keith Stewart from ReadTheLine.com PJ professional. They're on the grounds at TPC Sawgrass earlier in the show. And kind of where he buys into the early T time round one versus late T time round two. We've seen kind of that trend

45:26surface over the last decade or so. He gave an intriguing weather report that there could be some issues as early as the afternoon for round one and then maybe a wind event beginning round two. Does that, does that affect your handicap specifically for where we are from an outright or placement standpoint? And would you buy more into or would you advocate looking more in an outright standpoint to maybe guys that will go early tomorrow morning? You know, a little bit Jensen. I don't think you want to totally get pronounced where it's like, okay, I'm going to play all guys in this wave because that could be a little bit dangerous. And that sometimes can work against you, especially in Florida this time of year, but you're right on the trend. 15 of the last 19 players winners had a morning T time during the Thursday opening round. And the last time you had a solo first round leader within the afternoon wave, I believe was Martin Kimer in 2014. So the AM has been better over the years, certainly than the PM. But yeah, looking at the weather, we're going to get maybe some gusts in the morning as well. So you kind of hear it both ways,

46:30but I do think Thursday and when I was, you know, formulate in the article here that we put out yesterday, it looked like Thursday was going to be a little bit more of a mess where we are getting some rain and we're getting some wind. So you might get some stops and some starts. Once you get to the weekend, look pretty sunny and beautiful on Saturday and then maybe in very early morning shower on Sunday, but they haven't really had a lot of wind here. So I think that it should play somewhat firm, I would say. There hadn't been a lot of really a lot of rain in the Jacksonville era area. So, you know, this is a Pete die course, man. You got to hit it. You got to hit it to the trouble in order to get less trouble going into the green on your approach shots. I mean, you got to aim off the tee like towards the water and towards the bunkers. You can't really play it safe here. And actually, I showed that last week at Bay Hill because what did the King on a Palmer always say? Be bold. So this is a course that rewards the aggressive here and not the guys that play it safe necessarily. Yeah. Actually, it was bold on 16 to get that wind at the elevated event at the API.

47:34That's for sure. Only about 30 seconds ago. The big news of the day, obviously, in the NFL, let's just want to get your thoughts on it. Trey Henderson is now a member of the Ravens after what we saw 24 hours ago with the Max Crosby deal fading by the wayside. What do you make of this wild tampering? And now, I guess it's all legal as the lead counter year opens up today. Yeah, it's crazy how like the Ravens, I wouldn't buy in that explanation, by the way, of what happened with the with Matt Max and how that all went down. I was hoping that the Colts would actually get one of those pass rushers, since they're they're paying receivers and paying quarterbacks and everybody's saying they're overpaying for everybody. But that's an NFL free agency. Everybody's getting overpaying right now. So the wild and wooly NFL free agency wheel continues. That's right. They it'll pay what the market will bear right now. And those price tags are going up. West, you're the best. We appreciate it, man. Everybody give me a follow on X at West Reynolds and the number one. If you want more Vs and even watching on Fandole Sports Network, go to Vs and dot com. The Vs and watch app Gill Alexander, Kelly Bidlin on numbers game. They're up next.

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