VSiN By The Books | March 27, 2026 | Hour 1

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1:23Here at Circus Sports in Franklin's going to be a good day today for the books. Because you get your baseball, right? We want more baseball here to celebrate opening day. And we will be elite, Jensen Lewis. After this day is over, we will finally be down to the elite eight. We are elite from giving everybody Illinois yesterday. And thrilled that my final four remains alive, Arizona, an absolute decimation of Arkansas. Unique to see that the home court advantage did not work for the Houston Cougars. So committee is on alerts. Nice try to try and get Houston through. But hey, you're right. Let's get some winners on the diamond today. That'd be great. Also, hopefully some UFC winners. Because Goof into Care is going to join the program as well later on today. And in this hour, Thomas Gable will join us from the Borgata. We'll find out what the books need here. So so much sports to get to include some golf. I've got some added numbers there that we'll get to as the show goes on.

2:24But let's start with it because we are down halfway to the elite eight after yesterday's action. So it's the dirty dozen right now. That's where we kickstart our highlights and headlines. Help your bottom line with today's highlights and headlines. And fatically, Arizona punches that ticket to the elite eight along with Illinois. Great comeback for Iowa in the second half. And Purdue and boy, was that a great game against Texas down the stretch of tip in as the clock hits zero to get by Purdue gets by Texas in that one. Johnson, I had some dogs yesterday that did not park. That would be Arkansas. I did lay it with Nebraska. Those were the red. But the good part was Texas covering the number. I thought they might get the outright win. And also Illinois, which is our biggest play of the night. Boy, were they dominant in that victory yesterday over Houston?

3:24They are. We are one step closer to an all big 10 final four. We will at least get one representative with the Hawkeyes. And really a great comeback for Iowa too. Because in that first half, I remember I told you yesterday, I felt if Nebraska is hitting from the perimeter, oh boy, this could be a long night for the Hawkeyes. But boy, did they hold their mud in true Kirkference fashion? They channeled his defense and really stuck it, you know, to Nebraska and kind of kept them from getting through in those last five minutes. Listen, you and I were very high on on where that pace could be. If it was slow, then it would benefit Iowa. It actually didn't, but man, did they make the plays down the stretch days? So credit where it's due, they were awesome. We'll jump into much more. But I'm so thrilled that when we identified where Illinois could be and how efficient they were offensively, you made a comment before the show. And I love to jump into it as we get moving here in our next segment. It felt at points where like Houston couldn't even get a shot up.

4:26You know, you kind of put it perfectly. We're all about the efficiency of Illinois's offense and they were great. But that was a Houston Cougar S defense of effort from the Alignite. What a complete victory for Brad Underwood's crew. Yeah, I'm with you. I kind of like those teams that can play both styles. And we saw that with the Alina with a 10 point win. It goes way under the total there. Even though the total got juiced up, it got bet up to 141 and a half. I never end out there. And I will say like with the Iowa game, Jensen, I thought the first half is where Iowa actually won it. Even though they didn't win the first half, as well as Nebraska was shooting it to keep pace and it cut into that lead and make it one possession before halftime. That was really impressive because you're right. The way Nebraska was shooting it earlier. I thought it was curtains for the Hawkeyes. Give them credit, man. They scrapped and then they played a defensive rock fight in that second half. And they got the job done. Let's continue with those. We'll break down all those games that we saw last night. Look ahead to some of the new lines that we see. But we will get down to the elite eight after tonight.

5:31And we've been waiting for this region in the East and Washington DC. My goodness, the two games on display tonight with St. John's and Duke, Michigan State and Yukon certainly takes center stage just from a coaching perspective here. And when you look at, you know, a Rick Patino going up against the new guy now and John Shires already been to a final four for Duke. And then legends on the other side already with Danny Hurley against Tom iso that we might forget a little bit about the Alabama and Michigan game of Tennessee and Iowa State game because Jensen so much focus right now feels like it's on that monster bracket in the East. It should be and already one play in pocket for me. And I'll probably end up getting to both unders in this game. I did play the under 142 and a half for St. John's and Duke. You and I described it a little bit yesterday as one of those sleeping giants where no one's really talking about Duke. Everybody on St. John's here. Are they going to be an extreme public dog? We shall see. But really has Duke played a complete game on both sides of the floor yet.

6:31Could that be tonight? And then as you said, man, Michigan State, Yukon. I mean, you got two slaver knockers or two heavyweights. That one feels like a rock fight in and of itself. Who will have the chess moves? Who will be one step ahead? Cannot wait. One of the great regional semi final double headers day, I think in the last 20 years. Michigan State right now getting a point and a half against Yukon. That'll be in the nightcaps tonight in the East. That total 134 and a half. I am a little bit interested to see the Alabama. Seems like they're taking a lot of the action here. That number keeps getting moved down, down, down. And I saw some aids, practically now some eight and a halfs. Maybe some some resistance money coming back there. But look, I'm rooting for Alabama. I just I don't know that I see it because again, a size that we saw from Illinois on display. Again, it's Houston in a jump shooting team in the Cougars. That recipe might be the same tonight. We'll break that down too. How does Alabama get easy points against that Michigan defense? We'll find out opening day. As I mentioned, we got a couple more teams. Three more games today that will actually signify the starts of their seasons.

7:33But big opening day was yesterday. And, you know, of course, I was happy. My metropolitan's one. I know people are looking at Paul schemes and the number and going, oh boy, he got rocked. He got no help from his center fielder at all. O'Neill Cruz just butchering two balls there, Jensen. So pulled after one. And look, schemes was not great yesterday. My biggest takeaway there was if you're a pirate's backer and a Paul schemes guy, kind of like Aaron Judge, it's one game. I wouldn't over react too much from this 11 to 7 victory for the meds. Yes, we say it every year and that is a tradition unlike any other over reaction week. Welcome to it. If you've never been a part of it to come on in, there's plenty of room. And really just some highlights from yesterday. You're right. And the meds taking advantage early. If you had the yes run first inning in, you know, that pirates meds game, Brandon Lau, come on down. Your table's ready. What an opening performance there in a pirate uniform. But taking advantage of mistakes did not think we were going to have Paul schemes out in the first inning, let alone,

8:34you know, the way that it transpired. 11 runs for your meds. How about the Milwaukee Brewers and our daily diamond man? We talked about could that offense be a team or help that team kind of get back to where they were last year? I get it's the white socks. 14 runs yesterday. But the nationals. The national spoiling the opener at the friendly confines. 10 to 4. Hey, oh, that one looks pretty good. Can't wait to break down the entire slate. Yesterday and you're right. 435 PM Eastern San Francisco and New York. The Yankees and the Giants will resume their series after beginning the season on Wednesday. That'll become Schlitler against Robbie Ray. The first game of the day. Yeah, not really surprised at the med score. Double digits, but with Paul schemes on the bump. You didn't see that coming, but you mentioned it. The Brewers getting that 14, the two touchdowns and the extra points. The nationals with a touchdown in the field goal against the Cubs. And how about the Cardinals that come back against Tampa Bay? Didn't see that coming. All that offense nine runs for St. Louis as they go to want to know

9:35to kickstart the year today. So again, the teams that that are going to get underway today that have not played Jensen, what's this like? You've been waiting, right? You watch opening night. You watch opening day. And then finally get to round it out today. Jensen is almost like, man, what about us? Do we forget about us down here saying the ATL to kickstart our seasons? Unique, right? That we haven't spread out so much in again, just kind of how the schedule fell here and knowing that baseball did not want to have their premium openers involved in conflict with the sweet 16. So I understand that. So yes, you're right. A couple of different teams will open their seasons, the athletics north of the border for our friends tuning in on Roger Sportsnet. We appreciate you. Blue Jays will begin defense of their American League pennant 707 PM that's Kevin Gosman against Luis Severino. Colorado in South Beach to take on Miami. Kyle Freeland, San Diego Contra, Kansas City Atlanta. That's the one for me tonight here, Dave. That's going to be fantastic. A battle of two guys that'll have their eyes on the Sy Youngs

10:37and their respective leagues. Cole Reagan's going for the Kansas City Royals. You and I very high on KC and what they can do this year. And in Chris sale for the Atlanta Braves 715 PM first pitch. Lot of intrigue for both these clubs. A lot surrounding what their capabilities could be in their respected divisions. So three more openers if you will to get six other teams finally underway. Yeah, I'm the very interested to see that. You know, I had mentioned to you when we were doing our daily diamond on the Milwaukee Brewers about Jackson Turio. Could he really be an MVP candidate? And you said we've got to worry about staying healthy. This was a big shocker before the game. They get the win, but not always in this time. But it gets put on the IL and Jetson even all over this, right? This is got to be concerning despite that opening day win from Milwaukee. Yeah, the concern and people were speculating did happen during the World Baseball Classic. Oh, God, it's all we need. Is a star player to get hurt again. So it sounded like and from looking back, reportedly that it happened during one of the spring training games

11:38for the World Baseball Classic. Dave Timeline right now between two to four weeks. So kind of breakfast where we are with the brew crew by looking at all right, you know, if they're going to be able to tread some water without one of their key players. But that's a boost for that club overall. So again, they didn't need his help yesterday. Took advantage some big early innings. They put it away late. Brewers want to know on the young season. Paul Wearing is your first round leader at the Texas Houston Children's Open. Who? Old man Paul Wearing from England. Yes, seven under par. This guy just miscuts. It's all you've done and it goes out there. First round leader. Go figure that out. Gary Woodland. Really nice round here. 600 par in the tougher afternoon conditions here. Just one shot off the lead. We'll update that with some added plays as well. You can download the free upside app right now. You're going to earn real cash back every time you do that. It's quick. It's easy. It does really actually add up. You drivers running up to 200 300 bucks a year. It's by driving like they normally do. Use the promo code books title of this show. 25 cents back per gallon on your very first fill.

12:40So download the free upside app now. promo code books limited time 25 cents per gallon off or see upside.com for all of the details. Hey, everybody Dave Ross here. Let me get your attention very quickly for the podcast listeners out there. It is March. That means the madness is officially upon us. And the folks here at Veecin have gone nuts with this one. I'm being told just 29.99. You can get unlimited access to Veecin Pro through May 1st. I'm talking about picks throughout the tournament. Public betting data for every single game plus sharp tools, projections, articles, so much more. Just click the link in the description to get started. It is March baby. Let's go. All right. Now back to the show. 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 Xfinity 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.

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15:46Last night was a wild night to get to halfway to the lead eight so it's the dirty dozen officially today as we wake up this morning gentson with 12 teams still around. Now Iowa came back and yeah you go well. It was a pretty nip tuck game here in the first half. It was, but Nebraska double digit lead for the majority of that first half. And then Iowa just never blinked cut it down to to a one possession game at halftime. And then when things got really tight late you son of Nebraska kind of panic they only had four players gentson on the court a seminal moment in the final minute. They were down three. Iowa was inbounding and they basically get a long full court pass for an easy dunk because Nebraska was devoid of player. So that's something you just don't see. You wouldn't think it from a Fred Hoyberg team, a veteran team like Nebraska has for a situation like that to happen. Let's hear from Hoyberg explaining exactly what happened in that miss out where the official supposed to hold the ball

16:49before the ball was mentally good question Rob and I've never been in a situation like that. I know they always count to make sure there's not six. I don't know the rule on that with with four. But yeah, I mean again, it was a miscommunication and you know, unfortunately, it happened, but that you know, as far as the rule, I've never been a part of anything like that. I'm sorry here that that's a pleasantry, you know, hey, should the officials have bailed you out Fred Hoyberg? The easy answer there and I know it's tough in the moment is that's on me on the head coach. That's my job. Then it's on the insistence. It's on the players certainly not on the refs to say, hey, I'll coach, you might want to, I mean, I know we all watch Hoosiers. Remember that Hoosiers and they asked Gene Hackman? Coach, you only have four out here. My team's on the floor. No, no, this is not Hoosiers. This is real basketball and it's your job's head coach to have five on the floor, Jensen. So look, like I get it, you're trying to be nice. It's a delicate situation, but there's nothing to do with the

17:51officiating. I've never been a part of that situation because you put five in the four unless you fouled out too many guys and you can't have five in the four. So this is nothing to do with the officiating. I don't want that to get twisted. This is on Nebraska, not putting the requisite players on the four when they had to. And if we're being more honest, kind of panicking down the stretch. And I think it manifested itself in many different ways. You look at the second part of the second half day with 835 remaining Nebraska of five that an 81.3% chance to win. According to ESPN dot com Iowa makes the quick run. OK, to get it even to 62. Then Nebraska hits the three and they get to rebound after a miss from Iowa. That got him back up to 75.1%. And then after that, you're right. It was a full meltdown and credit where it's due. You had Iowa making big time plays. They made a couple of big three pointers.

18:54If you remember, I think it might have been. It starts there with just a little bit over two minutes. The go ahead three to make it 68 65. And then, you know, to be able to execute to a tape sage had the 24 footer from three to make it 71 65. So you have back to back. Kind of body blows right there from Iowa from distance. And then you could see the the old Polly Howard's squeaky bum time there from the corn huskers. Listen to that. I thought Nebraska is going to run them out of the gym and they were a 12 to start. I thought the route was on because you and I handicap this yesterday looking at if this gets to a perimeter game, we're Nebraska's hitting early. How the heck could Iowa keep up, man? It's just not their DNA. They're not going to, you know, be that team that can really run you down. It was methodical and remember Iowa didn't lead. I think until what those two minutes left, right? Was that their first lead was with 210 that they trailed the whole time.

19:56The last two minutes, they saved their best for last. I didn't think Iowa could shoot with Nebraska and they did. So, you know, Nebraska got it done in the first half. And Iowa just kind of kept pace right there and what waited for the damn to break. And it didn't that second half. And who does to Ben McCollum? Like we talk a lot about coaching. I know I do and I bet on coaches. And part of that yesterday, I didn't think Fred Hoiberg would have the advantage. I get to Ben McCollum. He didn't. So year number one, coaching there for Iowa, it looks pretty darn good to take over that program last March. And now here you are on the precipice of possibly a final four. Now to get there, you'd have to get by Illinois. And I know you and I watched Illinois yesterday. And we were like, what are we missing? Why are they dogs against Houston? I get at the home court advantage and all those things. So yes, they should have been an underdog there. But they clearly go to the better team. They win by 10. It didn't even feel really that close to the second half. They put it on them early in that second half. And it was pretty much curtains for Houston.

20:57So game plan now, these two teams have matched up obviously. And Illinois got the better of Iowa in this was in Iowa when they played the first time around. So that familiarity of being in the same conference again. I wonder who the advantage goes to because I really thought it was going to go to Nebraska yesterday. It did not. So Jensen, we know each other, we've played against each other. Brad Underwood knows Ben McCollum now might even get the coaching check mark some would say. If you're going underwater against McCollum, I don't know if that's fair or not. But six and a half is what we're seeing. This number open up for a game tomorrow. How do you see that playing out? Yeah, actually saw it open at five and a half. But already up to seven in some play fanatics is hanging a seven right now. So already an onslaught of money starting to come in here on the Alana. And for good reason, they're going to be a public favorite, not shocked by that whatsoever. The familiarity factor though, Dave, you're spot on. Let's see when you play a team twice during the regular season, home and home.

21:59And then what did you learn? And who are you now? Two teams that are a bit different DNA wise. You got some NBA guards with Illinois. And you have just the resiliency of the Hawkeyes. Do they actually get it to be a rock fight? Well, guess what? I would just played or Illinois just played one against arguably the best defensive team still left in the tournament and they beat him by devil digits. So this is exactly what I had hoped when I made my bracket. I thought it would actually be going through Florida. But hey, this is this is ideal. If you are Illinois backer for the final four, my 25 to one ticket looking very nice. And one more win and I'm in a monetization spot there with the Alina. I told you before the before the tournament, the team that I have FOMO of now is Purdue. That's the team that I really like to be talked about in the win the big 10 tournament to get the nice juicy number to get to a final four, perhaps. And here they are knocking on the door of that. Now to get there, they'd have to beat Arizona. Arizona looked dominant.

23:03Last night against Darius, a cuff junior in Arkansas. Never a threat there, but Purdue life and death. You get the tip in at the buzzer to get the win and get by Texas. I thought we were going to overtime there. I don't know that they would have gotten out of overtime. 79, 77 is the final there. How do you play Arizona? Like what do we do if you're boil or up? If you're Matt painter, do you want to slow it down? Because Arkansas tried to speed him up and you saw what happened last night when you sped him up. That didn't work out very well. So Arizona is another one of those two way teams, Jensen. They can play it both ways. I think Purdue can too though. I think that they've got enough biggs to be able to hang. What would be the best strategy? Because right now we're seeing what six and a half year in the marketplace for Arizona against Purdue to get to the final four after tomorrow's matchup. Well, Arizona didn't miss. You were 64% from the field. You were 63% from distance. No one was beating them last night. And that's still with Arkansas hanging almost 90 against Arizona.

24:07By contrast, Dave, you ask about Purdue. Now Purdue was what four of 20 from three point range. A very uncharacteristic shot 20% from beyond the arc. You would imagine regression positively for them in that regard. If Arizona stays hot, if they shoot 50% from the field and 40% from three point Dave, I don't know who's beating them. I mean, you're asking a surreal effort, probably from Fletcher lawyer and Braden Smith, they're both of them would have to go off. And that's with Fletcher lawyer. He had all four of the 23 pointers taken by Purdue. All four of them were made by Fletcher lawyer. So keep that in mind for tomorrow and when we see this matchup. But either way, job well done. Sean, you said it. I was again, you and I were against each other. You were like Sean Miller, book it. This guy is going to he's going to coach him up. He's going to have him ready. And for all intensive purposes, Dave, there are a couple of hairy moments there where if you're a Purdue fan, a lot of ways you could have lost that game.

25:09But execution down the stretch, those last couple of possessions doing what you had to do. And what do we say about guard play? You had the ball in the guy's hands and Braden Smith that you wanted. That's why you have veterans in the back court for moments like that. Yeah, gets to the 10 you get to put back and you get the W. I'm with you. I thought Texas played really well. And they had walking wounded everywhere. And those guys were gutting it out here. A really good coaching match up there yesterday with Matt Painter and Sean Miller. And again, that's what we're looking forward to now this time of the year. You see those coaches emerge with some of these teams and coaching certainly matters down the stretch here. We're seeing a play out in real time. You're looking for an edge for the rest of the way here in the college basketball tournament. At least in seed by seed betting trends report. It's going to give you the historical data, the key stats and betting angles for every single match of everything you need to bet the rest of the tournaments. So download, download yours today for free at leason.com. Swash download. That's BSIN.com. Slash download.

26:10You're to dend a visa and buy the books right here on visa. We continue these and buy the books every time you fill up at the pump. You can be earning a real cash back with the free upside app. Just download upside from the app store or Google Play. You can claim an offer nearby stations start earning immediately. Use promo code books title of the show. Get an extra 25 cents back for a gallon on your very first fill up. Drivers are earning up to 200, 300 bucks a year. Despite driving like they normally do, it's simple. It's fast. You can cash out at any time of your bank account or you give cards like Amazon. Download the free upside app now. Use that promo code books. Get your 25 cent for gallon bonus offers. Do vary by location. See upside.com for all of the terms and conditions. It's going to catch up with TG. Thomas Gable in the very next segment. We go out to the Borgata. Can't wait to see what the adjusted liability.

27:12Because there is a new favorite now to cut down the nets. Jensen and that is Arizona. So I want to get your quick thoughts here. If nobody has anything in pocket now, obviously, Arizona is going to have one last game to play here. And we'll find out if Duke or Michigan can then if they get their respective wins. What's their favorite to do today? If those numbers change. But with those I test moments, if you will, from what we've seen from Arizona, I'm seeing about plus 250, mostly out there in the marketplace, Jensen. Should they now be the short shot here to cut down the nets in the end? I mean, off of one day yesterday, sure. But I don't think that I'm going to be jumping through the window to try and bet them at this point. I think we learn a lot about Duke tonight. And excited to see that, again, for people just joining us and waking up. I played the under 142 and a half in that Duke and St. John's game. I don't know if I'm getting there yet with Michigan State UConn, because it's come down six points from the open days. So we might have lost any true value there.

28:12But let's see what happens. That region is the one that is the most up in the year, I think. And that's all due respect to the Midwest, too. If Jefferson is back and kind for Iowa State and anywhere close to having a big time impact, then I think we're in for a heck of a night here and both those regions. Yeah, I have surprised Arizona 240 right now in draft kings. The longest shot on the board is Alabama, 130 to 130. If you can imagine, if they get by Michigan. But the numbers I'm seeing on Sparrow, you're still 30 to one. And UConn, 25 to one. Very interesting there Purdue going up against Arizona. 12 to one right now to cut down the nets. There are adjusted numbers in Major League Baseball. We haven't even completed opening day for three teams yet. And yet, after what we've seen so far in a day or a game for every team out there, you have seen some adjusted numbers. I mentioned Paul Schienz. It did not have the opening day that Paul Schienz thought he would have. Two thirds of an inning, four hits, five earned, two walks, one K

29:14in that 11 to seven loss to the Mets. Now again, you watch the game. You saw that O'Neill Cruz butchered two balls in center. One was an atom ball. Those are tough line drives. But center fielder, you take that fall step in, goes over your head. Everybody the Calvary keeps on running. And then the short one by Marcus Simeon off the bat there is got to be caught. Jensen, I don't know if you're a sunglasses guy. You're a flip up, flip down guy like the old days they used to do. But whatever he's doing, because he doesn't wear them out there in center field. If you're Paul Schienz, you say, hey, bro, put some sunglasses on man. Like, help me out, help me help you. Whatever you got to do, you got to catch those balls in center field. I don't know if you saw the death stair. Very Darth Vader-esque as Schienz left the mound in the first inning there. And, yeah, O'Neill Cruz in a dugout looked like, you know, that young kid that's been scolded. He knew he was in trouble. Hey, teach their own, he's his important, I agree with Neil Walker, who was on the broadcast just by the way, shout out NBC.

30:16That's how you do a game. Netflix take notes. That's how you produce a baseball game. There are a lot of things you'll like about the pirates overall. Like I said, Brandon Lau, a couple of homers yesterday and by rights, should Cruz make that first catch? Paul Schienz out of the first inning, albeit an extended first inning. Perhaps that game goes a little bit differently if Schienz is able to continue. A couple of things to note here. And you mentioned changing numbers. I do want to bring up a couple of highlights here. And it pertains to the rookie of the year market. If you watch that Tigers and Padres game, Kevin McGonigal. Whoa, what a debut, kid. That one was about as impressive as it gets. And as someone who has him on a dynasty fantasy baseball team, four for five with two ribbies and two red scored, a pair of doubles to get your year started and your big league career started. That was great. But it was the bottom of the Tiger lineup. McGonigal four for five, Dylan Dingler two for five with a screaming homer, Parker Meadows and Harvey Baez hit a piece.

31:20They looked like Adam Burke texted me as many of you know, Adam Burke, very high on the Detroit Tigers this year. He goes, all the Tigers are lagging already. I was like, let's pump the brakes here over reaction week. Let's see it. Scooble, Scooble the one guy that we looked at. If you're keeping track of the world baseball classic pitchers, Dave, he looked unfazed and three hits on six innings of one run ball, six punch outs, no walks. Very Scooble last very tidy 74 pitches. So something Dave, we will track as we move forward here in the coming weeks of April, those specific starting pitchers and pitchers in general who had to ramp up early for the world baseball classic. Let's see if there's any fallout. Maybe any a little bit of a trip out of the gate. And I'm sure O'Neal Cruz can't wait to get back out there and make better plays in center field here. So he doesn't get that death stare any longer. By the way, Carson Benj, in his debut for the Metropolitan's playing right field, the rookie goes yard in game number one.

32:20He's 10 to one to win that award. You know, you move over so to left field so Benj can play right. And you don't do the whole service time thing here. You let him open and break with the team. What does that tell you about Benj? Yeah, I know. Met fans were very excited about his prospects here, Jensen. At 10 to one, is that a playable number for rookie the year? Very interesting on Benj. And the problem is Dave and we say this a lot. You know, how, how kind of overshadowed will he be with the impending Connor Griffin promotion? That's going to happen. So a lot of the narrative already is surrounding him. I told you before the year. And when we did our St. Louis Cardinals, Staley Diamond preview, JJ Weatherhole, should he make the team? He's got a chance to not only hit the lead off spot, but impact the game in so many ways. Whoa, what a debut. What a debut from the kid. The bird gang and the bird land is going to love watching where this kid is. And I think that was one of the games too. If you looked at the forecast, ideal scoring conditions.

33:21Tampa Bay out big that six inning. 14 total runs scored in the six inning alone, Dave. Six by the raise. Eight by St. Louis on a comeback win. But Weatherhole impacting it in so many different ways. So yeah, this is going to be a fascinating market. I think both the American League side and the National League side, Dave. To answer your question round about Lee, I think you can get some shares of bench playing in the big market, playing on a team that's going to contend. You'll have some of that narrative right there too. So I wouldn't mind that at double digits because a lot of these numbers. If these guys have a hot first two weeks, they're going to cascade down. They're going to be much, much shorter. Let me give you this this box score here. Six innings three hits. No runs. No earned, obviously. No walks. 10 Ks. Christopher Sanchez dominant in that win yesterday for the Phillies over the Rangers. Five three is the final in that one. And I mentioned those changing numbers here for Sy Young. Paul Schienz with the indifferent outing. Drifts a little bit to plus two sixty, but it's Sanchez.

34:21That goes to plus three fifty. By the way, Yoshi Yamamoto was brilliant again for the Dodgers. And they're opening night win here. Against Zach Gowon and the Arizona Diamondbacks. So three guys right now in single-digit sale who will pitch today for the Braves is 12 to one. But what are we making those punchies? Ten punchies for Sanchez. And looks like he's all the part of the same guy we saw last year. That was really nice, right? In a guy that they're going to lean on heavily as far as when Zach Wheeler is back. What do you expect? For that top duo that at one point last year, Dave, we're both in contention very heavily with Paul Schienz for the Sy Young. One overall note from yesterday, you bring up the Phillies. That looked like it was going to be a rocking chair winner. We were on the Phillies alternate run line minus one. I get a little hairy there at the end, but you wander on. Ends up getting the save of the 11 games yesterday, Dave. Seven overs. It is a theme on opening day. Overs on openers. And that has really been something that has held true yet again.

35:23So seven of the 11 posted totals going over in those games yesterday. Will the same continue? And again, the caveat. You have three traditional openers for teams as far as their season openers. So looking at athletics, Jays at eight and a half. I don't think that one's getting there. I'm actually going to play the under eight and a half in the athletics and the blue Jays. Rockies and Marlins is a little weird, right? Because you've got a Rockies team, you know, with Kyle Freeland there in South Beach, a little bit more spacious ballpark. What will Sandy out country look like? I don't know if I can get there with the Royals and the Braves either. Two good lefties. That might be a first five under. But fascinated to see how those three remaining openers, as far as season openers go in relation to what that total will look like tomorrow. And you mentioned it too. Like I thought you'd said yesterday before the season began. And hey, watch out for some of these pesky teams that we think are going to be doormats. Like the gnats, right? We don't think the gnats are going to have a really good season, but they come out and they look pretty spry in game number one.

36:25We saw it with the angels yesterday as well in their victory. So like it doesn't mean that just because you're projected to be these terrible teams here early on, that that's going to the way you come out of the game. Even the Guardians, as you mentioned, even though Bobby goes down, a nice win yesterday at Seattle. Let's see if they can kind of duct tape that rotation together a little bit. So don't over, don't over react here if you're on some of those teams. They expected to get off on these great starts like Seattle and the Cubs. And don't then start to think, oh, maybe I should look at the nationals differently after one game yesterday, I would not do that either. All right, teaching Thomas Gable's going to join the program next here from the Vorgata in Atlantic City. And see what they are thinking as we get down and cut it down to the elite eight after tonight. That's next right here. I'll be some other folks. Now, finding a doctor is a little less challenging. United Health Group is investing in tools that make it easier for patients to navigate health care and pay less. These transparency tools help patients find providers.

37:26And this is the big thing. Compare costs up front. The big picture, more transparent pricing benefits everyone. And these tools from United Health Group can help patients save hundreds of dollars annually. Learn more at unitedhealthgroup.com slash commitment. 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 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. You're tuned in to Feeson by the Books, right here on Feeson.

38:31We continue Feeson by the Books of the Show. He is sponsored by Upside. You can earn real cash back at the pump with the free upside app. Just use the promo code Books. You will get 25 cents back per gallon on your very first fill up. Just go to Upside.com for all of the details. We always look forward to our conversations every Friday. With the director of racing sports at the Morgana, in Atlantic City, the one and only Thomas Gable. Give him a follow on X. At T Gable Sports, joins us now here in the progressive guest line. DJ, we are saying yesterday, Jensen and I, that you could make the case that yesterday is a top three sports day. Maybe on the sporting calendar of the year, if we encompass the whole weekend, right? As we get to the final four, Major League Baseball is opening. Yeah, you get some golfers from UFC and NBA as well. How would you put this on the calendar for the books? Like, is it one of those days and weekends? Because baseball is back with the final four on the horizon. How big of a weekend is this at the Borgata?

39:31I would say definitely top 10, definitely top 10 weekend. I mean, as you said yesterday with opening day of Major League Baseball, you know, Hope Springs eternal there. And you always do a tremendous right on Baseball day one. Technically, I guess day two with the Yankees and Giants getting things underway there Wednesday night. But, you know, it was great. Great handle on Baseball yesterday. Your match did us no favor there, Dave, in the early going. We needed screens in the Pirates, and you couldn't even get through once though. Not great result there in that one. But, and then you go into the this week 16 at night. And here we are again. We get the other half of the games tonight. And it's going to be great. I mean, some of these matches tonight are just tremendous. They certainly are. TG real quickly from where you guys sat, not only in the handle in the games yesterday in the sweet 16, but with Illinois, obviously one of the bigger results bouncing

40:32number two seed Houston in that South region. What does that do for your guys's futures book? Does it help out at all? And kind of where do you stand headed into tonight? Yeah, in terms of the futures, our biggest liability for a title right now, St. John's by a country mile for sure. And we do still have some liability on Arizona there as well. I mean, the big boys these still have left their Duke Michigan. We're in great shape. We win to both of those. And it actually the remainder of the teams in it, we're in good shape. Illinois would be a very good result force. It's really St. John's is the, the massive wildlife boy that's sitting out there. And then a small loser to Arizona right now. All right, let's get to it because if the biggest liability is St. John's, I wonder at the board got it tonight. You're watching the Johnny's in Rick Patino. How that place is going to be electric if they get off

41:32in the good foot against Duke six and a half point underdogs. 141 and a half is the total. It feels like everybody is on the Johnny's here. And yet this number doesn't seem like it's getting back to seven. How do I read into that, TG? Yeah, it's interesting because this is the big one for us obviously. You know, St. John's first two rounds. We've had, you know, big decisions on both of those games. And, you know, in the first round, they easily cover there against Northern Iowa. Second round, they only win by two there. Don't do not cover against Kansas. They probably should have won that game by 20, but they won in the last second there to win by two. So that was a decent result with them not covering. This one again is going to be a big decision for us. We're going to need to cover the number here at six and a half. And, you know, when you get these two teams here, when you look at it,

42:36this is probably going to be the most aggressive and physical team Duke has faced in a while. And St. John's is going to look to push that tempo. They're going to look to get into the face of Duke players. I'm interested in two things here. One can Duke make this a half court game if they can. That certainly bodes well for them. And number two, how's this game being called by the officials? We'll do get a friendly whistle like they have in the past. They know them to have in the past on an occasion or two or ten. If this is being called closely and there are some ticky-tack fouls being called, advantage Duke in this one. So if the refs are letting them play and letting this game be physical, that's an advantage for St. John's. Could I see St. John certainly keeping this close and having a chance to win this game for sure? There's no doubt that they can, but I think it's really going to depend on

43:40can Duke dictate the pace and really how this game is going to be called. Yeah, I agree. I like the under in this game, a little slobber knocker here. And I think we may get the same here, TG for Michigan State and Yukon. You shot us a text the other day. Probably a bad thing to doubt Sparty and Tom Izzo or try and bet against him. As we wake up here today, is that the same sentiment with this match of against Dan Hurley and Yukon? Yeah, I mean, you have two of the best coaches in college basketball, two old school coaches, while there's been doing it a lot longer than Hurley. Hurley still has that old school mentality. And these guys just, they run their program their way and it doesn't matter what year it is on the calendar, they're going to run it the way that they see fit. And Michigan State, every year, seems Izzo is has his team peaking at the right time here in March and here they are.

44:43Yukon, short favorite now. Yukon only laying a point and a half, this game has been extremely balanced in terms of betting. And you haven't seen this number move at all, so that's why you really have been taking action on both sides in this game. Total sitting at 134 and a half can very low total. It has come down from the opener. We've seen more money here on the under for sure, but in terms of the side, it's been very, very balanced. I'm a little bit surprised that Alabama is getting some love here in the marketplace. Look, I'd love to see the upset, but they're down to eight and have I saw some eights for a little bit here, but it feels like it's back up to that number here against Michigan tonight. Thomas, what do you make of this and should Alabama be considered a live dog tonight? I think of all the sweet 16 games. This one here probably has the highest degree of variance. And possible outcomes. And I think that all really stems from the way that Alabama plays.

45:49And the pace that obviously they want to play out, we know how quickly they go, Michigan will not shy away from running with them. They are more than happy to do that. But I think really where the variance comes in is whether Alabama is going to be hitting from three. That's really their only chance here to just kind of stay with Michigan. And when I say that there's so much variance that I think could be happening in this game, that's really what it comes down to. Can Alabama hit threes if they can? Alabama can certainly not only keep it within the number here, but have a chance to win. And would it surprise me if Michigan wins this game by 25? No, it wouldn't surprise me in the least. That could very well happen as well. Alabama is not hitting from three. Michigan could certainly dominate this game. They obviously have the size advantage, but I think this is really going to come down to, we know what NATO's just game plans going to be here for the Crimson tide.

46:50It's whether or not they can execute that and hit from the outside and really just stay in this game and just go shot for shot with Michigan. And if they are, then then watch out. They're going to be able to keep it within the number here. So we're still sitting nine. I know this number has come down a little bit towards Alabama, but obviously the total here, the highest total on the board for sure tonight, up to 172 and a half, 173. It's actually been higher. It's been bet back down a little bit here in the last couple of days, but again, both these teams will be more than happy to just get into a track meet. TG, last 30 seconds with you. What do you guys need more? Tennessee? I was state and kind of that result. How does it sit for you guys, especially in that Midwest region? Yeah, we had, I was state originally open three and a half. They were

47:51bet up to four and a half. And now it's been, you've seen some buy back here in the volunteers, back to three and a half, the opening number. So it's, it's bounced out a little bit. I believe we're probably going to end up needing Tennessee in this one. I could see Iowa State taking some late money here, especially some recreational money come in on the cyclone. So in terms of the futures, we're in great shape on both, no matter who advances, but it certainly would, would ring here, Iowa State. But four and a half, I can certainly see why they were five back there on Tennessee. And of course, we buried the biggest story of the week. Jerry McNamara's back at Syracuse TG. So we can get them back in the big east. We can get the Georgetown Syracuse rivalry back. Are you down with that? Let's go. Time me up now. Let's get shoes. Let's listen to them back into the big east. Go say hi to the board. God, if you're out there in Atlantic City, the TG Thomas Cable at the race in sports work director at the board. God, a lot to get to here.

48:52Now, number two, move to Carol's going to join the program later on as well to break down the UFC card golf talk. And of course, baseball. And it's all about getting to the final four. It's all ahead right here on leason by the books. Freight rail does more than move goods. It drives America's economy. Every dollar invested generates another $2.50 in economic activity. Spurring growth from farms to factories. And here's the best part. Freight railroads fund their own infrastructure, saving taxpayers billions while powering the economy forward from reducing highway congestion to delivering goods safely and efficiently. Freight rail keeps America moving. Learn more at AAR dot org slash America's engine. 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 Xfinity 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.

49:58This winter, we're all on the same team. Comcast, proud partner of team USA.