Morning Coffee: Sanders a popular longshot bet to win Heisman
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The best part about competing in individual sports is that you don’t need to stress about somebody else’s mistakes dragging you down.
There’s no reason to worry that a teammate’s bad day will ruin yours.
I’m sure Paul Skenes will be just fine in the long run.
It might be a different story for anyone who is heavily invested in Skenes to win the National League Rookie of the Year at FanDuel.
Skenes left Wednesday’s start on pace to record his third straight win with the Pittsburgh Pirates leading the Chicago Cubs 10-3.
At the time, teams leading by seven runs or more at the start of the seventh inning were 1,192-0 over the last seven seasons.
The Cubs were +3500 to win outright at FanDuel.
Chicago rallied against the Pirates relievers with two runs in the seventh, three runs in the eighth, and six runs in the ninth to beat Pittsburgh 14-10.
We were all thinking the same thing in that moment.
Skenes, who could be found as short as -5000 to win the NL Rookie of the Year at FanDuel just a few weeks ago, is now +200 as the second choice to win that award.
San Diego Padres outfielder Jackson Merrill is now the betting favourite at -280.
I can’t recall ever watching a player go all the way from +5000 to -5000 and then to +200 to win an MLB award in such a short period of time.
With the regular season winding down, Merrill is now firmly in the pole position to win NL Rookie of the Year.
Nobody could have predicted that would happen when Skenes started for the NL in the All-Star Game.
Next up, it’s a relatively light MLB card for Thursday.
We also don’t get any CFL games until this weekend with Week 13 matchups scheduled for Saturday, Sunday and Monday.
Fortunately, we have the US Open and the Tour Championship to help get us to the weekend.
We also have NCAA football with Colorado’s game against North Dakota State tonight on TSN.
As it turns out, Buffaloes QB Shedeur Sanders has been a popular longshot bet to win the Heisman Trophy at FanDuel ahead of tonight’s season opener.
This is the Morning Coffee for Thursday Aug. 29, 2024.
Shedeur Sanders a popular longshot bet to win Heisman
Colorado will kick off its 2024 season as a +2200 longshot to make the College Football Playoff.
FanDuel set the Buffaloes’ win total at over/under 5.5.
Colorado certainly won’t be a national title contender this season, but with Deon Sanders as head coach, they might be a good option to fade this season.
I know a lot of people that are exhausted by the hype around the Buffaloes, but that doesn’t mean it’s going to go away any time soon.
Colorado is a 9.5-point favourite for tonight’s opener against North Dakota State. Per the FanDuel traders, 80 per cent of the money in that spread market is on the Buffaloes to cover the 9.5.
Meanwhile, Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders remains a popular pick to win the Heisman Trophy at long odds. Sanders is +4000 to win the Heisman at FanDuel.
Per the FanDuel traders, only Alabama QB Jalen Milroe has been a more popular bet to win the Heisman. For perspective, Milroe is +1200 to win the Heisman.
Based on all of the hype around the team, it’s no surprise that Sanders is a popular longshot to win the Heisman.
The Buffaloes are the most popular bet to win the Big 12 conference outright this season at FanDuel.
Ninety-three per cent of the money at FanDuel is on Colorado to go over 5.5 wins.
As for tonight’s game, 86 per cent of the bets are on Sanders to throw for over 304.4 passing yards.
Ninety-four per cent of the bets are on wide receiver Travis Hunter to go over 75.5 receiving yards.
While I’m anticipating a high-scoring game, I’m very comfortable with fading the public in the spread market for tonight’s game.
Colorado went 4-1 against the spread in its final five games last season. However, the Buffaloes were 0-3 ATS in their three games when they were a favourite of three points or more.
Colorado is just 1-7 ATS as a 10-point favourite dating back to 2017 – the second-worst record in FBS and the worst record among power conference teams.
The public is betting the Buffaloes regardless of the number, and I won’t be surprised at all if the spread gets to double digits ahead of kick-off tonight.
This seems like a good spot for my first FanDuel Best Bet for the 2024 NCAA football season.
I’ll take the points with Bison as a big underdog tonight.
Give me North Dakota State +10.5 at -130 on the alt spread as a FanDuel Best Bet for tonight’s game.
Have a great day, everyone!