The sixth season of the annual Play of the Day betting competition between the Sun's sports staff is now under way, effective July 1.
Bankrolls start at $10,000 for each of the four participants, with the objective to increase it as much as possible over the next year. The minimum daily wager is $300, with a $200 penalty assessed for failing to place a bet on an assigned day.
Past winners are Case Keefer in 2018-19 and 2017-2018, Ray Brewer in 2016-2017 and 2015-2016, and Taylor Bern in 2014-2015.
Troy minus-14.5 vs. South Alabama: $330 to win $300
This number is on the rise, and it’s no surprise. Lock it in now because the spread isn’t going any lower; it might be 16 by kickoff.
That’s because South Alabama has a lot of issues. Troy, on the other hand, only has one issue — its defense.
The Trojans are in the nation’s bottom 10 in giving up 7 yards per play against Football Bowl Subdivision teams. Look at who they’ve played, though.
It hasn’t been easy. Missouri, Southern Miss and Arkansas State are all high-powered. Akron is the only bad team they’ve played, and they won easily, 35-7.
Tonight’s game could turn out a lot like that. Of course, I’m only picking it out of my promise to handicap every FBS game this year and this one is only “guess,” but I think Troy is the right side nonetheless.
There are also two Thursday games before my column runs looking all the weekend action, so here are my picks on those. Mark UCLA plus-7.5 down as a lean as Stanford has been too inconsistent and offensively limited to lay that many points. I’ll also take the dog, Arkansas State plus-6.5, in Thursday’s big Sun Belt clash against Louisiana-Lafayette as another lean.
Current Standings: Grimala (8-3, $10,945), Brewer (6-8, $7,675), Emerson (6-10, $7,590), Keefer (10-11-1, $6,275)
Case Keefer can be reached at 702-948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.
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