Don't bet on these teams 🚨

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It’s the most wonderful time of year! Spring has sprung and it’s officially baseball season. Fresh cut grass, pearly white baseballs getting chucked around the diamond with the smell of dingers everywhere. I don’t know, I’m not a poet. Let’s get into division winners…

MLB: AL Division Futures ⚾️

AL East:

The Yankees won 99 games last season.

• They had the AL MVP who also hit 62 home runs.

• They had the 2nd best run differential in baseball with +240.

• They added Carlos Rodon who had the 3rd most strikeouts in MLB last season with a 2.88 ERA.

• Yankee prospect Anthony Volpe might be the second coming of Derek Jeter.

This is a strong division, but the fact that the Yankees run differential was 240 and the Blue Jays were next in the division with 96 wins, just shows how dominant their pitching is and how explosive their offense is.

Doesn’t it feel like they are on the precipice of a World Series? Give me the Yankees to win the AL East again.

AL Central:

My goodness, how much of a disappointment have the White Sox been…

• They are the definition of mid, sitting at 81-81 last season.

• They have such a talented roster with nothing to show for it.

• Injuries and a manager who was literally falling asleep at the wheel, held this team back from their full potential. A new culture needs to be implemented this season.

How about the youngest roster in MLB, the Guardians, winning the division.

• This team knows how to get on base!

• The fewest number of strikeouts, the 3rd most stolen bases and 7th best average in MLB.

In probably one of the weakest divisions, Cleveland should take this division again. The Royals and the Tigers both had negative run differentials over 150. It’s a three-horse race in this division, give me the Guardians again.

AL West:

Astros clinched the division and had the best record in the league at 106 wins last season… just unreal.

• This division is another two-horse race.

• The only team that has a shot is the Mariners, but let’s be real, that won’t happen.

• Houston is too dominant and there isn’t enough competition in the division.

I won’t go into detail as to why the Astros will win the division again because it’s pretty easy to see with +219 run differential while the Mariners had +67. GTGO, Astros roll this division again easily.

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Big Weekend & College Hoops Futures 🏀

• Houston (+1000 - +650): Houston’s playing like the most consistent team in all of college basketball. Their defense is second to none and they also rebound incredibly well. The key will be for them to find some consistent offense, behind Marcus Sasser leading the way.

• Kansas (+1600 - +800): Kansas has started to separate themselves from a loaded Big 12. When all is said and done Kansas might’ve played the hardest schedule in college basketball and they’ve exceeded all expectations. Trust in Bill Self and star player Jalen Wilson, especially in March.

• Alabama (+4500 - +900): Alabama is another big surprise this season. They might have the best athletes in all of college basketball this year. And Brandon Miller is the best freshman in college basketball. But keep an eye on the Crimson Tide now with all the off-court issues impacting the team.

• Purdue (+6600 - +1000): Purdue might be the biggest surprise with how good they’ve been this year after all the talent they lost from last season. Zach Edey is dominant down low for them and is practically unstoppable. They’re the best team in the Big Ten, but haven’t shown the ability to be trusted in the postseason just yet.

• Arizona (+1800 - +1200): Arizona was another team that was expected to take a step back and they’ve stayed the course from last season. Azuolas Tubelis is a Player of the Year candidate and has been dominant for Arizona all year. Arizona needs more consistent play from their guards, but could be a force in the Tournament.

• UConn (+5500 - +2200): UConn was another team with low expectations, but has surpassed them. They slipped up a bit in conference play, but have rebounded recently. Adama Sanogo is a beast down low for UConn and has been a big key for them. UConn needs more consistent guard play, but if they find that they’ll be a very tough matchup.

The weekend is also filled with BIG college basketball matchups. The highlights on the second to last Saturday of the regular season are these three ranked matchups:

• No. 8 Texas at No. 9 Baylor

• No. 17 Indiana at No. 5 Purdue

• No. 15 Saint Mary’s at No. 12 Gonzaga

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Teams to Avoid Betting On for the Second Half of the NBA Season 👀

• Heat (21-35-3 against the spread): The Heat have been terrible against the spread, but still have a winning record overall and are going to be in the playoffs. The key here is to fade the spread with the Heat because they’re winning games, just closer than the spread says. This is huge because the Heat are a bad rebounding team, so the games are often close.

• Mavericks (22-36-2 against the spread): The Mavericks have been all about Luka Doncic and no one else, until they traded for Kyrie Irving. Fade the Mavericks here too against the spread because they’re not a good defensive team, so most of their games will be close even if they win because of the lack of defense. They’re still a good team, but watch out for this.

• Spurs (24-35 against the spread): The Spurs have been a big dumpster fire this season, which is very unusual for a Gregg Popovich coached team. They’re not covering spreads because they’ve been so bad overall, so fade the Spurs a lot the rest of the season to make some money with them being in the Victor Wembanyama sweepstakes.

• Rockets (22-33-3 against the spread): The Rockets have also been a big dumpster fire this year. They have some promising talent, but just aren’t good right now. They’re not covering spreads because of how bad they are. Fade the Rockets because they might be the favorites for Victor Wembanyama.

• Hawks (26-32-1 against the spread): The Hawks have been very inconsistent this year. With that being said, it’s safer to fade the Hawks than not. It will be interesting to see how they do the rest of the season since they fired Nate McMillan as their head coach, so there’s room for improvement.

• Warriors (26-32 against the spread): The Warriors are another team that have been very inconsistent this year. They’ve been wrecked with injuries, but have underachieved when healthy too. The smart play is to fade them down the stretch more than not due to their inconsistency, plus they’ll be without Steph Curry for a little longer. They still could right the ship, but be careful.

• Hornets (26-32-2 against the spread): The Hornets are another team who has struggled all year. They’re up for Victor Wembanyama too. Fade the Hornets because they’re just plain bad and at this point, are incentivized to keep losing like the other two listed above.

• Pistons (25-30-4 against the spread): The Pistons are another team up for Victor Wembanyama. The Pistons have struggled to get anything going this year. Fade the Pistons the rest of the way because they’re another bad team who incentivized to keep losing for Victor.

• Lakers (26-30-3 against the spread): The Lakers have been an incredibly inconsistent and disappointing team this year. It’s still a smart play to fade them more the rest of the season, but they’re the one team here that could turn it around because of how much different their team is now, compared to before the trade deadline.

Paging Massachusetts 🚨

It’s LEGAL to sports gamble in Massachusetts! Rejoice! Place your bets while you can with all the offers sports books offer new users to join and play. Hurry up and keep an eye on the Celtics too!

Bet w/ Your Head 🧠

• Remember to bet responsibly

• Bet with your head and not over it

• Take breaks

• Use money you can afford to lose

• Set limits for yourself

• 😳 Who you got?

• 🤔 Tommy or Jake, who wins?

• 🔥 What you think of these NBA takes?

• 💀 This girl’s crazy!

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