Vegas Baby, Vegas

The Pope was in the US, so he couldn't not go to Vegas right? During my visit, I roamed the sports books of Caesar's, Mirage, Paris, and MGM, looking for futures. Here are some interesting bets/odds that I found:

Tennessee Titans to win Super Bowl = 25 to 1
Memphis Tigers to win 2009 National Basketball Title = 25 to 1
Notre Dame to win 2009 National Basketball Title = 20 to 1
Indiana to win 2009 BCS National Championship (Football) = 125 to 1
Notre Dame to win 2009 BCS National Championship (Football) = 75 to 1
USC to win 2009 BCS National Championship (Football) = 7 to 2 (3.5 to 1)

A few thoughts:

- When was the last time Notre Dame had a greater chance to win the basketball national championship, than the football one? Not only a greater chance, but three times greater chance.

- Certainly we must take into account the Notre Dame bias. Due to the widespread and large number of Notre Dame fans, oftentimes the lines on Notre Dame bets, especially football, are slanted a bit more against Notre Dame (paying less) due to the large number of bettors. If Notre Dame is favored by 7 points in reality, the number of bettors on ND might move the line to 8 or 9 so that the casino can even out the betting. Case in point: the 75 to 1 odds on the National Football Championship have moved down to there from 100 to 1 at the start of betting.

- The Memphis Tigers basketball odds just bring up more pain and coulda/woulda/shoulda from this past season. The Tigers will remain in the picture, although never guaranteed to have a shot at the title like they did in 2008. Tough to read those odds, especially given that they were behind Notre Dame and other teams that clearly they can be better than.

- The "Field" bet for the National Football championship was 18 to 1. Thats a dumb bet though, because every decent BCS team is not considered to be "in the field". A team like Vanderbilt or Ole Miss were examples of teams that would be in the field, and I dont think those odds pay enough despite the 50 or so teams that you would have included.

- I think the Titans winning the Super Bowl is more doable than 25 to 1 personally. Certainly they are not a top 3 team in their conference, but I think that a playoff team with that good of a defense definitely has a reasonable shot at improving for a title shot. I would be more shocked if Notre Dame won the Basketball championship honestly. The defense could be improved through the draft, as well as some potential development in the offense with the new and returned Mike Heimerdinger returning as Offensive Coordinator, he of Steve McNair's MVP season offensive coordinating fame.

- USC, I think, has the best shot to win next year. Vegas agrees, with the lowest odds by far being the 7/2 bet on the Trojans to win the title. The SEC is too tough to consider Georgia, Florida, or a rebuilding LSU, and the Trojans have proved to be the best team outside of the SEC in many's mind each year. USC last year, possibly could have beaten LSU at season's end, and they would have been in the title game if not for 5 major injuries in the middle of the season that cost them 2 close losses (Stanford & @ Oregon). 7/2 odds is not worth the bet though, as Vegas knows better than anyone who the best chance is.

Odds of the Pope returning to Vegas = 1/1 Zillion

Fightin' Basketball Irish

Yes, its been awhile since Ive posted. Im going to be better about it going forward.

The Irish basketball team has not often been a topic on this blog. However, they managed a fantastic regular season, by any set of standards. After being picked to finish 9th in the Big East, the Irish finished tied for 2nd, earning a bye in the Big East Tournament. Lumbering sopohomore Luke Harangody earned Big East Player of the Year honors, after leading the Big East in points per game and rebounds, becoming the first Irish player since Troy Murphy to accomplish the feat. Mike Brey won his second consecutive Big East Coach of the Year, becoming only the second coach to win back to back COY honors. Definitely successful for any program, much less a football school like Notre Dame.

However, last night the Irish performed as I sadly expected they would, falling in line with each of the last 8 years under Mike Brey. The Irish lost in the 1st round of the Big East tournament, now having lost in the first round 5 of his 8 years at the helm of the Irish. I cannot deny the success in the regular season that Mike Brey has had. But I just do not like our style of play, his style of coaching, or the team's style of losing in the postseason when faced with a relatively decent team.

Maybe I was spoiled by the fire and passion of a young Matt Doherty at Notre Dame my freshman year. I expected our coach and players to have the intensity and grittiness to win close games, or at least die trying. Ive never gotten that feel about our program with Mike Brey at the helm, never. To sum up how I feel - I just feel nothing. I should feel a love and sense of pride in ND basketball, but I really dont. With a diffent coach, I know I would.

Notre Dame will never be a basketball school. Certainly we should contend in the Big East every year, but I realize we are not where the North Carolina's, UCLA's, and Duke's are in college basketball. But how about some more toughness throughout the program, starting with its leader?