Sugar Bowl rescheduled for Thursday
The Sugar Bowl will be played today (4 p.m. ET, ESPN), postponed because of the tragic events in New Orleans early Wednesday.
So let’s take another look at the Notre Dame-Georgia matchup now that we have three CFP quarterfinals behind us,
Is it a coincidence or a handicapping factor that the three underdogs with byes came out of the gate slowly?
>Arizona State (+13.5) fell behind 14-3 in the first quarter, rallied late but lost to Texas in OT 39-31. The Sun Devils at least covered.
>No. 1 seed Oregon (+2.5) was down 14-0 after 15 minutes and was routed by Ohio State 41-21.
>On New Year’s Eve, Boise State (+11.5) dug a 14-0 first-quarter hole and lost to Penn State 31-14.
Unless there is more line movement today, a well-rested Georgia team will be the underdog vs. the Irish, who flipped to a 1-point favorite on Wednesday.
ICYMI: Here are Best Bets on this game:
The Notre Dame-Georgia winner will play Penn State, which is a 1-point underdog vs. both teams in the DraftKings lookahead lines.
Ohio State opened as a 5.5-point favorite vs. Texas at Circa and moved to 6 while DK was at 6.5.
All of our upcoming bowl and CFP previews are listed here., including Adam Burke’s preview of tonight’s Duke-Ole Miss Gator Bowl (7:30 ET, ESPN).
Who’s in and out for Week 18
Eagles RB Saquon Barkley won’t play Sunday vs. the Giants. . . . Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes won’t play vs. the Broncos, replaced by Carson Wentz. . . . The Dolphins are prepping QB Tyler Huntley to play vs. the Jets because of Tua Tagovailoa’s hip injury. . . . Rams QB Matthew Stafford will rest vs. Seattle with Jimmy Garoppolo starting instead. . . . With QB Brock Purdy (elbow) injured, the 49ers will start Joshua Dobbs.
DKNetwork.com is updating a handy list of Week 18 starting QBs.
Steve Makinen has been tracking these late “rest” games for years and offers his counsel:
My best advice is not to assume that resting starters equals tanking the game. You’ll also want to avoid automatically downgrading the offenses because backup quarterbacks are in place. Remember, there are also a lot of second-string defenders in as well.
Among the insights in Steve’s story:
Over the last 13 years, the team resting its starters has a nice ATS edge of 20-14-2 ATS (58.8%) mark in Week 17/18 games. However, they are just 13-23 outright.
Everything we post on Week 18 is here.
Today in college basketball
Greg Peterson has posted his Best Bets for today’s menu.
Adam Burke will have his top plays later this morning.
Quick Hits
NBA: Zach Cohen will post his Best Bets by mid-morning.
NHL: Look forJonathan Davis‘ picks by mid-day on our NHL page.
Horse Racing: 1/ST Bet handicapper Jeremy Plonk will post picks for today. 1/ST Bet offers wagering on hundreds of races every day from across the country and around the world. Sign up at 1STBET.COM with promo code VSIN200 to claim a 20% rebate for your first 60 days, up to $200.
This is The VSiN Daily newsletter for Thursday, January 2. Sign up for this free email and get picks and insights delivered to your in-box every morning.
