CWS Best Bets
There will be no Jell-O shots for LSU fans this year. No trips to Charles Schwab AKA Alex Box North. But that doesn’t mean we can’t win some money. Here are the best bets for the College World Series.
Best Bets
– Texas to win the CWS +320
– SEC vs the Field -190
– Ole Miss +124 versus UNC (Friday Game)
– Alabama -120 versus Oklahoma (Saturday Game)
– Texas and West Virginia in CWS Finals +750
– Texas over Ole Miss in CWS Finals +1000
Let Me Explain
Texas doesn’t have the best odds to win the national title. They are the best team in the field though. The top end of their rotation features two of the top pitchers in the country including a potential No. 1 overall pick next year in Dylan Volantis. Out of the pen they have the freshman pitcher of the year, Sam Cozart. The lineup is even more dangerous as one through six absolutely rake. We will dive into the numbers more on Friday’s CWS Preview, but Texas getting the third best odds with their roster is the best bet of anyone in the field.
Another bet that is wildly low in odds is the SEC versus the field. Five of the eight teams in this year’s field are from the SEC including the entire right side of the bracket. That at least guarantees someone from the league getting into the finals. That alone is worth the price of making the bet.
Yes, -190 is a lot of juice and not a ton of return, but the likelihood of an SEC team winning it all is inherently very good based on the sheer number of teams in the field. The other part of that equation is that there’s a case to be made that the two best teams in the field are from the SEC, and Ole Miss and UNC are trending in different directions with the way each has played this postseason. If Ole Miss wins game one on Friday, they are in the driver seat for the left side of the bracket which would potentially set up an all-SEC final.
In terms of individual games, I like the value of Ole Miss plus money on Friday. West Virginia over Troy feels like a lock as well, but for -215 it might not be worth it. I like the way Ole Miss is playing currently. They swept the Lincoln Regional on the road in three games. They went on the road again in supers and swept Auburn. Maybe there’s a bit of concern that those five wins came by only nine combined runs and none of the wins were by more than three runs. But, I know the offense can score and hit. I also know that they’re comfortable winning close games. They also played in 31 quad one games this season, which is 14 more than UNC. In fact they almost had more Quad 1 wins (14) in the regular season than UNC had Quad 1 games (17).
The last individual game is Alabama against Oklahoma. It feels dangerous to pick against Oklahoma right now with the way they’re playing and swinging the bat. However, Alabama will most likely start RHP Tyler Fay who is coming off his best start of the year against St. John’s going seven innings and allowing just two hits. He also beat Oklahoma earlier in the year, and Alabama has won six of his last seven starts.
Alabama’s offense was also pretty bad this year. They hit just .253 in the regular season, were ranked 138th in runs scored per game (6.7), and are the only team ranked outside the top 100 for this year’s Omaha eight in OPS (143rd). The bats have come alive since regionals started though. The Tide are averaging 10.4 runs per game and are hitting .312 as a team. They’ve scored at least seven runs and nine hits in every game. They’ve also hit 10 home runs and 23 extra base hits in those five games. If that’s not good enough, they also took two of three from Oklhaoma in Norman earlier this year.
