It’s Tennessee and everyone else when it comes to betting on the College World Series.
The Volunteers have been the most dominant team in college baseball in 2022 and enter the NCAA tournament at +225 at BetMGM to win the College World Series for the first time. No other team has better than +900 odds to win the tournament and just four other teams are at +2000 or better.
Tennessee is 53-7 overall and went 25-5 in SEC play this season. The Volunteers beat Texas A&M by six games in the conference standings and breezed through the SEC tournament a weekend ago. The Volunteers’ hitters have a combined slugging percentage of .604 and the team has a combined OPS of 1.025. For reference, just five hitters in Major League Baseball have an OPS at or better than what Tennessee did as a team this season.
Oh, the Vols can pitch too. Tennessee’s ERA is 2.35 and its pitchers have a combined WHIP of 0.96. Tennessee baseball is basically an elite hitter at the plate and an elite pitcher on the mount. That’s a brutal combination for the rest of college baseball.
The path to the College World Series is manageable too. The top seed in the country draws Alabama State on Friday in its regional and will play the winner of Campbell and Georgia Tech if it wins. It’s hard to see Tennessee losing two games this weekend and the Vols will host a Super Regional next weekend. Barring a major upset there, Tennessee will be in Omaha in the second half of June.
Here are the top favorites for the College World Series. Regional play begins on Friday and ends Monday. Super Regionals will be held June 11-14.
College World Series favorites
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Tennessee (+225)
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Oregon State (+900)
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Stanford (+1200)
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Virginia Tech (+1600)
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Texas (+2000)
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Oklahoma State (+2000)
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North Carolina (+2000)
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Miami (+2200)
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LSU (+2500)
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Arkansas (+3000)
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Virginia (+3000)
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Vanderbilt (+3500)
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Notre Dame (+3500)
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Louisville (+3500)
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Auburn (+3500)
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Texas A&M (+3500)
Can Tampa Bay even the series?
The Tampa Bay Lightning enter Game 2 of their Eastern Conference Finals series against the New York Rangers as slight favorites to even the series at 1-1. The Rangers won Game 1 by a score of 6-2 and are +105 to win Game 2 while the Lightning is at -125. Tampa Bay is a 1.5-goal favorite at +200 while the Rangers are -250 to lose by fewer than two goals or win the game outright.
Despite the 1-0 series deficit, the Lightning is still slightly favored over the Rangers to win the Stanley Cup Finals. The Colorado Avalanche are -150 to hoist the Cup after taking a 2-0 lead over the Edmonton Oilers in the Western Conference Finals on Thursday night. Tampa is at +350 to win the Cup and the Rangers are at +375. The Oilers are massive underdogs to come back and win the Cup at +1800.
Cam Smith is now the Memorial favorite
Cam Smith is one of six players who shot a 5-under 67 at Muirfield Village on Thursday and is now the favorite to win the Memorial Tournament.
Smith is now at +700 ahead of co-leader Cameron Young and Rory McIlroy at +1100. McIlroy’s odds are unchanged from before the tournament after he shot a 2-under 70. Pre-tournament favorite Jon Rahm is at +2200 to win after he shot an even-par 72.
Who cashed bets Thursday?
The minority of BetMGM bettors who had the Celtics against the Warriors were thrilled with the comeback for the Game 1 road win. The Celtics outscored Golden State 40-16 in the final quarter for a 120-108 win and a 1-0 series lead.
Avalanche bettors were also happy with Colorado’s 4-0 win over Edmonton in Game 2 of their Western Conference Finals series.
