This Week in Sports Betting, A-Z 12/11/2018

by Ricky Dimon - 12/11/2018

A. Amari Cooper . At least Jon Gruden won a game last weekend (wait, is that a good thing? Now Oakland's No. 1 pick is in jeopardy!). Otherwise, he had to sit around watching former Oakland stars Cooper and Khalil Mack continue to dominate. Mack and the Bears held the Rams to a mere six points, while Cooper went completely off to the tune of 10 catches for 217 yards and three touchdowns in the Cowboys' 29-23 victory over Philadelphia. Dallas is a +3 underdog at Indianapolis in Week 15, per MyBookie.ag.

B. Bryant, Kelly . Bryant's choice is in, and it's Missouri. That may seem curious to some, but hey, not playing for a perennial ACC champion probably isn't as fun as actually playing for a team that will likely finish behind Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, and even Kentucky in the SEC East next season.

C. Corbin, Patrick . Nationals owner Mark Lerner is resigned to the fact that his team is going to lose star outfielder Bryce Harper. Welp, at least it signed…Patrick Corbin! Okay, in fairness to Corbin, that really is a good signing; he's just not Bryce Harper. Corbin, who inked a six-year deal for $140 million last week, went 11-7 with a 3.15 ERA while logging exactly 200 innings for Arizona in 2018. Harper is +2500 at XBet.ag to lead Major League Baseball in home runs next year.

D. Derrick Henry . Speaking of former Alabama standouts going completely off, Henry stiff-armed everyone on the Jaguars and their grandmothers en route to a 99-yard touchdown scamper last Thursday night. Henry finished with a ridiculous 238 yards and four scores on 17 carries during Tennessee's 30-9 romp.

E. Embarrassing . The Bulls suffered their worst loss in franchise history when they fell at home to Boston 133-77 (56 points for those counting) last Saturday. "I think your play is embarrassing," interim coach Jim Boylen told his players. He also called it "an embarrassing effort." "I felt embarrassed," Zach LaVine added. Yeah, you could say that.

F. Fisher, Derek . Fisher was hired last week as head coach of the WNBA's Los Angeles Sparks. "This opportunity is not a step down, sideways, (nor) backwards," Fisher said. Like, what else was he going to say?!?!

G. Greg Sankey . The SEC commissioner said what everyone outside of Orlando, Fla. is thinking: Central Florida needs to play a tougher schedule if it wants prove itself worthy of the College Football Playoff-to say nothing of an actual National Championship. UCF is a +7.5 underdog against LSU in the Fiesta Bowl ( YouWager.eu ).

H. Heisman Trophy . Thanks to starter-turned-backup-turned-replacement Jalen Hurts, backup-turned-replacement-turned-starter Tua Tagovailoa did not lose the SEC Championship. But he did lose the Heisman Trophy because of his underwhelming and injury-plagued performance in that game. Kyler Murray, who led Oklahoma to the Big 12 title, swooped in and won the Heisman last Saturday night. Murray got 517 first-place votes to Tagovailoa's 299 (the overall margin was 2,167 points to 1,871). Alabama is a -200 favorite at BetOnline Sportsbook to win the National Championship.

I. Iditarod . Four-time Iditarod champion Dallas Seavey has been cleared by race officials for any wrongdoing in a dog-doping scandal. Four of Seavey's dogs tested positive for the opioid painkiller tramadol-a banned substance-following his second-place performance in 2017. In this era of sports, not even a man's best friend is clean!

J. Jay Gruden . The only thing hooter-make that hotter-than stores during Christmas season is Gruden's seat as head coach of the Redskins. That's generally what happens when you trail the Giants of all teams 34-0 at halftime and 40-0 after three quarters. When you've already lost three in a row, it's even worse. Washington ended up losing New York 40-16 in Week 14 and now trails Dallas by two games in the NFC East. 5Dimes Sportsbook has the 'Skins as +7.5 underdogs at Jacksonville on Sunday.

K. Kenyan Drake . Patriots head coach Bill Belichick apparently thought Dolphins quarterback Ryan Tannehill was capable of heaving a 69-yard Hail Mary all the way to the endzone. Why else would Rob Gronkowski be in there at safety? Whatever the case, Gronkowski was in there and the rest is history. Tannehill threw a 14-yard pass (not 69) to Kenny Stills, Stills lateraled to DeVante Parker, Paker lateraled to Kenyan Drake, and Drake raced 52 more yards-including past a hopeless Gronk-for a miracle touchdown and a 34-33 Miami victory. GT Bets has New England at +250 to win the AFC title.

L. Lomachenko, Vasiliy . In the best performance by someone 5'7'' since Spud Webb in the 1986 Slam Dunk Contest, Lomachenko unified two lightweight world titles by beating Jose Pedraza by unanimous decision last Saturday night at Madison Square Garden.

M. MLS Cup . Atlanta finally won something. When you're that desperate, who the hell cares if it's soccer? Except for bookend matches in the regular season, Atlanta United was the best team in Major League Soccer from start to finish. It culminated in a 2-0 triumph over Portland in the MLS Cup last Saturday night at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

N. Nuggets . Paul Millsap (13.6 ppg, 7.0 rpg) is out four to six weeks with a broken toe for Denver, which is sporting an 18-9 record but recently lost to the Hawks for crying out loud. The Nuggets feature four players averaging between 16.5 and 17.4 ppg. Even Man on Wire is jealous of that balance.

O. Oscars . Kevin Hart is out as host of the 2019 Academy Awards after stepping down as opposed to apologizing for homophobic statements from his past. At least one winner getting bleeped during his or her acceptance speech is even money ( Bovada Sportsbook ).

P. Packers . Head coach Mike McCarthy got fired because Green Bay isn't winning enough football games. Associate head coach and outside linebackers coach Winston Moss got fired for taking shots at the franchise on Twitter. It's chaos in Green Bay, and a win over the lowly Falcons is not going to do much to change anything.

Q. QBE Shootout . The calendar year in professional golf officially came to an end last week, when Patton Kizzire and Brian Harman teamed up to win the QBE Shootout in Naples, Fla. But if Tiger doesn't play, does anyone pay attention? Well, definitely not when it's some weird two-man team format!

R. Rockets . Houston went 65-17 in 2017-18 and came within one win of beating the Warriors in the Western Conference Finals. The Rockets may lose 17 games by Christmas this season. They are 11-14, have lost three in a row, and their record over the last nine is 2-7. Houston is a -6 home favorite over Portland on Tuesday, as indicated by BetOnline Sportsbook.

S. Sabres . No NHL team has been streakier than Buffalo this season. Since the start of November, only once in any three-game stretch have the Sabres alternated losses and wins. Dating back to Oct. 20 they have won three straight, lost three straight, won 10 straight, and lost five straight (the latter being current). Buffalo is a -155 home favorite over Los Angeles on Tuesday, according to YouWager.eu.

T. Thoracic Outlet Syndrome . From the internet, which never lies: "TOS is a group of disorders that occur when blood vessels or nerves in the space between your collarbone and your first rib (thoracic outlet) are compressed." Whatever it is, Markelle Fultz allegedly has it. Sixers, you could have had Jayson Tatum!

U. Urban Meyer . Unsurprisingly, Meyer is stepping down from Ohio State and retiring (also known as "taking a break until his image recovers with time and another huge job dangles tens of millions of dollars at him") after the Rose Bowl against Washington. Don't let the door hit you on the way out! Bowl season begins on Saturday, when Fresno State is a -4 favorite over Arizona State in the Las Vegas Bowl (Bovada Sportsbook).

V. Vernon Carey Jr. Duke will lose perhaps the top three picks in the NBA Draft-Zion Williamson, R.J. Barrett, and Cam Reddish. But head coach Mike Krzyzewski will reload with Carey, who committed last week, among many others.

W. Winter meetings . Major League Baseball's winter meetings are underway in Las Vegas, taking place from Sunday through Thursday. Congratulations on your upcoming acquisitions Yankees, Dodgers, Red Sox, Cubs, etc., etc., etc.!

X. Denotes clinched playoff berth . There's two z's (Rams and Saints) and one x in the NFL standings, with the latter belonging to the Chiefs. With one no-look pass and one fourth-down heave from across his body basically all the way down the field, Patrick Mahomes led Kansas City to a 27-24 win over Baltimore in Week 14. That clinched a playoff berth, but the Chargers are making life tough in the AFC West. The Chiefs are +450 at MyBookie.ag to win the Super Bowl.

Y. Yoeli Childs . BYU's star forward continues to dominate. Childs has scored 31 points in three straight outings, recently leading the Cougars to defeats of Utah State and Utah. The junior, who posterized two Utes defenders with a thunderous dunk during last Saturday's 74-59 win, is averaging 23.6 points and 11.4 rebounds per game.

Z. Zags . There's a new No. 1 in college basketball (Kansas) because Gonzaga went down to Tennessee 76-73 this past Sunday. The Volunteers, who are 7-1 with a loss only to the Jayhawks, are up to third in the AP poll. BookMaker has Gonzaga at +750 to win it all.

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