Is Ohio State the Best Team Remaining? And is This the Best Penny Hardaway Memphis Team Yet?
2025 is here and we are back!
After taking a hiatus in the month of December, The Tailgate is returning in full force for the new year. College sports is reaching its apex as the first ever 12-team College Football Playoff is underway and the College Basketball season is entering the conference-play portion of the season. Today we will be discussing two bets in each sport that are worth placing.
Ohio State is now far and away the favorite to win the National Championship in football (currently sitting at +110 on Draft Kings Sportsbook) after dismantling the #1 ranked Oregon 41-21 in the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day. Ohio State jumped out to an early 34-8 first half lead thanks to a pair of 40+ yard touchdowns from standout WR Jeremiah Smith. Ryan Day’s Buckeye offense utilized their star, offensive weapons better than ever in this BIG 10 rematch. TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins combined for 179 rushing yards and 2 touchdowns while Smith and Emeka Egbuka combined for 259 receiving yards and 3 touchdowns through the air. This performance resembled how many expected this 2024 Ohio State offense to perform throughout the regular season, and is unrecognizable from their atrocious effort against Michigan a few weeks earlier. Currently, OSU is a touchdown favorite against Texas in the semis after the Longhorns barely scrapped by against ASU on Wednesday. I think Ohio State is peaking at the right time, and no remaining team has a defense capable of slowing down this offense. Bet the Buckeyes at plus money while you still can.
Moving onto the hardwood, the Penny Hardaway coached Memphis Tigers are performing well through the team’s first 13 games. The Tigers are 10-3, suffering losses to top ranked SEC teams Auburn and Mississippi State, and also dropping a game to Arkansas State which remains the only blemish on the team’s resume thus far. Memphis is led by a trio of guards: sophomore PJ Haggerty, and seniors Tyrese Hunter and Colby Rogers. The team as a whole is shooting an impressive 40.2% from beyond-the-arc with all three of there star guards also shooting above the 40% mark. Memphis is currently ranked 34th according to KenPom, however they have played the 3rd hardest Non-Conference-Strength-of-Schedule according to KenPom Net-Rating. A 10-3 record is very impressive considering the level of opponents they have faced thus far and even though Penny Hardaway has had an excellent tenure as Memphis (never winning less than 20 games in a season since taking over for Tubby Smith in 2019), this might be Penny’s best chance at making a deep run in the tournament. Despite the regular season success, Memphis has only made the tournament twice in six seasons under Hardaway never making it past the second round. If PJ Haggerty continues to excel (he is currently averaging 22.1 PPG with 47.5/40.5/82.9 splits) and the rest of the squad continues shooting well from three, this team can make a long run in the tournament. They have already proved they can defeat top teams as they took down the defending champs, UCONN, at the Maui Invitational in November. Memphis is +2000 to make the final four as of now.