Vegas Play of the Day: Tennessee vs. Iowa

By Ray Brewer (contact)

Wednesday, March 19, 2014 | noon

Here’s the latest installment of the Play of the Day, which uses odds from the South Point.

Our three sports writers started with a $10,000 bankroll — fictional, of course.

Tennessee plus-2 against Iowa in NCAA First Round: $550 to win $500 The wrong team is the betting favorite in this game. Tennessee had a five-game winning streak snapped last week when it lost to top-ranked Florida in the SEC Tournament semifinals. But the Volunteers were leading in the second half and had more than their share of chances to win.

Iowa has dropped six of its past seven games, failing to cover the spread in each contest. They lost as double-digit betting favorites last week in the Big 10 Conference tournament to lowly Northwestern. And, Iowa has lost its last three NCAA Tournament games.

I won’t use the same reasoning of others betting Tennessee. They argue that Iowa coach Fran McCaffery has been distracted with his 13-year-old son battling a thyroid tumor — surgery to remove the tumor is today, hours before the game. I believe that will give the Iowa players something to play for. In this case, however, they are severely overmatched against Tennessee.

Standings: Bern (15-10, $10,740), Keefer (11-12, $8,897), Brewer (7-13-3, $5,950)

Ray Brewer can be reached at 990-2662 or [email protected]. Follow Ray on Twitter at twitter.com/raybrewer21