Vegas Play of the Day: Villanova vs. Kansas

By Case Keefer (contact)

Saturday, March 31, 2018 | 2 a.m.

We’ve entered the fourth season of the annual South Point-lined Play of the Day competition, effective July 1.

Starting bankrolls have reset to $10,000, with the maximum bet being to win $1,000 and the minimum wager $300. A participant's failure to place a bet on their scheduled day results in a $200 bankroll penalty.

Ray Brewer won back-to-back titles in the 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons, after Taylor Bern prevailed in 2014-15.

Villanova vs. Kansas, largest lead by either team over 15.5 points: $330 to win $300

This would be a much tougher decision if the line was two or three points higher. That rarely happens on props like these, though.

Largest lead bets are artificially deflated because bettors naturally expect high-profile games to be closely contested, and therefore, more commonly bet the under. And this game may very likely prove as closely contested as perceived.

That won’t preclude this prop from going over. Both the Wildcats and the Jayhawks are so prolific at scoring points that it doesn’t take much for them to build, or erase, a 16-point margin.

On the year, they’re both shooting above 40 percent from three-point range, with nearly 45 percent of their combined field-goal attempts coming from beyond the arc. All it will take is a hot stretch from either team to cushion a lead for this bet to cash.

This game will probably ultimately be decided by single digits, but that doesn’t mean it’s going to stay in that range throughout the entire 40 minutes. In a Final Four where it’s tough to pick a side, this bet might be the strongest on the board.

Current Standings: Granger (17-15, $11,559), Keefer (29-24-1, $11,046), Brewer (24-23-1, $8,500), Grimala (13-19, $5,565)

Case Keefer can be reached at 702-948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.